You could make a genuine case for the summer of 2022 being Everton’s best spell of recruitment since, perhaps, Roberto Martinez’s debut season at Goodison Park; when Gareth Barry, Gerard Deulofeu, James McCarthy and a young Romelu Lukaku arrived.
An Everton side who handed goals gift-wrapped to the opposition last season needed reinforcements at centre-half. In came James Tarkowski and Conor Coady; a pair of England internationals arriving on a free-transfer, and a season-long loan respectively. They needed energy and aggression in the middle of the park. Welcome Andre Onana and welcome back Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Neal Maupay and Dwight McNeil, meanwhile, add serious strength in depth to a previously paper-thin frontline.
In fact, of Everton’s eight new arrivals, you could argue that seven have been a success.
Ruben Vinagre, then, stands out as the lone outlier. Returning to England on loan from Sporting Lisbon, the Vinagre has played just 24 minutes of league football under Frank Lampard. The former Wolves youngster hasn’t even been included in the matchday squad for either of Everton’s last two top-flight outings; a 0-0 draw with Fulham and that 3-0 thumping of Crystal Palace.
As things stand, Everton won’t be rushing to trigger Vinagre’s hefty £17 million option-to-buy clause.
Robin Gosens in, Ruben Vinagre out at Everton?
And with reports suggesting that the Toffees have made contact with the agent of Inter Milan’s £21 million German international Robin Gosens, it’s tempting to wonder whether Vinagre will even see out the remaining few months of his Everton contract (FC Inter News).
Gosens, after all, would not only be a replacement, but an upgrade. The former Atalanta flyer has struggled for fitness and form at the San Siro but, as recently as 2020/21, he was among of Europe’s most productive full-backs; one who would give even an in-form Trent Alexander-Arnold a genuine run for his money.
Gosens produced a staggering 12 goals and eight assists from left-wing back in his final season in Bergamo. Should he arrive at Everton, the 28-year-old would offer Lampard a more attacking alternative to the diligent but technically-limited Vitaliy Mykolenko.
Vinagre is already struggling for game time at Goodison Park. His first-team prospects would dwindle ever further, meanwhile, should Gosens join Mykolenko at Stanley Park.
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