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With just eight games to go, it is fair to say it has been another largely underwhelming campaign for Everton.

The Blues started the campaign with high hopes, yet after 30 matches played, they find themselves 11th in the Premier League table on 37 points, the exact same number of points they had at the same stage last season.

With the post-mortem due to take place in the summer, positions and personal will be scrutinised in great detail as the Blues hierarchy look to right the wrongs of a disenchanting campaign.

Amongst those to be assessed will be Barcelona loanee Andre Gomes.

The slick Portuguese midfielder joined in the summer but missed the opening months of the season through an hamstring injury. He made his debut against Crystal Palace in a 2-0 win in October, putting in an fairly assured display.

The following week he put in another strong performance at Old Trafford as Everton were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Manchester United.

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A string of admiral displays were capped off with a man-of-the-match award at Goodison Park as Everton defeated Cardiff 1-0. It was a result that saw the Blues climb into the Premier League top-six.

His performances in this spell had Evertonians raving and attracted many plaudits from different parts of the media. There was even some similarities drawn up between him and former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta, yet it’s unsure how warranted those comparisons were.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

Either way, it was a far cry from the reception he had received in the latter stages of his time at Camp Nou. Gomes joined the Catalan giants in 2016 for a hefty fee of £49.3m from Valencia.

He struggled to ever really establish himself in the side and the dream quickly turned into a nightmare, the lowest point coming in March last season when he was booed by his own fans when he was substituted onto the pitch against Atletico Madrid.

Whilst it all seems to play out as a happy ending for Gomes at Everton, it’s been reported Barcelona will be looking for around £40m for the midfielder as they look to recoup some of the fee splashed out on the Portuguese man three years ago.

A transfer in that region would make the midfielder Everton’s second-most expensive ever signing behind Gylfi Sigurdsson. Therefore, Blues bosses must truly assess if the move would be a wise one.

Ultimately, whilst Gomes has shown glimpses of his talent’s this season, he remains a mainstay in a largely underachieving Everton side. A further look at his statistics from the season highlights that some of those earlier accolades may have been a little bit premature.

Defensive capabilities

Given he is often paired with Idrissa Gueye, there is less of an expectancy on Gomes to shield that defensive backline and instead there is more of a reliance on him when Everton are in possession.

This season, he has averaged 9.67 defensive duels per 90 minutes with a success rate of 22.99%. For comparison, Gueye averages 9.91 defensive duels per 90 minutes with a success rate of 28.52%. This suggests he does often find himself engaging in duels when the opposition attack.

However, when it comes to reading the play and intercepting the ball, he averages just 3.36 interceptions per 90 minutes. When compared against Premier League central midfielders who have played over 1000 minutes this season, he ranks a very disappointing 59th in the league.

(Image: Everton FC via Getty Images)

In terms of an aerial presence, he averages just 3.26 aerial duels per 90 minutes, this again doesn’t rank inside the top 20 of that same group in the Premier League.

Additionally, when it comes to giving away cheap fouls, he is averaging 1.86 per game. Only six other midfielders from that same group have averaged more fouls this season.

With little impact defensively, it makes it more difficult to absolve his tendency to give away cheap fouls, especially given Everton’s set-piece woes this season.

Attacking influence

Clearly not in the side for his defensive prowess, what about his attacking influence?

Again the numbers are largely underwhelming. Gomes netted his first and to date only league goal in a 3-1 defeat at home to Wolves last month.

Sometimes a players goal return can be a little misleading, therefore relying on the Expected Goal (xG) metric can assist in this regard. For example, if a player has scored just one goal, but his xG for the season is five, there would be an indication that he has perhaps been a little bit unlucky. Over a sustained period or league campaign, usually the players goal tally would likely even out to reflect their xG.

Yet this isn't the case for Gomes who’s xG for the season is just 1.04, demonstrating he has about the right amount of goals as he should given the attacking positions he has taken and the chances presented to him.

Furthermore, he doesn't seem to offer much creativity for his side in front of goal either. He has averaged just one league assist all season and his average Expected Assist (xA) per 90 minutes is just 0.03. This pretty much indicates he offers next to nothing in terms of assisting his teammates for goal scoring opportunities.

This can be common for players who often sit deeper in midfield. Therefore another metric that can be relied upon to assess the impact of deep-lying player is something called Expected Goal Chain per 90 minutes (xGC90).

(Image: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

xGC90 measures the contribution of players involved in the earlier stages of attacking moves, the higher the score, the more influential they are in building attacks for their side.

Gomes currently averages an xGC90 of just 0.21. For comparison, Gueye’s xGC90 for the season is 0.37. This suggests Gomes isn’t particularly influential in starting attacking moves for Everton either.

Passing competency

Whilst he may not be known for his defensive power or attacking impact, he is considered a pass master in Silva’s side

But just how good has Gomes been in this favored department?

Firstly in terms of passes per 90 minutes, Gomes has averaged 48.44 per 90 minutes this season. That total ranks 36th amongst those same Premier League central midfielders, placing lower than the likes of West Ham’s Mark Noble and even his midfielder partner Gueye.

He exhibits a passing accuracy percentage of 85.38%, which ranks 42nd on that list behind the likes of Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Brighton’s Yves Bissouma. Former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley ranks fourth on that list with 92.62% and Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum leads the way with an accuracy percentage of 92.88%.

Passing statistics can often be criticised for not demonstrating the full picture. Some players can boast impressive passing statistics but if the bulk of those successful passes are only backwards or sideways, with a depleted success rate for forward passes, the impact the player has on the team’s offensive build up play is minimal.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

However, Gomes doesn’t really shine is this department either. The Portuguese player averages 13.80 forward passes per 90 minutes with a completion rate of just 74.53%. This ranks 49th in that same company of players.

Notably, midfielder partner Gueye, who has come under criticism in the past for his forward passing limitations, averages 16.54 forward passes per 90 minutes with a success rate of 78.69%.

Taking the above into account, there is no doubt questions still remain as to whether the midfielder has done enough to warrant a full switch to Goodison Park. Whilst there have been glimpses of brilliance from him since his arrival at Goodison Park, they have been few and far between.

With a lot of money spent on so many failed transfers for Everton in recent seasons, they will know they must be a lot shrewder this summer, and that might just be at the expense of Blues current No.8.