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Enough is enough: It’s time for £13.5m Everton flop to leave Goodison Park

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Oumar Niasse celebrates after scoring for Everton. (Getty Images)

Why Oumar Niasse should leave Everton in January

When Marco Silva was appointed by Everton as their manager earlier this summer, one player who certainly must have heaved a huge sigh of relief is Oumar Niasse.

Oumar Niasse’s Everton career hasn’t been a plain sailing after joining the club from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2016 for £13.5m. It’s been a bumpy road for the Senegalese at Merseyside, having to go through highs and lows in his Premier League career so far.

When Niasse joined the Toffees on February 1, 2016, he was a relatively unknown prospect signed by Roberto Martinez to take the club out of the rut. But Niasse underwhelmed in his debut season at Goodison Park, managing just seven appearances in all competitions.

With Roberto Martinez sacked after a poor season, many felt Niasse would follow the Spaniard’s suit out of the door.

The striker’s performances in the first few months hardly inspired confidence amongst the fans and that was cut short even further when new manager Ronald Koeman froze him out of his plans for the following campaign.

Oumar Niasse

That appeared to be the final nail on Niasse’s Everton career, with the centre-forward not being allotted a squad number and a locker in the dressing room. A transfer away from the club never materialised and Niasse teamed up with David Unsworth’s U23s, where he impressed with his goals and desire to succeed at the highest level.

The Senegalese soon got a chance to reboot his Premier League career when Marco Silva and Hull City stepped in. Silva was in the midst of a relegation battle and he viewed Niasse as his team’s source of goals.

While Silva’s Hull suffered the relegation despite putting in brave efforts, Niasse showed great character during the period of adversity and earned a lot of plaudits. He ended the season with five goals in 19 appearances in all competitions for Hull but couldn’t save the Tigers from the drop.

Niasse returned to Everton full of confidence and with a point to prove to Koeman. The 28-year-old managed to do well last season, finishing with nine goals in 25 appearances in all competitions.

Oumar Niasse

As far as things stand for Niasse, even though he is in Silva’s plans, he must leave Everton. Cenk Tosun remains Everton’s first-choice striker under Silva and the young Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also pushing for regular first-team football.

Niasse, who was handed his first start of the new season in the EFL Cup game against Rotherham, struggled to make an impact and was overshadowed by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose double sealed Everton’s qualification to the next round. The Senegalese has been used as a substitute so far this term, with the likes of Cenk Tosun and Dominic Calvert-Lewin keeping him out of the side.

Read more: Go for it Silva – It’s time for Everton to drop their veteran and hand this summer signing a first-team place

Now with playing time at Goodison Park this season looking increasingly unlikely, the Senegalese must leave the club in January to revive his career.