Why Everton must not splash the cash to sign Rafael Santos Borre
According to a report by Sport Witness (h/t Liverpool Echo), Everton have submitted a bid of €15m for River Plate forward Rafael Santos Borre in January.
The report further claims that the 24-year-old has a release clause of €30m. Since the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United, the Toffees have struggled to find a reliable goalscorer. They did sign Cenk Tosun shortly after but he has largely failed to deliver the goods at Goodison Park.
As a result, Everton have endured a massive dip in their performances this season. Currently placed a lowly 16th in the standings, the Toffees are just 4 points above the relegation zone. There is immense pressure on Marco Silva to try and avoid relegation – as well as potentially save his job.
Having conceded a whopping 21 goals in 13 games so far, it is alarming to note that the Merseysiders have managed to just score 13 goals. These numbers do highlight the need for a new striker at the earliest.
That said, signing a relatively unproven player like Borre would not be a wise move for a club in danger of getting relegated. Granted, he has scored seven goals in 11 league games for River Plate so far this season – while also netting 11 goals in 37 games last season – the Colombian is still untested at the highest level.
As things stand, the Premier League has been the undoing of many big names and to that end, Everton would be better off without pursuing a move to sign Borre.
Having played for Villarreal in Europe before, the Colombian netted merely 4 goals in 30 games for the Spanish outfit. Although that was a while ago, Everton are simply not in a place where they have the luxury of shelling out a fee in the region of €30m on a player who may or may not make the cut.
Instead, they must spend every single pound wisely since their tattering team needs to be reinforced in numerous positions across the field.
With the threat of relegation looming large, Silva must work towards signing proven goalscorers. They are in far too much trouble to even consider relying on anything less.
