Andros Townsend admits Everton ‘miss’ Richarlison but names two new stars who replicate his key trait
Everton winger Andros Townsend has analysed his team’s transfer business and put two new players in the bracket of former striker Richarlison.
The Brazil forward hit 53 goals in 152 matches for Everton before leaving earlier this year. Tottenham signed him on July 1 by paying Everton an initial £50million, plus £10m in add-ons.
Toffees fans always knew one of Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin would leave Goodison Park this summer. Everton needed to sell one of their attacking assets to balance the books and also fund improvements in other areas of the pitch.
Richarlison ultimately left and has got off to a good start for Spurs. He recently bagged two goals during their Champions League win over Marseille.
Calvert-Lewin, meanwhile, is yet to feature this campaign. He picked up a knee injury shortly before Everton’s season opener against Chelsea. The goalscorer could return when Everton play Southampton after the international break, which would be a major boost for Frank Lampard.
Calvert-Lewin is no longer the only Prem-quality striker at the club. Lampard can rely on Neal Maupay following his switch from Brighton in late August.
Lampard can also use Salomon Rondon. However, he was a Rafa Benitez buy and doesn’t appear to have much of a future at Goodison Park.
During an appearance on talkSPORT, Everton man Townsend was asked about Richarlison’s exit and how the club is coping without him.
While he admits the 25-year-old will be ‘missed’, Maupay is one of two new stars helping to replace Richarlison’s passion and close bond with the fans.
Andros Townsend discusses Richarlison departure
“Any club would miss the quality of Richarlison and what he brings to the team. But I think we’ve been able to add four or five players for the price of Richarlison,” Townsend said (20/09, at 7:50am).
“We’ve added players with the quality and mentality of Richarlison. You see him playing for Spurs chasing for every ball and getting the crowd up for it. And I think we have that in Neal Maupay and [Amadou] Onana in midfield.”
Townsend continued: “We’ve added more bodies that we needed and more bodies that we didn’t have last season. Yes, we would love Richarlison, but we have done well off the back of that and he’s scoring in the Champions League so it’s been a good deal for both parties.”
It will be good for Lampard and the Everton hierarchy to hear one of their players openly praise the transfer strategy. Selling Richarlison was a big call, especially after the Toffees came close to relegation last season.
As Townsend says, Everton have done well when replacing Richarlison, as Maupay brings a similar kind of passion and energy.
Plus, the Merseyside outfit have strengthened other areas of the pitch too. Onana looks like a solid player who could develop into one of Everton’s top performers.
Of course, it would have been risky for Townsend to speak badly about Everton’s signings. This could have seen his contract get terminated. But it is nevertheless a good thing he is praising the club for seemingly getting things right, after many expensive mistakes in the past few years.
Meanwhile, an in-form Ajax player has confirmed Everton tried to sign him in the summer.
