In a recent tweet, renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed that Everton have agreed on a deal to sign Sporting striker Youssef Chermiti this summer. It has been claimed that the Toffees have managed to get a deal over the line to bring the Portuguese centre-forward ahead of the new campaign.
EXCL: Everton reached an agreement in principle with Sporting to sign Youssef Chermiti as new striker 🚨🔵🇵🇹 #EFC
Deal in place between clubs — verbally agreed in the recent hours for 2004 born striker to join PL side. pic.twitter.com/ksetorB2ur
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 31, 2023
Chermiti’s Impressive Rise In Portuguese Football Last Season
Chermiti had a decent campaign at the Portuguese club as he managed to catch the eye by putting in a handful of promising displays for them in the final third. The 19-year-old made 22 senior appearances for Sporting last season, finding the back of the net on three occasions and earning a couple of assists in all competitions.
The talented teenager proved his worth at times by averaging 1.8 shots and 0.4 dribbles per game in Liga Portugal. However, he lacks quality when distributing the ball in the opponent’s half based on his pass completion rate of 70.7% in the top tier of Portuguese football (stats via whoscored).
Chermiti was under a long-term contract at Sporting, so Everton have done well to snap him up during this summer transfer window.
What Will Chermiti Bring To Everton?
Chermiti is proficient at finding space for himself to get a few strikes in at goal. He can make a few clever runs with the ball but is still quite raw and would need time to prove his worth at the highest level. Furthermore, there are some concerns over whether the Portuguese starlet can cope with the physical side and high intensity of English football.
Standing at 1.92m, Chermiti can be a towering presence inside the opponent’s penalty area and can win his fair share of aerial duels. However, he has to find a way to improve his link-up play on the attacking end of the field.
Chermiti will definitely bring some firepower to Everton‘s frontline. At 19, he has the potential to become a future star in European football as long as he continues to improve with each season.
Therefore, Everton boss Sean Dyche deserves a lot of credit if he does end up recruiting Chermiti this summer as the Portuguese whizkid will add more competition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the Merseyside club.
