For Everton‘s forgotten signing Youssef Chermiti, Tuesday’s Under-20 international between England and Portugal is an important audition.
In a close season when the Toffees desperately needed to boost their firepower, the signing of Chermiti, a raw but promising 19-year-old striker from Sporting Lisbon, on a buy-now, pay-later deal was an intriguing move.
So far he has played just 27 minutes of Premier League football. There have been flashes of potential but he remains a work-in-progress, which is why making a statement for Portugal at Stadium MK feels important.
“Chermiti is one of the best Portuguese forwards of his generation, no question. He’s one of the best in the U20 group and there are big hopes for him,” Sebastiao Macias, a Portuguese football analyst and former coaching colleague of Carlos Queiroz, tells i.
“But he is still young and developing. He has a good profile of the Premier League, he is at one of the big English clubs so there is pressure but he has the talent.”
i understands the club requested he be left out of the Portugal U20 squad in September because he was on a special strength and conditioning programme at Finch Farm to fast-track him physically for the Premier League.
The Portuguese FA acquiesced to that request and insiders say they can already see the results of that work in this international camp. “That work is bearing fruit, he is a different player from the one we saw before,” a source told i.
Whether that means he is ready for the cut and thrust of league football is unclear but back in his homeland, they are convinced of his potential. For all that his move might be a slow burner, Everton’s foresight is admired.
i understands that if the 777 Partners takeover progresses, theoretically releasing funds for squad building, Chermiti could be allowed to leave on loan to collect first-team minutes. But he remains a long-term project that the club are committed to.
On Tuesday night against a talented England team, he will get an opportunity to catch Everton’s eye. The club will have representatives in Milton Keynes and a strong performance will help press his case.
The message from the club is to expect more of these sort of signings – with Everton hopeful the new approach to coaching and development implemented by director of football Kevin Thelwell will see them blossom.
Portugal U20’s new head coach Oceano Cruz has taken a particular interest in the development of Chermiti and seems an ideal candidate to help him improve at international level.
“Oceano is known in Portugal as ‘captain’, he is a leader but also someone who develops players expertly,” former colleague Macias tells i.
A former Sporting Lisbon midfielder, Cruz’s passion for the Premier League can be traced back to working under Sir Bobby Robson during his playing career. He also worked with Queiroz at Iran and helped develop a “golden generation” of young players in that country who qualified for the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
If the relationship continues to blossom, it could be Everton who reap the rewards.
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