Hull City are reportedly close to sealing the signing of Oumar Niasse on-loan from fellow Premier League side Everton.
Oumar Niasse has become the butt of numerous jokes since his £13.5 million switch to Everton just under a year ago. The Senegalese international became the third most expensive Toffee in history when Roberto Martinez brought him to Goodison Park from Russian giants Lokomotiv Moscow, behind Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini, but his dream move hasn’t quite gone to plan.
The forward made a total of 7 appearances for the club under Martinez, failing to score in any of his outings. It is fair to say Niasse had failed to set the world alight, although the same could be said of many players during their first half season in the Premier League.
Despite his limited opportunities, Ronald Koeman was seemingly in no doubt when it came to the 26-year-old. Forty-five minutes in a pre-season is all the time Niasse was given to impress under the Dutchman, who immediately dropped him to the club’s under-23’s, removed his assigned shirt number and told him his future lied away from Goodison Park.
Oumar Niasse being presented to fans upon signing for Everton
Naturally saddened but not disheartened, Niasse has since got his head down, worked hard and tried to impress for the Toffees under-23’s. In October, the 26-year-old was quotes as saying, “I think I don’t deserve this but what I can do is just keep my head and fight to change things.”
It is an attitude which has earned the forward much praise from supporters at Goodison Park, many of whom believe that if his arguably more gifted teammates showed the same levels of commitment and desire, Ronald Koeman’s men could be significantly closer to the Premier League’s ‘top 6’, who have already broken away from the rest of the league.
Whether Niasse is good enough for the Premier League remains to be seen, but to write him off now would be madness. A prolific scorer in Senegal, he scored 15 goals in 40 games in Turkey, earning himself a move to one of Russia’s biggest clubs.
Ronald Koeman quickly made up his mind about Niasse
At Lokomotiv, it was a similar story to his start to life at Everton. Having initially found first team opportunities hard to come by and struggling to adapt to life in Russia, he got his chance through injury to the club’s first team forwards, ending the season with 12 goals in 21 games.
It was that form which prompted Everton to fork out over £13 million for the player, and since being dropped to Everton’s under-23’s, Niasse has been prolific. An average of a goal every 47 minutes for the Toffees second string is extraordinary at any level, and shows why there is still interest in the flop.
The names of the team’s Niasse has bagged against also suggests promise. Leicester, Southampton, Reading, Manchester United and Arsenal the 5 teams he has struck his 7 goals against, all of whom have good depth and impressive youth setups.
New Hull City manager Marco Silva will hope to get the best out of Niasse
Obviously relaying that form to life in the Premier League with a team currently propping up England’s top tier is no mean feat, but he ought to be regarded as an exciting signing by the Tigers faithful. Vice-Chairman Ehab Allam and newly-appointed Head Coach Marco Silva’s recent comments made it clear money would not be thrown at survival this January, so an international striker who cost £13.5 million less than 12 months ago for free has to be good business for the club.
The only doubt for Hull City and their new boss ought to be Niasse’s fitness. One of his key attributes in Russia, Niasse has clearly worked hard to stay in shape, but no first team football in 8 months takes it’s toll on any player. Hull City need immediate impact from Niasse, and should the powerful forward sign, it is imperative that he gets up to speed at a rapid rate.
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