Everton striker Oumar Niasse has performed escape acts Houdini would be proud of to stay at Goodison Park for as long as he has.
The fact that Oumar Niasse is still an Everton player is little short of remarkable.
The Senegalese striker looked certain to leave Goodison Park during the summers of 2016 and 2017 with then Toffees manager Ronald Koeman making it clear that Niasse had no place in his first-team plans.
And The Guardian even claimed in January that Everton were willing to sell the former Lokomotiv Moscow man for £13 million with Sam Allardyce, like Koeman, seemingly not a fan of a player who had become something of a cult hero on Merseyside.
But, after two years, you wonder whether Niasse’s time has finally run out.
The likeable striker, who joined Everton for £13.5 million in January 2016, had enjoyed a real renaissance at the start of this season and has actually scored a very impressive seven goals in nine starts.
But since Cenk Tosun arrived in January from Besiktas and filled the Romelu Lukaku shaped void in Everton’s attack, Niasse has fallen further down the pecking order.
His last start came in the 1-0 defeat to Watford in February where he was subbed off after an hour – and the 28-year-old has managed just 30 minutes of Premier League football in the last two months.
Everton are expected to enhance their frontline again this summer with the likes of Jamie Vardy and Alassane Plea linked recently.
So Niasse would be very lucky to avoid the chop this time around.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
