Everton's Sandro Ramirez: The most underrated buy of the transfer window

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has been a very busy man ever since the transfer window opened. The Dutch manager has already signed the likes of Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen and Henry Okeyuru in a bid to bolster his side as they look to improve on their last season’s 7th placed finish. However, it would be fair to say that the manager’s task has been made harder by the departure of their star striker Romelu Lukaku as the Belgian is amongst the top strikers in the League.

While the club’s fans are keen to see the arrival of a few more players to shoulder the attacking responsibilities, we for one, believe that the Dutchman is already ahead of the market having signed a very underrated yet exciting entity in the form of former Barcelona striker Sandro Ramirez. Yes, he might not have attracted the kind of fee that Lukaku might have attracted but that does not mean the 22-year-old cannot fill in the large boots emptied by Lukaku.

Ramirez, who joined Barcelona whilst he was still a teenager quickly rose through their ranks and was once even touted to be the future of the club’s attack. However, the abundance of talent that existed at the Camp Nou ensured that he found very little playing time and was more often than not restricted to appearances for the club’s reserve side. The lack of game time forced the player to move away from the legendary Catalan club and in hindsight that has been a rather smart move by the youngster.

Ramirez rose to the occasion at Malaga last season

It was at Malaga, the club that he represented in the last season that the player truly caught the eye of the pundits and fans with his performances. While he can also play on the flanks when required by his manager, he has shown that he is the most effective when deployed as a central forward.

He has been likened to the legendary Spanish striker David Villa for his never say die attitude as well as his predatory instincts in the box and if the last season was any indication, the striker is definitely set to win over the hearts of millions of Everton fans worldwide.

The departure of Lukaku certainly guarantees Ramirez of a chance to play as the centre-forward of the side in the upcoming season and the Spaniard will be keen to improve on his already impressive numbers from the last season.

The 22-year-old scored 16 goals in 31 appearances averaging a goal every 167 minutes in the League which is not very far off from the results obtained by the season Lukaku, who averaged a goal every 131 minutes. Given that Everton are not short on creative abilities, we believe, Ramirez is set to improve on his numbers in the upcoming season.

While his predatory skills alone would be enough to make him a regular at the Goodison Park, there is a lot more that the young striker brings to the table that can help him become invaluable to his side. He is creative with the ball at his feet as he can glide through defences with ease and has the ability to put a pass through the needle of an eye. In the last season, he was amongst the top 5 creative forces at Malaga, having created 32 chances at an average of 72 minutes and that might come in handy for the youngster with the likes of Ross Barkley, Kevin Mirallas, and Yanick Bolasie operating alongside him.

While there is a lot of potential there, the Premier League often requires more than just skill.

Its reputations as a fast and physical league is unprecedented and even the best of players take time to adapt to it.

While Ramirez has proven that he is ready to make the step up when the occasion demands, it would be hard on the player if we judged him from the word go for he would definitely need time adapting to a new life.

Ramirez could well prove to be the buy of the season.

The former Barcelona man has proven that he is an ambitious man ready to take the path less travelled in pursuit of a better career and the move to Everton bodes well for his development. He is all but guaranteed game time and should benefit from playing alongside a better set of players than he did at Malaga.

However, the efforts of Ronald Koeman and his team should also be applauded for not only have they brought one of the brightest Spanish talents to the English shores, they have done it quickly and at a price which could prove him to be steal of the transfer market one year from now.