Everton beat West Ham United and Chelsea to the free signing of Brazilian forward Bernard last summer.

The 26-year-old had spent the last five months prior to his Goodison Park arrival recovering from a shoulder injury.

Nevertheless, he managed to make 34 Premier League appearances for Marco Silva side, scoring once and assisting thrice.

Bernard is looking forward to doing more in the final third next season, and while a reunion with one of his former Atletico Mineiro teammates isn’t on the cards, the forward has revealed that former Everton loanee Jo would love to play for the Blues once again.

“Jo watched my first game against Leicester and sent me a message saying he was really happy with my performance,” he told ECHO.

“He told me the club was an excellent and great club with an extra-ordinary structure. He also said he would like to play here again.

“With the mindset he has, he is a lot more mature and a totally different person, a changed guy, really focused.”

Jo spent the latter half of the 2008-09 campaign on loan at Goodison Park having found it difficult to break into the Manchester City line-up upon arriving from CSKA Moscow six months earlier.

The Brazilian striker ended his first Everton stint with five goals in 12 league appearances, earning a season-long loan at the club the following season as a result.

However, his second stint didn’t go down well as he was suspended by manager David Moyes for travelling to Brazil for Christmas without permission.

Jo returned to City immediately and left the top-flight the following season.

The 34-year-old has since played for Internacional, Corinthians and J1 League outfit Nagoya Grampus where he has 26 goals in 37 appearances.

Everton will most likely sign a new striker this summer as Silva looks to challenge for the Europa League places next season, but at his age, Jo clearly doesn’t fit the profile of the type of attacker the club want.