This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Marco Silva declared that signing a striker was a top priority for him this summer, but according to Italian outlet CalcioMercato he may have missed out on his number one target, Rafael Leao.
What’s the story?
The signing of Moise Kean looked to fill the goalless void at Goodison Park but his failure to adapt means the Toffees may rue the fact that they were unable to lure Leao to the Premier League.
Instead, the 20-year-old opted to join Milan, for whom he already has a goal and assist in four league games, proving why he is well regarded as a promising young player.
It is believed that Everton were keen to sign the Portuguese and even offered more than the Italian club did, and perhaps if they had acted earlier – before Milan registered their interest – then he could now be wearing the number 27 shirt instead of Kean.
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Given the praise of his former coach at Sporting Lisbon, Tiago Fernandes, and Kean’s lack of form, Everton may wish to turn back time, particularly if he lives up to the comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Rafael is a special player for me, he always will be. I met him when he was just 12-13 years old … only Cristiano Ronaldo at Sporting had his talent at that age, I guarantee you.
“At Sporting I had the pleasure of working with many promising youngsters, but Rafael Leao is undoubtedly the best footballer I have ever had.”
– Tiago Fernandes
Missed opportunity
Whilst Leao and Kean are in a similar place in regard to their future potential, the advantage the Milan striker has over the Toffees striker is the fact he had already experienced and adjusted a different country and a new league to what he was used to.
He had played in Portugal before making the switch to Lille, where he scored eight goals last season in 24 league appearances.
Everton reportedly offered more money to Lille than the Italian giants did, but if they had increased their offer to the player they may have done enough to persuade him to join, and given his potential it may have been a risk worth taking.
Added to that, he has on occasion featured on the wing for Milan, and his versatility could have suited Everton well and offered Silva an alternative to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, and therefore possibly have made the Toffees more unpredictable in attack.
