Everton can only benefit from the lavish praise Jamie Carragher has directed toward Moise Kean, as the top Sky Sports pundit hailed the work of Marcel Brands on Monday Night Football.
The Blues spent a reported £25.1million, rising to £27.5m, to acquire the rising star of Italian football from Juventus, and Carragher feels the fee agreed by Brands and the Turin outfit will look like a bargain as we bid to end the long-running search of replacing Romelu Lukaku.
Manchester United’s acquisition of the Belgian has left our attack depleted for years, with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Oumar Niasse, Sandro Ramirez, Cenk Tosun, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin never showing a prolific touch in front of goal in the seasons that have followed.
Carragher expects big things of Kean, though, and has tipped the 19-year-old to end the year clutching the PFA Young Player of the Year award, while Gary Neville opted for Leicester City’s James Maddison.
“Moise Kean, I think, is one to watch,” said Carragher. “He’s come away from Juventus, he’s come to Everton, I haven’t seen him play yet, but it almost seems like a snip, in terms of price, what they’ve paid.”
The former Liverpool defender favouring the Blues summer signing over the Foxes ace speaks volumes, as Maddison’s creativity and attacking intelligence offered Leicester a huge boost last season and led to the 22-year-old earning his first call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad in October.
Maddison also led Leicester by some way in terms of key passes in the Premier League, with the Coventry-born midfielder penning 100 in 36 games – the most in the top-flight (Eden Hazard, second with 98) and more than double that of second-placed Foxes man Ben Chilwell (45).
He also led the King Power Stadium natives for assists (7), ranked second for successful dribbles (50), fourth for tackles (48) and first for shots (83) and shots from outside of the box (57).