Everton's chances of beating Arsenal and transfer verdicts on Jack Grealish and Harry Wilson have been delivered by Anders Limpar
Harry Wilson and (inset) Jack Grealish
Harry Wilson and (inset) Jack Grealish
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Everton can pull off a shock win at Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday but then they must prioritise a permanent transfer for Jack Grealish over a move for Harry Wilson this summer.
That’s the verdict of a player who won major honours at both Everton and Arsenal, Anders Limpar, (the League Championship with the Gunners in 1991 and the FA Cup with the Blues in 1995), even though Mikel Arteta’s side are top of the table and still fighting on all four fronts of the competitions they have entered this season.
Although they triumphed 1-0 on St George’s Day 2021 thanks to a Bernd Leno own goal behind closed doors at the Emirates Stadium due to coronavirus restrictions, Everton have not won away at Arsenal in front of fans for over 30 years since strikes from Graham Stuart and Andrei Kanchelskis gave them a 2-1 comeback victory at Highbury on January 20, 1996.
However, the Blues have won a dozen Premier League fixtures on their travels since David Moyes returned, including seven this term, a figure only Arsenal themselves can currently better.
Speaking to FruityKing, Limpar said: “Everton have been so good away from home this season. They actually beat Aston Villa away and they’ve had a great run of games in which they haven’t conceded a goal so why can’t they win at Arsenal?
“Arsenal away is the one game that every team in the whole Premier League doesn’t want to play this season, and it’s up to Arsenal whether Everton can cause them problems. They are going to have to take their chances and score goals because they will have the possession and they have great players like Bukayo Saka who must turn up and perform.
“So, how can David Moyes make sure Everton are a threat to Arsenal? I don’t think you want to sit back when you play away against Arsenal, you should speak to one of your guys like Beto or Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to see how they can cause problems at corners.
“Can Everton get some possession in Arsenal’s half? Over the 90 minutes, you’re going to be chasing the ball so the game plan should be to have a go because if you played this game 10 times, Arsenal would probably win eight of those games.
“Everton can’t sit back and let Arsenal play. They need to go and have a go!”
Limpar, a former left winger himself, reckons Everton should make signing Grealish on a permanent transfer this summer a priority, even though the Brummie star is expected to be ruled out for the remainder of this campaign with a stress fracture in his left foot picked up in January.
The first £100million English player joined the Blues on a season-long loan last August with reports claiming there was an option to make the deal permanent for £50million. While it seems unlikely that The Friedkin Group would break the club’s transfer record to land someone who is 31 in September, money is no object in the former Sweden international’s eyes.
Limpar said: “Buy him, buy him, buy him, buy him! Just buy him.
“I don’t care how much. Jack Grealish is still one of the best players in the Premier League and Everton have a solid team with another one of the best players in the league in Iliman Ndiaye.
“When Grealish is playing, he’s taking the pressure off Ndiaye because nowadays everybody is looking at Ndiaye, and he has to take on 50 people to score. When Jack is on the pitch, he is a player like Martin Odegaard for Arsenal, he directs the game – when to play quick, when to play slow.
“When he has the ball, the whole team can move 20 yards up the pitch. You don’t have to stay back.
“They are tremendous, these kinds of players, and I really hope that they can buy Jack so he can be a proper Everton player because that will help the team and it will help the best player, Ndiaye.”
Another player the Blues have been linked with his former Liverpool winger Wilson. The Wales international could be available on a free transfer with his current contract at Fulham expiring at the end of the season.
Everton tried to get a bargain buy from Craven Cottage last summer when they attempted to sign right-back Kenny Tete on a free transfer but ultimately the Dutch international performed a U-turn late in negotiations and decided to pen a new deal with the west London outfit.
Limpar said: “I’m certainly interested in Harry Wilson but if you look at the whole picture, all his experience and the impact Jack Grealish is having on the training ground after all his time playing for Manchester City and being managed by Pep Guardiola, I would still prioritise signing Jack over Wilson in the summer.
“Jack needs to get fit again. He needs to get over his injury.
“Once he’s back he needs to get working for the team again. I do like Wilson but to have a player like Jack, who is going to take on the pressure from other players like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye, or even Beto and Thierno Barry, that’s a quality you can’t so easily buy unless you buy Jack Grealish.”