Everton made one of the biggest, and most curious, buys on deadline day of the January transfer window as they signed forward Oumar Niasse from Lokomotiv Moscow for £13.5m – fee reported by Sky Sports.
The 25-year-old Senegalese can play as a striker or on the wing, and has scored 19 goals in 43 games for Lokomotiv, including this fine individual effort which should get Toffees supporters excited.
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But another attacking player isn’t what Everton should have been spending their money on. The form of Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley this season has ensured that department is well looked after.
And, besides them, the likes of Kevin Mirallas, Gerard Delofeu, Arouna Kone and Aaron Lennon are all capable of producing moments of solo magic like the one displayed by Niasse in the video above.
Roberto Martinez may point to the exits of Steven Naismith and Aiden McGeady and claim that Niasse is filling a hole in his squad, but the Everton boss should have been looking at new defenders instead.
The Toffees have conceded 34 goals in 23 Premier League games this season – as many as any team in the top 15 places in the table, and have only five top-flight clean sheets to their name this term.
Young prodigy John Stones is going through a difficult time, captain Phil Jagielka is ageing and has missed part of the season through injury, and summer purchase Ramiro Funes Mori has not convinced.
Martinez can only pick so many of the gifted attackers at his disposal, and it matters little if they continue to score because Everton will not climb higher than 12th if they do not improve at the back.
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