Sporting Braga's forward Paulinho (L) vies with Basaksehir's Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler during the UEFA Europa league football match SC Braga vs Istanbul Basaksehir FK at the Municipal stadium in Braga. (Getty Images)
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola via Sports Witness (h/t The Liverpool Echo), Everton had sent scouts to watch Rangers’ win over Braga last week in the Europa League. The report claims (h/t The Liverpool Echo) that winger Ricardo Horta or striker Paulinho were the two players who the Blues would have been watching.
Ricardo Horta, 25, has been a consistent performer for SC Braga over the last couple of seasons, bagging 23 in the last two seasons combined. He has netted 18 goals and supplied seven assists in 40 games thus far this season. Paulinho, 27, meanwhile, has racked up 18 goals and five assists in 35 appearances across all competitions.
As far as Everton are concerned, they are going from strength to strength under Carlo Ancelotti. The Toffees have enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in form and are now challenging for a top-four spot, which looked highly unlikely a couple of months back.
Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have been a treat to watch up front for Everton, with the duo scoring 10 and 13 goals respectively. Yet, the Merseysiders have managed only 37 goals in 28 games so far, with summer signing Moise Kean failing to live up to the expectations of the Goodison Park faithful.
Thus, Ancelotti must not ignore reinforcing his forward department in the summer, especially after allowing Cenk Tosun to leave on loan to Crystal Palace in January. Hence, the Toffees must plot a summer swoop for Paulinho.
Paulinho, who joined Braga from Gil Vicente back in 2017, has performed very well in Portugal this season. He has netted 10 goals and supplied three assists in 18 league appearances so far – a vast improvement on five goals and three assists he delivered in 29 appearances last season. Till date, the Portuguese attacker has bagged 46 goals and 16 assists in 118 games.
Paulinho has thrived this season at Braga along with Horta and Rui Fonte under Ruben Amorim, with the trio contributing to 19 goals in Liga Nos. Paulinho certainly would add more goals to a blunt Everton attack next season, given his goalscoring record this term.
He’s also scored six times in 12 Europa League games. The fact is that the Portuguese has made 23 goal contributions already for Braga and since he’s a versatile forward, this adds more value to the 27-year-old’s name.
Due to Paulinho’s flexibility to play in different positions across the front-line, Ancelotti could use him anywhere as per the game’s requirements. The Portuguese has scored plenty of goals for Braga and there are chances of him establishing himself at a higher level under the guidance of Ancelotti.
At the age of 27, Paulinho is at the prime of his career and Everton could enjoy his best years if they manage to sign him in the summer.
