‘The committee have yet to explain how they came up with the figure of £29million to sign Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim, who finished eighth in the Bundesliga last season.’
And it is unknown precisely which laptop guru in an air-conditioned office at Bournemouth suggested Evanilson might be worth a £40m punt.
But his passable impression of Firmino continues to catch the eye on the coast.
It goes beyond mere national or positional ties, and deeper into a more visceral, stylistic comparison. Squint hard enough when watching Evanilson chase defenders tirelessly while facilitating an entire team’s attack, and there is a sense of the Firmino regen about him.
Sunderland could not cope. Evanilson created the first goal with ample strength, speed and skill, then turned a speculative long ball against two centre-halves into a red card for Kevin Danso as he raced through and ended the game as a contest in the first half.
Then came the Firmino-coded piece de resistance: sensing the danger when leading the press, he latched onto Omar Alderete’s abysmal back pass, wrong-footed Robin Roefs with a couple of stepovers and rolled the ball into the net with a no-look finish.
Evanilson nets for the third game in a row 👏 https://t.co/t1DxRWVgYd
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 18, 2026
The Brazilian is, quite absurdly, the only Bournemouth player with a Premier League assist this season. No one in the division has more than his four, which is already more than he managed last season.
The key has been a slight shift in how he is used in this team, as implemented by Marco Rose.
“He keeps the ball, he’s going deep, he presses. So his effort is really outstanding,” the Bournemouth manager said. “And yes, when he drops, if he plays a little bit deeper, he’s still a really good player who with his technical abilities, he can give us a lot.
“I’m just happy for him that he rewards himself with goals now, because he’s a number nine, number nine-and-a-half, sometimes he played 10 this season, and he’s always working hard for the team out of possession, in possession.”
The description of Evanilson as “a good baller” with “quite good technique” was, for want of a better phrase, the cherry on top for a team and manager finally off the mark, and a player getting his due.
Klopp once called Firmino “a complete offensive player”, as well as “a very important player, a connecting player, a finisher, a fighter, a defender, the first defender”.
Rose, who could entirely plausibly have coached Firmino for a couple of seasons at Hoffenheim despite never in fact doing so, has found his natural successor in Evanilson.
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