Everton are ready to sell Oumar Niasse in the coming weeks after the arrival of their star signing, Cenk Tosun from Besiktas. Sam Allardyce has been on the hunt for a proven goal scorer for quite some time now and finally landed the signature of the Turk for a transfer fee of £27m.
Oumar Niasse’s career at Everton has been less than impressive up until this season. He was sent out on loan to Hull City last season and was banished to the U23 side in October 2016. But he has fought his way back into the first team nabbing 6 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances this season.
That is an impressive goal tally no matter how you look at it and it begs the question – why should Everton sell him and not someone else?
Niasse’s run of form, however, has dropped in recent weeks. He was given a chance to prove himself to Allardyce in the side’s 0-2 loss to Manchester United at Goodison Park a week back. The game was crucial and Allardyce was eager to break the United defence.
But they got completely outclassed and barely even made a dent in the opposition shield. Niasse was significantly poor, often dropping to deeper positions and giving away the ball far too easily.
The youngster, Dominic Calvert-Lewin who is supposed to be his understudy has shown far more quality on the ball and an ability to run at opposition defences. Even though the 20-year-old’s finishing still needs quite a bit of work, he is a far better option as a second striker who can play from the wide areas as well.
Niasse arrived at Everton from Lokomotiv Moscow for a fee of £13.5m and are willing to accept a bid that would break them even. Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion have emerged as likely suitors ready to pay the asking price and bolster their own attacks.
Crystal Palace striker, Christian Benteke is currently suffering a severe goal drought with just one throughout the entire season. His struggle to replicate his own scoring standards is costing the Eagles dearly in their battle to escape relegation.
They started off the season poorly but ever since the appointment of Roy Hodgson, things have started to turn around for them. Their resolute display against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium earned them three points and placed them in a comfortable 14th spot of the Premier League table.
However, they are not out of the woods just yet, and a striker with a goalscoring pedigree is highly necessary going forward. Niasse’s addition might just confirm their place in the top flight English football for another season.
