Everton fans surely felt a discomfort when their exiled player Oumar Niasse, now on loan with Hull City, scored the winner against Manchester United in the EFL Cup semifinals. The striker had been frozen out of manager Ronald Koeman’s plans after a rift and wasn’t allowed to play a single game for them in the league before he moved to the KCOM Stadium.
Although Koeman might be right in his place, but the Dutch manager has inarguably failed to provide a replacement for the exiled Senegalese in Everton’s striking position. Romelu Lukaku has undoubtedly been quite productive in the striker’s role, but the Belgian international is by no ways a world class poacher and his inconsistency has cost Everton on more than one occasion.
Everton have brought in some very quality players this winter transfer window too, but the forward position still lacks potential. Although Enner Valencia was brought to play as a centre-forward, he is more of a winger now and with Koeman starting with Kevin Mirallas alongside Lukaku in Everton’s last match pretty much sums up his options up front.
Everton sits in a good position in the Premier League table and Koeman will definitely find a way to share Lukaku’s burden up front if the Toffees are aiming to sustain their form and move up the table. And reports say that Koeman has identified APOEL Nicosia star Pieros Sotiriou as a potential forward for the club.
The 24-year-old Cyprus international has been quite impressive this season for his club scoring a whopping 14 goals in 19 appearances in the Cypriot top-flight. According to Le Parisien, the Toffees have already enquired over Sotiriou’s availability.
Cyprus has never been a popular destination to pick players from for the Premier League clubs and Sotiriou could just be the third play from the country to play in the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Alexis Nicolas and Nikodimos Papavasiliou.
Of course, Everton are not the only suitors for the player as Southampton and Stoke City are among the other Premier League clubs to closely monitor the striker. Everton will, however, definitely have the edge over the other two given their better league position and financial strength.
A youth product of Cyprus side Olympiakos Nicosia, Sotiriou joined APOEL Nicosia in 2013 and he is currently tied to the club until 2020. He has 31 goals in total in the first division of Cyprus and has won 19 caps for Cyprus national team since making his debut for the nation over four years ago.
Although an unproven prospect in the top-level football, Sotiriou could turn out to be a major asset for Everton with proper playing time and nurturing.
