Sam Allardyce has questioned his former club Everton’s wisdom in bidding £50 million for Watford’s Brazilian winger Richarlison.
The Toffees are currently in advanced talks to sign the talented 21-year-old, whom their new coach Marco Silva signed for just £12 million during his time at Watford.
Richarlison took the Premier League by storm at the beginning of last season with Manchester United and Chelsea credited with a interest in the player, but his form dipped badly after Silva was sacked by the Hornets after being controversially tapped up by Everton.
Big Sam, who is most definitely the kind of person who does hold grudges, not only got his successors name wrong, but also questioned whether signing a player of potential rather than a ready made star is the correct course of action for a club like Everton, who have aspirations of reaching the Champions League after their takeover by wealthy Iranian business man Farhad Moshiri.
“Everybody’s seen the drop off since Mario Silva left Watford, or maybe even before then,” Allardyce told talkSPORT.
“I think that he has seen him first hand and worked with him on a daily basis so he is backing his own judgement.
“What I would say to be careful about though is, if you say you are buying potential, Everton fans do not want potential.
“They want the absolute first-class player now to play now and to beat and try and rival their big rivals down the road and try and get into Europe.
“If you’re buying Richarlison now as a future player, that’s not what Everton fans want to see at the moment. They want to see them fighting with the best and up there with the top four.”
