Danny O’Neill’s recent Talking Point article about under-rated Everton players made me think about some of the many players we have signed under our current ownership who were most definitely over-rated. We all usually know what happens to players who become top players, even if they move on to other clubs. The poor players move on and seem to disappear off the radar.
The one that has stuck in my mind was Sandro Ramirez, a Steve Walsh signing quite early in Moshiri’s reign and before we knew the disasters that would follow. I remember my expectations being high because he was so massively hyped. That was obviously before I saw him play.
He had come through the ranks at Barcelona before moving on to Malaga. Everton triggered a £5.2M release clause to sign him, but the implication was that his real value was much more and the club had a steal. I remember walking to Goodison for the first home game after he had signed and seeing several young lads (2 actually) wearing dazzling new shirts with SANDRO emblazoned on the back.
Expectations were high. Ex Barca, we could have paid £30M according to the hype. Then we saw him play. He started the home game with Stoke City, 12 August 2017. Oh dear. Although we won 1 – 0, he was largely anonymous. Now that I think about it, the second shirt might have been on Ramirez himself…
In total, he made 8 appearances for Everton, mainly as a substitute, for no goals. It soon became patently obvious that he was nowhere near Premier League quality.
Just 6 months later, he was gone in the January 2018 window to Sevilla on loan. It was around this time that I read that the Barcelona technical director had said that he had only been retained in the squad as the club was under a transfer embargo for breaking some rule or other.
Everton really should have refunded for all the Sandro shirts (surely greater than 2). You don’t expect to buy a shirt with a new top player’s name on the back, only to find that, 6 months later, he’s gone.
Then, 7 months after that, he was shipped to Real Sociedad, again on loan. A bit of a hot potato. By the start of the next season, he was at Real Valladolid on another loan for a year. Here, he scored his first goal for 2½ years, having failed to score for his three previous clubs.
The next season, he signed on a free transfer for Huesca on a 3-year deal. The hot potato had cooled somewhat, you may think… but no, as 12 months later he signed a 1-year loan deal with Getafe. After another 12 months, he was on the move once more with a loan deal to Las Palmas in the Segunda Division.
To be fair, he scored 7 goals in 21 appearances and Getafe were promoted to La Liga. This season however (he has remained there) he has made only 10 appearances out of 29 games for no goals, so it looks like he has lost his place.
Sandro must be jinxed. He finds his level in the second division, gets a goal every three games and gets them promoted back to Liga 1 where he struggles and loses his place.
So it looks like his level is the Spanish second division. Of course, if we should be relegated in the next two seasons……. No, forget I said that!