BARCELONA’S overbooking up front looks like an ideal opportunity for Everton, with unwanted blaugrana winger Malcom back on the market again this summer and eager to put a lost 2018/19 behind him.
With Antoine Griezmann having arrived this week from Atletico Madrid, and Neymar’s return from Paris Saint Germain looking more and more possible, competition for places at the Camp Nou alongside Lionel Messi in attack is looking more fierce than ever.
Which surely means an exit for Malcom – who could barely ever make the Barca XI last season when his main rivals for starts were the unconvincing and untrusted Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele.
Malcom’s arrival at the Catalan club was decidedly strange. The Sao Paulo born player had impressed at Ligue 1 side Bordeaux and was on the brink of joining Roma last July, when Barcelona appeared at the last minute to grab him instead for €41 million. Coach Ernesto Valverde was a doubter from the start – labelling him “a signing made by the club” and clearly preferring other options.
A quick glance at Malcom’s performance record for 2018/19 then suggests a disastrous campaign. Despite often being on the outside looking in, the winger somehow managed the distinction of being the only player to feature in each of their six defeats through the season [against Leganes and Betis in La Liga, versus Sevilla, Levante and Valencia in the Copa del Rey, and at Liverpool in the Champions League].
This was more a case of coincidence than causation however, as the young Brazilian usually played only when the team was being heavily rotated for lower priority games [in Copa del Rey early round first legs], or when things were falling apart and Valverde had to try a desperate move [in the Copa final and at Anfield].
There were some brighter moments too, however. By far Malcom’s standout showing through his first season in Catalonia came in early February’s Copa del Rey semi-final Clasico first leg against Real Madrid.
Barcelona are expecting an imminent bid from Everton for Malcom. [Mundo Deportivo] #EFC pic.twitter.com/POs0ln1tsQ
— simply EFC (@simplyEFC) July 12, 2019
A surprise starter on the night, he took full advantage of coming up against a very out of form Blancos left-back Marcelo, tearing through the Madrid defence time and time again. He even provided Barca’s equaliser in that game, confidently slamming home from a difficult angle after Luis Suarez hit the post, and he was man of the match for most observers.
This was not enough to convince Valverde. Malcom watched the entire second leg from the Bernabeu bench, and barely featured over the following weeks. Until a very useful showing in April’s La Liga deciding 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid, when he replaced Coutinho on the hour mark with the game goalless and helped push things in Barca’s direction.
MALCOM TO SIGN FOR EVERTON THIS SUMMER – 6/4
Many casual observers, and a good number of blaugrana fans and pundits, wondered how much more the kid could do to convince Valverde of his merits. End of season figures of just four goals and two assists in 24 games do not look good on paper, but they do not tell the full story.
None of this is to suggest that Malcom should be aiming to stay at Barca. Even with more opportunities and better fortune it seems unlikely that he could win a regular starting spot, and Valverde seems unlikely to change his mind at this stage. But that does not mean he could not be an excellent signing for many, if not most other clubs.
The player himself seemed to quickly accept that it was just not going to work out for him at the Camp Nou, and Barca should be looking to sell given their need to raise funds to balance the books [even before thinking of how they can manage to bring Neymar back].
Everton were apparently in for him last summer, before the decision to first go to Roma, then Barca. Arsenal, Tottenham and Milan have also been mentioned as possible destinations, and they are all clubs where he would be confident of getting more opportunities to show his talents. Still just 22, the €40 million or so asking price does not look bad value at all.
Maybe a move to Everton would make most sense – where he could follow the examples of both Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes, who were not quite good enough for Barca, but are now among the Toffees’ most important players. The large Portuguese speaking contingent at Goodison should also in theory at least help him settle in quickly.
After finding himself in the middle of a situation he could not control last season, Malcom could now have the chance for a fresh start in his career. Rarely has a transfer appeared to make as much sense to all the parties involved.
