Popular pundit Jamie Carragher has backed Everton to revisit their interest in Burnley winger Dwight McNeil following the Blues’ 3-1 victory over the clarets.
The club had been eyeing up a range of home-grown wingers, with Sky Sports reporter Pete Graves writing via his personal Twitter profile in July that McNeil was a top Toffees target along with Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray.
The latter two eventually joined the Blues for a combined transfer fee total of just £1.6 million, though a move for McNeil did not materialise.
Despite that, the failure to land McNeil did not prevent Carragher from referencing the Blues’ interest in the winger – with the clash with the clarets marking the perfect opportunity to do so.
Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football [13/09/21, via Goodison News] before the game, Carragher referenced Everton’s interest in acquiring the England Under-21 international:
“McNeil is a player I think Everton are really interested in,” Carragher said.
“I think they enquired about him in the summer, and he’s the guy who got a wonder goal at this stadium last season. I think he’s a really big part of what Burnley do, he adds that creativity at times.
“He’s a really quality player.
“There’s no doubt there may be suitors who think they can take him away from Burnley unfortunately for them, and I think Everton are one of them.”
Read Everton Verdict
He averaged the full ninety minutes per match last season and almost doubled his expected goals (xG) tally of 1.03 with his two goals. [Infogol]
More impressively, his reliability saw him add 5 assists to his team and complete 80% of his 911 passes last season – demonstrating his selfless, hard-working footballing nous.
At just 21, McNeil is a regular feature for Burnley and it is anything but unfathomable to see why Rafa Benitez was so keen on bringing the attacker to Goodison Park.
