Koeman made a huge blunder with the capture of this “exciting” winger.
In the summer of 2016, new Everton owner Farhad Moshiri sought to make a statement of intent in the transfer window by unloading a war chest of funds on several players.
Unfortunately, their business in that summer would foreshadow what was to come as a misfiring transfer strategy continues to be at the forefront of their demise seven years later.
The only two success stories to come from that window were the £1.5m acquisition of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Sheffield United and the £7.1m shelled out for Aston Villa’s all-action midfielder, Idrissa Gueye.
The rest of the personnel that arrived all drastically failed in an Everton shirt as Ashley Williams, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ademola Lookman bled the club dry across their spells at the club.
Yet, the most disappointing name on that list was Yannick Bolasie, as the explosive winger was captured from Crystal Palace for a reported club-record fee.
The fee Everton paid for Yannick Bolasie
Described by former manager Alan Pardew as “exciting”, Bolasie had Premier League defences on strings for years at Selhurst Park with his searing pace and exceptional trickery, so when Ronald Koeman splashed £30m on the player, Everton may have felt like they were getting their money’s worth.
The DR Congo international spent a successful four years at Palace terrorising defences, forming an indispensable partnership with fellow electric winger Wilfried Zaha as that destructive duo helped the Eagles soar back to the top flight in 2013, recording 26 goal contributions between them.
After destroying the Championship, Bolasie would become a thorn in the back of Premier League defences, utilising his pace and athleticism to carve through teams on the counter, without having the goal contributions to show for it.
Yannick-Bolasie-in-action-for-Crystal-Palace
He did not manage to score and only chalked up four assists across the 2013/14 season, however, the explosive winger would soon turn his sensational build-up play into dynamite in the following term, supplying 11 assists and four goals with Jamie Carragher labelling his performances as “outstanding”.
By the time the Toffees snapped him up in 2016, Bolasie had established himself as one of the most exciting wingers to watch in the division, with the Athletic aptly describing him as “Palace’s entertainer”.
During his association with the South London club, he produced some sensational moments worthy of getting supporters excited, including the profound ‘Bolasie flick’ and the role he played in the ‘Crystanbul’ draw with Liverpool.
The Goodison Park faithful envisaged seeing him take Merseyside by storm with his eye-catching and powerful performances, but they were to be disappointed.
Yannick Bolasie’s performance at Everton
The hair-raising and magical Bolasie would soon turn into a shell of his former self, perhaps falling victim to the huge expectations and pressure applied on his shoulders.
There was always a question of what Bolasie’s ceiling was, impressing with his excellent approach play and ability to glide past defenders, while his output in the final third was severely lacking.
Everton’s manager at the time, Koeman, would have felt he could have transformed the 50-cap Congo international into a goal-scoring phenom, which would have propelled him towards the upper echelon of Premier League wingers.
yannick/bolasie/everton
However, he was incredibly unfortunate to have ruptured his ACL early on in his Toffees career in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United. This horrendous injury sidelined him for just over a year and saw him miss a total of 63 games.
Bolasie never quite recovered from this huge setback, seeing his progress in Blue stall as he only scored two goals and supplied four assists in 32 appearances across five years.
A handful of new bosses followed, as did an influx of players and this saw him loaned out to several clubs, including Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Anderlecht.
He was released by Everton in 2021 and is now a free agent following a prosperous spell at Turkish side Caykur Risespor, rolling back the years with 20 goals in 55 appearances.
The capture of Bolasie, who ended up departing on a free transfer, turned out to be a huge blunder on Koeman’s behalf as his exciting £30m signing failed to make a significant impact on the pitch and left for nothing.
