Everton midfielder Andre Gomes is edging close to an exit from Goodison Park this summer.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by the Liverpool Echo, who claim that Liga NOS side Benfica have made an enquiry regarding the availability of the 27-year-old ahead of a potential move in the summer transfer window.
The report goes on to state that the Portugal international's future with the Toffees appears uncertain at present, as Rafael Benitez is looking to bring in his own targets in the middle of the park, and shifting the midfielder's £112k-per-week wages would free up a considerable amount of budget for the Spaniard.
Gomes must go
While it is true that Gomes has been unfortunate with injuries since joining Everton back in 2018, in what was originally a season-long loan deal that the Toffees made a £22m permanent move in 2019, it would be a difficult argument to make that the 27-year-old has lived up to his price tag.
Indeed, over his 27 Premier League appearances in his debut season at Goodison Park, the £18m-rated man scored one goal, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 0.8 shots and making a mere 0.2 key passes per game.
The midfielder also failed to impress in more typical metrics of his position, making an average of 0.7 interceptions, 1.4 tackles, 0.7 clearances and winning 5.2 duels per match.
These returns saw the man Graeme Souness dubbed "absent" earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.57, ranking him as Everton's joint-worst performer in the top flight of English football that year.
Things have not exactly improved for the former Barcelona man in the two years since, earning an average SofaScore match rating of 6.48 over his 19 Premier League appearances in 2019/20 and an average match rating of 6.58 over his 28 top-flight games last season, ranking him as the Toffees' second-worst and seventh-worst performer respectively.
As such, considering the fact Gomes has already cost the club around £17m in wages over his three years at Goodison, in addition to the £22m the club paid Barcelona to sign him, his returns do not exactly scream fantastic value for money.
So, it would appear highly advisable for Benitez to indeed do all he can to move the 27-year-old on this summer, before the club wastes even more money on a player who seems to have been, quite frankly, stealing a living so far in his Everton career.