We’re going to stick ourselves out there right now. We at View From The Ninian strongly believe that Oumar Niasse could very well be the answer to Cardiff City’s striking questions.
Fast, a hard worker and an eye for goal – everything Cardiff City need in Neil Warnock’s system. He’s also ready and available – what’s not to love?
We want to get more of an insight into the Senegalese international, who has been linked to a £6.5 million move to Crystal Palace window. So, we spoke to Mr Everton himself, Editor of the brilliant The Blue Room, Patrick Boyland.
On Niasse the striker…
“The first thing to say about Oumar Niasse is that he never gives up. If you look at his topsy-turvy Everton career to date, one of the most striking things is the way he has repeatedly come back from disappointments.
I think that sort of mentality is fully evident in his play. He’s hard-working, quick and an absolute nuisance to play against. There are serious technical flaws, but for those sides who struggle creatively, he’s an absolute dream.”
On his Everton career…
“Topsy-turvy, as I mentioned above. Bought for around £14million – a considerable outlay for Everton at the time – Niasse initially struggled to make any sort of impact to the extent that he was once considered one of the club’s biggest ever flops. He was shunned by both Roberto Martinez and Ronald Koeman, and the Dutchman famously refused to give him a locker as he tried to forced him out of the club.
In adversity under a bereft Koeman and David Unsworth, though, Niasse did eventually start to make an impact. I almost think he’s only able to make such an impact in this kind of scenario, such is his skill-set as a player. There were times during the torrid start to 2017-18 that he became almost indispensable because of his goals.
Bizarrely, for a player I’d never really rated, I remember being really worried when he was – unfairly in my opinion – banned for deceiving a referee after a game against Palace. At that point, Everton didn’t really have anyone else stepping up to the plate in an attacking sense, which again tells you something about his character.
Since then, though, he’s struggled to make much of an impact under Marco Silva. Such are his technical limitations, there’s never really a context in which he seems to be an adequate fit for this current Everton side. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s deemed surplus to requirements in January.”
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On Niasse being a Premier League success…
“Most supporters will have mixed feelings. Because of his desire and application, Oumar is an immensely popular figure with parts of the fanbase. Regardless of your technical limitations, if you work hard at Goodison and play for the jersey, the fans will pay you respect – and that’s very much what’s happened with Oumar.
That said, I think most Blues would accept that his time at the club is probably up. With Everton looking to push on, Niasse in search of game-time and Cardiff looking for a goalscorer, a move could benefit all parties.”
On the rumoured fee…
“If you’d asked me this question 18 months ago from an Everton perspective, the answer would have been markedly different. Despite the £14m outlay, any kind of fee for Niasse would have been well received.
My feeling now, though, is that given what we’ve seen since – a striker that thrives in adversity, and one perfectly suited to relegation battles – the inflated market probably dictates that Everton should be looking a little higher in terms of the fee. After all, the cost of relegation for sides like Cardiff is so extreme that it’s hard to put a price on a player that can keep you up. I’d see £8m as good business for any relegation-threatened side.”