A few days ago, reports suggested that Everton were in advanced talks to sign Bordeaux’s Brazilian starlet Malcom. However, it turned out the youngster fancied a move to Italy and Roma more than a move to Merseyside.

The Toffees seemed to have moved on pretty quickly, as according to Sky Sports, the Merseysiders are in advanced talks to sign Watford winger Richarlison in a deal worth that could rise to £50million.

This deal looks far more likely to happen than Malcolm’s, as reportedly the player is on his way to the north west for medical at the club. If he joins the Toffees, the winger will link up with former Watford boss Marco Silva on Merseyside.

Richarlison made an early impact at Watford

Last season Richarlison burst onto the Premier League scene, scoring five goals in his first 12 Premier League appearances for the Hornets. The youngster had only joined the Hornets from Fluminense for a fee of around £13million last summer.

It seemed Richarlison was a bargain buy and that he would flourish in the English top-flight. However, 21-year-old’s form collapse in towards the end of the year coincided with the departure of Silva, who had already been linked with Everton.

Those first few months in England showed just how well he could perform, with the right boss. Richarlison undoubtedly has something, and it seemed that Silva had the key to getting the best out of him.

Richarlison has attributes that Everton needs

Last season Everton lacked pace in attack until the January arrival of England international of Theo Walcott from Arsenal. Even then, Sam Allardyce’s defensive style of play nullified Walcott’s threat.

Silva’s style of play is likely to be far more expansive, and Richarlison will add attributes badly missed last season. Richarlison has pace, skill and will take on defenders, which are attributes badly needed by the Toffees.

A front four of Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun sounds like they could cause most teams problems. Walcott and Tosun managed to enjoy decent starts to their Toffees careers last season, despite the team playing a style of football that saw them feeding off scraps under Allardyce.

This deal could go either way

The signing of Richarlison for the mooted fee is a massive gamble. No doubt the Toffees are not paying an initial fee of £50million. Reportedly, the deal is an initial fee of £35million plus add-ons.

There is also a sense that the Hornets are factoring in compensation for Silva in the deal, which is likely to stop the long-running dispute between the two clubs.

Everton are in a difficult position at the moment that they have money, but cannot yet compete for the top quality players, as the big players want to join clubs playing in the Champions League. That means the Toffees have to pay over the odds to sign players who they hope can improve the team enough to challenge for the top-four in the future.

That means taking a gamble on certain players. In reality, Richarlison could turn out to be a fantastic signing, as he does have immense potential and technical ability. However, he could completely flop on Merseyside, only time will tell with the youngster.

One thing is for sure in the early stages of last season under Silva, Richarlison looked like one of the most exciting young attacking players in the Premier League. Everton fans will be hoping that the Brazilian can rediscover his form under the Portuguese boss on Merseyside.

Will Richarlison prove to be a good signing for Everton?