Why Everton’s £100k-per-week signing has flopped in the Premier League

Paul Macdonald

• Updated: 20 May 2021 11:26 BST
• 2 min read

Brazilian wide man Bernard joined Everton in the summer of 2018 from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, but his move hasn’t worked out how he would have hoped.

The now 28-year-old was signed by the Toffees on a free transfer after the South American let his contract run out, meaning they were able to entice him to Merseyside with a significant wage packet.

Ex-Everton manager Marco Silva reportedly fought off some of Europe’s top sides, including AC Milan, to secure Bernard’s signature. The diminutive forward arrived in England with a big reputation after leaving boyhood club Atletico Mineiro for £40m as a 20-year-old and going on to accumulate 14 national team caps, alongside a wealth of Champions League experience.

However, he has never settled in the Premier League. Bernard has found the back of the net on just seven occasions and provided a meagre seven assists in 76 games during his time at Everton.

Bernard’s record since joining Everton

The pace and physicality of the English top flight appears to have been too much for a player whose strengths lie in the technical side of the game.

When looking at former Brazil international’s figures across his time at Goodison Park, his drop-off in form becomes alarming. In his maiden season, Bernard’s Expected Goals was 2.6. This fell to 1.1 in 2019/20 before plummeting to 0.2 in the current campaign.

The same situation occurred with his creative output. In 2018/19, Bernard’s Expected Assists was 3.2, the following year, it dropped to 1.9, and now in 2020/21, the figure is just 0.5. It’s certainly not the sort of output you expect for a man who once flirted with the prospect of joining the seven-time European champions.

It has been widely reported that Carlo Ancelotti is ready to offload the struggling attacker during this window, though, with The Telegraph claiming the Italian boss is holding out for a £9m fee it’s hard to see him leaving anytime soon.