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Continuing our three-part special, Chris Beesley tells the Bernard story by speaking to those who have watched Everton's new Brazilian star closely throughout his career to date.





Everton were the 'People's Club' long before former manager David Moyes came up with his now iconic sound bite after his appointment in 2002.



Given that they enjoyed the highest average attendances of all clubs for the first 10 seasons of the Football League, they could claim to have the longest-established major fanbase in the whole world.



So imagine if the Blues were forced to move from Goodison Park to Cornwall because of stadium safety concerns around Merseyside?



That's the kind of scenario Bernard was faced with when his former club Shakhtar had to relocate from their home city of Donetsk because of the conflict in Ukraine.



The Brazilian had long been touted to make a big move to Europe before finally completing his switch to Shakhtar in 2013.





Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb spotted him on loan at lower division Democrata while he was still a teenager in 2010 but parent club Atletico Mineiro said no.



He might have even ended up in the Premier League some five years earlier than he eventually did with a reputed €19million offer from Tottenham in 2013 but again this was rejected.

Shakhtar win the race

Bernard, who supposedly had his heart set on a move to Porto, would exit his native Belo Horizonte that summer but it would be the Ukrainians who won the race for his signature.



Manuel Veth, the Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network recalls the background to Bernard's transfer.



He told the ECHO: “I remember that a bunch of clubs wanted Bernard. That was the year that Borussia Dortmund sold Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich and he was linked really heavily with them.



“Ultimately Dortmund would sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk so it was all inter-linked really with Bernard ending up going to Ukraine.

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“We all thought he would be the next big thing from Brazil. Neymar's stock really started rising in 2013 too and Bernard was almost mentioned in the same kind of breath back then.



“He was seen as being a fantastic playmaker and Shakhtar paid a lot of money for him – €25million – we laugh about that kind of sum now given the way that the transfer fees have spiralled but back then it was a huge amount.”



A move from South America to Eastern Europe is likely to be something a culture shock for any player but the world was turned upside down for both Bernard and his club colleagues the next year when a conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian groups, ravaged the country.

Veth said: “It was a bit of a difficult start for Bernard at Shakhtar. He moved over there and the conflict started in Ukraine.

“He was among the players who went on strike after the World Cup when the plane was shot down over the Donbass.

“The owner, Rinat Akhmetov put a quick hold on to it because he basically said 'you guys are not striking because you're afraid of coming back, you're striking to get a free transfer.'





“Kia Joorabchian was the agent at the time who had all of the Brazilians and the club president identified him as supposedly being behind the strategy so it was a bit of a tough time for Bernard.

“You could always see that he was talented but I felt that under Mircea Lusescu, Paulo Fonseca's predecessor as coach at Shakhtar, he didn't really play his best.

“It was really only under Fonseca that he produced the football he is capable of – for those last two years he was fantastic.”

(Image: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)



Toughening up



With their home ground deemed unsafe, Shakhtar were forced to relocate away from their home city of Donetsk - first over 750 miles to the west in Lviv between 2014-16 and then 200 miles north to Kharkiv since 2017.



However, Veth believes such hardships have only served to strengthen Bernard's resolve.



He said: “I think his time in Ukraine toughened him up. It's not easy to play there, especially at Shakhtar over the past few years with the club being in exile.

“They have been travelling through the country with the players living in hotels in Kiev – it's hard.

“You're not playing against great opposition – it used to be a very good league when he first came there – but the league went bankrupt because of the conflict.

“The level went down but at the same time he was having to compete against the very best in Europe with Shakhtar in the Champions League. It's very hard to make that transition.”

(Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)



Veth added: “There's the climate too, you have to take the winter off between December-February. When I lived in Ukraine I arrived in April and it was still minus 10 degrees.



“It makes me smile when people trot out that line 'can a player do it on a wet Wednesday night in Stoke?' when Eastern Europe is under a blanket of snow throughout winter, it gets really tough.



“The pitches are frozen and there were big Ukrainian defenders who would just go for Bernard's legs and he wouldn't have the best referees in the world to protect him either.



“Just look at all the players that Shakhtar have had – they've been a great school for Brazilians to come to Europe – they go there for a few years and then make the next step.



“There's been the likes of Fernandinho and Douglas Costa who have done very well after their time at Shakhtar.”

(Image: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)



Different positions

Bernard was part of versatile attacking midfield unit with Shakhtar but Veth envisages the player's future could remain out wide for Everton.



He said: “We always think of Bernard as an attacking central midfield player – a number 10 – but he didn't always play like that there, especially under Fonseca, he put him on the wing because he was very fast.



“It was a very different role to the one he was brought in to do in replacing Mkhitaryan.



“However it was a very fluid attacking position as he would drift quite a bit between the three who would often interchange.



“Gylfi Sigurdsson pretty much has the number 10 role nailed down at Everton so you suspect that Bernard will continue to play on the wing.



“I also think in English football you need a bit more meat on your bones to play in the middle.



“Being on the wing there could well be easier for Bernard but it's interesting because that has been Richarlison's position.”

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





Ultimately, Veth believes that the Blues have conducted a shrewd piece of business though.



He concludes: “I think he's going to be a success at Everton. How often do we get a player who is 26 who cost €25million just five years ago and now you pick him up on a free transfer?



“I couldn't believe that there weren't more clubs willing to take the risk and trying to sign him.



“He went completely under the radar for the previous six months and Everton picked him up, it was a great deal for them.”