The latest two strikers being linked with potential move to Everton are a couple of veteran marksmen but while Blues fans know all about Michail Antonio from his time in the Premier League, Duvan Zapata is arguably much more of an unknown quantity.
According to talkSPORT, Everton are ready to turn to West Ham United’s Antonio to rescue their sorry season with the understanding that the Londoners are open to offers for the 32-year-old, who has 18 months left on his contract, if they can sign a replacement.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are named as being among the other clubs to have registered their interest in the Jamaica international but it would seem odd that the Hammers would be willing to let an experienced goalscorer join one of their relegation rivals, especially the Blues who they are level on points with and face in their next fixture on Saturday. Meanwhile, after the Sunday People reported that Everton are in talks to sign Zapata on a loan-to-buy deal, Il Giorno – via Sport Witness – says that Goodison Park chiefs have launched negotiations with Atalanta general manager, Lee Congerton, for Zapata. The Italian club’s co-chairman, Stephen Pagliuca, was also present during the meeting with the Premier League side.
Handily, Comparisonator’s Similarity Comparison tool calculates that Antonio is the closest match in style among Premier League players to Zapata with a score of 84%, suggesting there is at least a ‘type’ of frontman that director of football Kevin Thelwell and manager Frank Lampard looking at, even if it’s forced to be one that is relatively long in the tooth in footballing terms. After him, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Deniz Undav with a score of 78% is rated next in similarity followed by Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur and Darwin Nunez of Liverpool, both rated at 77%.
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What might veteran Colombian international Zapata potentially offer Everton though? He’s certainly a more like-for-like alternative to Dominic Calvert-Lewin than the diminutive Neal Maupay.
This is shown through Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool when correlating Zapata’s statistics from this season against strikers already plying their trade in the Premier League. The Serie A-based player would rank third for aerial duels won with 3.59 per 90 minutes, behind Bournemouth’s Kieffer Moore (5.78) and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic (5.29) while above Calvert-Lewin in fourth on 3.51.
Zapata also makes the top 10 for offensive duels won but his eighth place tally of 7.19 puts him edged out by sixth placed Calvert-Lewin (7.46) with Mitrovic (9.8); Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal (9.33) and Moore (8.56) forming the top three. Much of Atalanta’s attacking play seems to go through Zapata as he is third on the received pass list (37.88) after leader Roberto Firmino of Liverpool (43.37) and the aforementioned Jesus on 42.04.
He’d be seventh for passes (25.85) with Firmino top on 40.6 but 10th for successful passes (18.11), another category that Firmino tops on 32.77. However, as someone who leads the line, Zapata’s positioning among offensive tables are worryingly low.
Despite having goalscoring returns of 28, 19, 19 and 13 in his first four seasons in Bergamo, the player, who turns 32 on April 1, has – like both Calvert-Lewin and Maupay – netted just once this season in the 11 matches he’s played. His 0.14 assists per game has him ranked 18th, the same position that his 2.07 shots per game puts him.
This figure drops to 25th for shots on target (0.83), a category Nunez tops with 2.19; he’s 15th for attacking actions (5.67) and 19th for successful attacking actions (2.35) and 23rd for successful touches in the box (3.46), all leading to a 30th place for expected goals with a figure of 0.23.
Overall, while Zapata has been a prolific striker in the past in Italy, the fear would be that time has now caught up with him with his numbers taking a steep dive this term, hence why he could be surplus to requirements at Atalanta who see Everton’s desperate situation as a last opportunity to get decent money for him. Antonio, who has netted five goals in 24 matches this season (although only two in 17 in the Premier League) would appear a more natural fit, especially in a situation where the Blues need new recruits to hit the ground running but as stated earlier, it would seem strange for West Ham United to let him join a direct rival.
Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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