Oumar darling!
IT’S fair to say Oumar Niasse has been on quite a footballing journey. From being an eye catching striker on the continent, to a big money Premier League move, the 33-year-old Senegalese hitman has experienced the highs and lows that football can offer.
A match winner with Everton, Niasse has recently been paying £5 per week to play in competitive matches against other former top tier players such as Stephen Ireland, Danny Drinkwater and BBC pundit Joleon Lescott in a bid to retain his fitness before embarking on the next chapter in his football career.
And that next challenge arrived late last month with Niasse signing a short term deal with Macclesfield, following a brief stint with Morecambe where he scored once in nine appearances.
The opportunity at this level to sign players of such a high profile don’t present themselves that often.
And if he can bring goals along with his considerable experience to Alex Bruce’s team then it’ll be a gamble worth taking.
Prior to signing a deal at the Leasing.com Stadium, Niasse has enjoyed adulation - but also suffered the humiliation of falling out with a manager to such an extent that he didn’t even have his own locker at the training ground.
Having previously been Everton’s third biggest ever signing, the striker was completely frozen out by then manager Ronald Koeman in 2017 before eventually leaving the Goodison Park club permanently in 2020.
But prior to his move to England, Niasse had carved out a career at home town club US Ouakam in his native Senegal.
The striker plundered 102 goals in 154 appearances between 2008-2013 before heading out on a brief loan spell to Norwegian side Brann where he made just three appearances.
But Niasse’s career really began to take off with a permanent move to Turkish side Akhisar Belediye where in one season the striker hit 12 goals in 34 appearances. It was enough to attract the attention of Lokomotiv Moscow who recruited Niasse for £4.7m where he again found the net on 12 occasions, this time in 28 appearances.
He would also win the 2015 Russian Cup with Lokomotiv, scoring in the final against Kuban Krasnodar.
But in February 2016, Niasse got the move of his career when Everton, under Roberto Martinez, swooped with a £13.5m deal for the striker.
It would be the 2017-18 season when Niasse made his greatest impact.
After a goalscoring cameo against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup, Niasse netted twice late on at Goodison on September 23 as Everton came from behind to beat Bournemouth after Josh King had given the Cherries the lead shortly after the restart.
Niasse had to wait until October 22 for his next strike in a miserable 2-5 home to defeat to Arsenal in what turned out to be Ronald Koeman’s last act as Everton manager, having been appointed to the Goodison hotseat in the summer of 2016.
It’s fair to say Niasse’s relationship with Koeman was a rocky one.
Having played just 150 minutes of football under Martinez, Niasse was told by Koeman he was free to leave but the striker opted to remain on Merseyside despite offers from a number of European clubs, a decision which clearly irked the Dutchman.
Having been banished to Everton’s under-23s and finding the net, Koeman made it clear Niasse didn’t feahis ture in plans.
He said: “‘I d o n ’ t think the goal changes anything but he’s still a contracted player of Everton.
“Of course I mentioned before the season started that he’s a player who will not be in my plans but he’s still under contract and he needs gametime for if there is interest from other clubs.
“Normally, we have enough strikers and different strikers to what he is. I prefer these people and not Niasse in the team”.
Not quite the endorsement Niasse would have wanted.
And his relationship with Koeman soured to such an extent that he no longer even had a locker at the club.
Niasse commented: “I’m in the dressing-room with the Under 23s but I don’t have a locker.
“The other players have where they put their stuff but I don’t. I come with my bag and I just have a place that I know.
“I put my bag down, I train and after, I put everything in my car and go home.
“I didn’t ask for an explanation because they were his choices.
“He told me ‘I don’t want you, you are not good at football’ so I said thankyou. “He took my stuff out of the first team dressing room and he took away my shirt number to give to another player.
“He told me ‘you don’t eat with us, you eat with the under-21s’.
“Some stuff happened to see if I was going to give up but things like that didn’t reach me.
“On some occasions they wanted me to react negatively but I didn’t”.
With no possibility of first team football under Koeman, Niasse was left with no option but to look elsewhere.
In January 2017 he made a loan switch to Hull City, with an option for a £10m permanent move.
And although frozen out at Goodison, he was still able to put a smile on Evertonian faces, scoring in a 2-0 win over Liverpool.
Five weeks later he stepped off the bench to score both goals in a 2-1 win over Swansea City.
But his goals weren’t enough to save Hull as they were relegated to the Championship a few months later, therefore killing off any hope of a pemanent deal.
Niasse returned to Everton that summer with his future uncertain.
But by the autumn Koeman was out the door, Niasse was given renwed hope.
David Unsworth was appointed as caretaker boss.
After a run of three losses, Niasse was back amongst the goals after a pulsating 3-2 home win over Watford.
But more drama was on Niasse’s tail.
In what was a landmark case, Niasse won a penalty for the Blues in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace with Niasse on the scoresheet, netting the second after Leighton Baines converted from the spot.
But the striker became the first Premier League player to be accused of “successful deception of a match official” after it was claimed he dived, rather than being brought down by Palace defender Scott Dann.
Dann would later claim Niasse ‘conned the referee’ Anthony Taylor.
“Incidents which suggest a match official has been deceived by an act of simulation are referred to a panel consisting of one ex-match official, one ex-manager and one ex-player,” read an FA statement.
“Each panel member will be asked to review all available video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it was an offence of ‘successful deception of a match official’. Only in circumstances where the panel are unanimous would the FA issue a charge.”
As a result, Niasse was indeed handed a two match ban.
Now under the management of Sam Allardyce, Niasse was next on the mark in a 1-1 draw against West Brom, having been introduced from the bench in place of Cenk Tosun just a minute earlier.
But as Everton’s results took an uputurn, Niasse had to wait until the final match of the season to find the net again in a 3-1 defeat at West Ham.
And that strike turned out to be his last for the Blues.
In late January 2019, Niasse joined Cardiff City on loan but he failed to find the net in 13 appearances.
He returned to Everton but during the 2019-20, Niasse made only three appearances, all from the bench as Dominic Calvert Lewin and Richarlison were the preferrred strike force.
On June 26 2020, Everton announced they had decided against extending Niasse’s contract before being formally released on July 1.
Since then, Niasse’s career has been somewhat nomadic.
In March 2021 he signed for Championship side Huddersfield Town but failed to make an appearance.
He fared slightly better after joining Burton Albion, scoring three goals in 12 appearances before being released at the end of the 2021-22 season.
He was on the move again in March this year, signing a short term deal with Morecambe.
Niasse also scored three goals in nine appearances for the Senegal national team.
His best years may be behind him but there is a hope that Niasse, if you’ll excuse the pun, will have enough in his locker to make a telling contribution for the Silkmen.