According to a recent report by Turkish website Fotospor, Super Lig club Trabzonspor are said to be displaying a keen interest in the signature of Everton’s Senegalese international striker Oumar Niasse. The talismanic forward’s current contract at Goodison Park is set to expire at the end of the season, and it’s becoming more and more apparent that he’s not really in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans for the first-team.
The report suggests that the Turkish media have consistently talked up the striker’s return throughout the last couple of years. Trabzonspor are said to be confident about their chances of landing the Senegalese striker on a free transfer at the end of the current campaign. It has been claimed that the former Cardiff City striker has also been piqued by the opportunity to return to Turkey, where he had a spell with Akhisarspor back during the 2013/14 season.
Where Has It All Gone Wrong For Niasse At Everton?
The leggy attacker first burst onto the Premier League scene after he was signed by the Toffees in the summer of 2016, for what was at the time, a reasonably big-money move for the Merseyside club. The striker’s 19 goals and 14 assists in 42 games for Lokomotiv Moscow is what earned him suitors in the Premier League, to begin with. But since the switch though, things haven’t gone quite to plan.
Having featured just 42 times for the Toffees over three years, it’s clear that the Senegalese isn’t well-suited to Premier League football. For starters, Niasse’s positioning in the final third isn’t great. He tends to drift in and around the opposition centre-halves but has never shown the strength or determination required to become a feared forward in the English top-flight.
Although the tall forward can be a deadly finisher in the box, the fact that a team like Everton need more than just a target man up-front has come as an issue. The Senegalese striker has failed to display the intelligence and individual quality required to survive in the English top division.
Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, despite their tender age, have been preferred to Niasse all campaign – further highlighting the fact that the former Hull City man is currently surplus to requirements at Goodison Park.
Why Everton Must Cash In On Niasse While He’s Still Valuable
The Toffees boast one of the strongest squads in the entire league, and the departure of an average player like Niasse wouldn’t really hurt them too much. As mentioned earlier, Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison have made the starting roles at Goodison Park their own, while Moise Kean remains Carlo Ancelotti’s back-up option. With former Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun set to return from his loan spell at Crystal Palace at the end of the term as well, the Merseyside club will do well to offload Niasse in the summer.
