Everton linked in Spanish striker swap

For various reasons in and out of his control, Everton’s Spanish striker Sandro Ramirez has failed to make much of a mark in the Premier League so far. Brought in by Ronald Koeman thanks to a ridiculous low release clause of €6 million from Malaga, Sandro has struggled to make an impression, dropping in and out of the squad with injuries and increasingly isolated showings.

He did finally get his first Toffees goal with a consolation effort in a home drubbing by Atalanta in the Europa League, but hasn’t had much chance to feature under interim manager David Unsworth and currrent boss Sam Allardyce either.

Sandro has played a total of just over 600 minutes in 13 thirteen games with the one goal and one assist, and has been widely linked with making a January move back to Spain to Valencia, who are looking to sharpen their strikeforce.

Meanwhile, another under-performing striker is looking for an exit too, this time it’s Paco Alcacer over at Barcelona who has been informed that he will need to play more if he is looking to break into the Spain squad for the 2018 World Cup to be held in Russia at the end of this season.

Alcacer has picked up five goals and two assists in the goal-happy Barca squad across all competitions, and poses a different kind of threat from what Sandro offers. While pretty much the same size, Alcacer is more of an aerial, in-the-box threat while Sandro appears to be at his best when playing out wide and cutting in.

Spanish football outlet Don Balon claims that Everton have been keeping a keen eye on Alcacer while they believe that Sandro is close to joining Valencia in the January transfer window.

There is no doubting that the Blues could use the presence of another target up in the opponents’ penalty area, but it also feels too soon to give up on an incredible talent like Sandro who has simply been under-utilized in his time at the Toffees so far.