The La Liga scoring sensation has endured an injury hit season but his 2015/16 campaign proves he’s worth the money for Everton.
Glancing at Cedric Bakambu’s stats in 2016/17, it’s not immediately apparent why The Sun claim that Ronald Koeman has identified the Villarreal striker as a potential replacement for Romelu Lukaku.
Four goals in 16 La Liga games doesn’t exactly give the indication that he is worth his reported £25 million price tag. However, other factors must be taken into consideration.
One; Bakambu missed ten games earlier in the season with a hamstring injury and is only now getting back to full fitness with two goals in his last five games.
And, two, Villarreal are a distinctly more conservative outfit under new boss Fran Escriba, relying more on their superb defensive record than their attacking threat.
Instead, Bakambu should be judged on his prolific 2015/16 season, firing Villarreal into the Europa League semi-finals and fourth place in the Spanish top flight with 21 goals in 39 games in all competitions.
In fact, only Diego Forlan scored more goals in a debut campaign for the Yellow Submarine. A year after signing on the cheap from Bursaspor, Bakambu immediately set about following in the footsteps of Forlan, Giuseppe Rossi, Nilmar and Luciano Vietto.
Pace, power and a lethal finish, Bakambu tormented Barcelona, Sevilla and single-handedly ripped apart Sergio Ramos and Pepe to inspire a 1-0 Villarreal victory against Real Madrid. He’s a big game player. Something Lukaku, who has only three goals in 30 games against the Premier League’s top six, is yet to prove.
The term ‘complete striker’ can appear a little dramatic but Bakambu has it all. Fearsome natural attributes combined with innate composure when one on one, capable of leading the line or adapting to a forward pairing, Bakambu would offer Everton both options and goals.
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