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Friday 24 August 2018

Richarlison has the ambition and potential to be a Brazil regular – Everton might actually have got a bargain

"I was anxious ahead of the squad announcement," he said this week. "I watched it with high hopes, but unfortunately it wasn't to be on this occasion.

"But I'm hopeful that an opportunity will come, and I'll be prepared when it does. I'm going to continue working hard to make sure I'm on the list next time. I want to be the league's top scorer, take Everton back to the Champions League and make the Brazil squad."


You could not accuse Richarlison of lacking ambition. And while some scoffed when Everton forked out £40million plus for the Brazilian this summer, even his critics would accept that there's a ridiculous amount of potential there, too.

In my latest for Unibet, I tentatively suggest that the Toffees might have actually got a decent price for a player who is likely to make his mark for his country in the years ahead. Have a read here.

Tuesday 14 August 2018

Felipe Melo: 'Unai Emery is like a father to his players. I would have done anything for him'

11 years ago, Unai Emery was a relative unknown. But all that changed when he took modest Almería to the Spanish top flight for the first time in their history.

The minnows would finish eighth in La Liga, beating Real Madrid on the way. It would be the making of their Basque coach, as well as a breakout season for a number of his key players.


Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo was one: his career was stuttering when he joined Almería, but he thrived under Emery and would go on to play for Fiorentina and Juventus, becoming a regular for his country in the process.

Melo's shared his memories of Emery's management – from the endless video sessions to the heart-to-heart chats and one remarkable story involving a dice – with me for a profile in The Independent. You can read it here.