Carlo Ancelotti must boot Bernard out of Goodison Park in January amid claims of AS Roma eyeing a winter raid on Everton for the Brazilian midfielder.
What’s the word?
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, via Sport Witness, the Giallorossi are monitoring Bernard’s situation ahead of the mid-season market as they look to acquire additional offensive weapons for head coach Paulo Fonseca.
Roma are presently pushing plans to sell Carles Perez in January before turning attentions to incomings, with Bernard, Stephan El Shaarawy and Roman Yaremchuk under consideration.
Everton are expected to demand €12m (£11m) to release Bernard next month, with the 28-year-old likely to look for a move away after starting just three fixtures across all competitions – including one of five Premier League appearances – thus far this season.
Fonseca was the coach of Shakhtar Donetsk during Bernard’s time at the Ukrainian side, and sought to secure a reunion in the summer with talks taking place on Deadline Day only for Ancelotti to insist the 14-cap international was wanted at Goodison Park.
El Shaarawy now appears as Roma’s favoured candidate but are yet to convince Shanghai Shenhua to sanction a loan deal, while Bernard is mentioned daily in discussions between Fonseca and Giallorossi staff.
Time to leave
Ancelotti may have insisted that Bernard had a role to play on Merseyside in the summer, but must accept that it is now time to boot the midfielder out of Goodison Park where he is the joint-highest earner on a £120,000-per-week contract.
Bernard and his agent were able to secure such a lucrative deal with the Brazilian joining on a free transfer in 2018, but has failed to prove value for money with fleeting appearances and a hand in just 14 goals (seven scored, seven assisted) over 74 outings across all competitions.
Ancelotti only awarded Bernard his sole Premier League start of the season so far as he sought to find a replacement for Richarlison whilst the winger was suspended, too, and immediately benched the Roma target despite finding the net against Manchester United.
Question marks have also stood over Bernard’s impact at Goodison Park for some time now, with Noel Whelan hinting just over a year ago that the 28-year-old is a luxury player.
“Can he do the defensive side as well? Every midfield player now, you can’t afford luxury players, everyone’s got to chip in on both sides of the game. Defensively, that’s the only area that I’d worry – can he get back in formation, can he get behind the ball, can he do it in 90 minutes?” Whelan told Football Insider.
Those concerns continue to remain, with Bernard offering one interception every 41.8 minutes of Premier League action this season, plus a successful tackle every 41.8 minutes, a clearance every 69.7 minutes and has registered one block every 104.5 minutes, per WhoScored.
Added to his tame offensive record with one shot every 69.7 minutes and an on-target effort every 209 minutes, plus a key pass every 41.8 minutes, it really is time for Ancelotti to show the Marco Silva signing the boot.
AND in other news, Everton have been dealt a huge blow, from which the long-term effects may hurt Carlo Ancelotti.