Following Evanilson's big-money move from FC Porto to AFC Bournemouth, football writer Alex Keble analyses why the Brazilian striker can fill the boots of Dominic Solanke, who has left to join Tottenham Hotspur.
Player analysis: Evanilson (AFC Bournemouth)
The speed with which Bournemouth replaced Solanke suggests they are supremely confident Evanilson is the right man to lead the line. The price tag suggests the same.
Bournemouth have smashed their transfer record to bring in the 24-year-old Brazil striker, who has reportedly cost an initial fee of £31.5million, rising to £40m with add-ons.
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Clearly, at that price, it’s a gamble that needs to work out.
And it is indeed a gamble. Evanilson scored only 13 goals in the Portugese top flight last season - six short of Solanke’s Premier League total - despite playing for a side who finished third.
How he will cope at Premier League level, and in a mid-table club, is a known unknown.
But Evanilson does have a lot of the raw attributes to be a success, and analysis of his playing style even suggests he might be better suited to Andoni Iraola’s football than to Porto’s.
Evanilson's first interview
Goalscoring compares favourably
The statistics suggest Bournemouth have made a smart move; that they were right to quickly land their man and give him Solanke’s No 9 shirt.
When comparing their numbers across all competitions, Evanilson and Solanke score similarly for shots, goals, and touches in the opposition box, all of which suggests he can be the same penalty-box poacher that Solanke became for Iraola.
There is virtually no difference here, and Evanilson actually scored goals at a better rate than Solanke. The Brazilian also slightly outperformed his own Expected Goals (xG) total, whereas Solanke hit his exactly. That suggests the new signing may be an even better finisher.
Evanilson v Solanke attacking threat 23/24
| Evanilson | Solanke | |
| Appearances | 34 | 42 |
| Goals | 17 | 21 |
| Assists | 4 | 4 |
| Goals/90 | 0.60 | 0.53 |
| xG/90 | 0.51 | 0.53 |
| Shots/90 | 2.87 | 2.97 |
| Touches in opp. box/90 | 6.56 | 5.85 |
One area that Evanilson will need to improve, though, is his heading ability.
While he wins more of his aerial duels than Solanke, 46.3 per cent compared with 41.8 per cent, the Brazilian scored only one header for Porto last season, compared with Solanke's four.
Evanilson’s all-round game is well-suited to Iraola
Evanilson is a lot more than a poacher, however.
He is a bustling and strong carrier of the ball with an aggressive playing style and low centre of gravity. He will often collect the ball on the half-turn to drive at the heart of the defence.
That battling spirit should be helpful for a team that counter-press as hard as Iroala’s. Bournemouth's passes per defensive action (PPDA), which measures pressing intensity, of 10.8 last season was bettered only by Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal.
More importantly, Evanilson's proactive and vertical playing style suits Bournemouth’s focus on transitions.
Iraola likes his teams to spring forward on the break, taking advantage of the gaps that open up when the ball is won back. Evanilson loves to drop into the half-spaces to take the ball and run with it, and is arguably better at linking the play than Solanke.
Evanilson v Solanke passes and touches 23/24
| Stats per 90 | Evanilson | Solanke |
|---|---|---|
| Passes completed | 17.2 | 14.7 |
| Progressive passes | 2.27 | 1.63 |
| Touches | 32.7 | 29.0 |
| Miscontrols | 1.91 | 3.69 |
Some of these numbers can be put down to Evanilson playing in a more possession-centric side than Solanke did last season. Bournemouth averaged 44.4 per cent possession to Porto's 63.1 per cent, a huge difference reflected in the statistics above.
Nevertheless, playing for such a dominant team like Porto proves that Evanilson can be trusted to drop deep to sew things together.
Champions League performances are the surest sign
More importantly, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Evanilson's powerful running might work better in a team with a low share of possession.
He scored a hat-trick for Porto in the UEFA Champions League group stage last season against Royal Antwerp, a match in which Porto held 45 per cent possession. He also created five chances in the 5-3 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk in the same competition, when Porto held 49 per cent possession.
When playing in the Champions League, Porto became more reactive, closer resembling Iraola’s Bournemouth, and it is on this stage that Evanilson stood out most.
He contributed five goals or assists in only seven matches in the competition last season, leading the counter-pressing charge throughout, including in the second-round defeat to Arsenal after a penalty shootout.
Even putting the tactical or statistical analysis to one side, those numbers tell a compelling story.
If Evanilson can do it on Europe’s biggest stage, he can do it in the Premier League.
Analysis of other summer signings