Everton Sign New Striker Oumar Niasse For £13.5m
Everton clinched the second biggest deal on deadline day by signing Russian striker Niasse.
Oumar Niasse has completed a £13.5million move to Everton from Russian Premier League side Lokomotiv Moscow.
The highly-rated 25-year-old Senegal striker agreed a four-and-a-half year deal with the Club until the end of June 2020.
Recognised for his speed and strength, and with an impressive goalscoring record and tally of assists, Niasse was named Russia Premier League Player of the Year in 2015.
With 13 goals and 10 assists in 23 appearances for Lokomotiv this season, Niasse, who can also play wide, was a target for several leading European clubs but he has opted to join the Toffees and is expected to have visa clearance and therefore be eligible for this weekend’s Premier League game at Stoke. He will be paraded on the pitch at Goodison on Wednesday evening.
Niasse told evertontv: “It’s a great day for me, a big dream to play in the Premier League and a big dream to play for Everton.
“Everton is one of the best teams in the Premier League and the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world.
“I know Everton is one of the big clubs here in England with history, the fans and the great players, so I’m very excited and happy to be here.
“I started to watch Everton more since the beginning of October because I had heard about their interest.
“I was interested to see how they play and how they have good young players. If you see players who are aged 20 or 21 and see them perform like that, you know you have a good coach.
“The manager has said exactly what he wants. He believes I can be a player who can add something to the team. It was not difficult to talk and understand one another. You can see also that he is a good person and I am really looking forward to playing for my new team.”
Manager Roberto Martinez was also pleased to complete the deadline day deal for a man he is confident will fit straight in on Merseyside, saying;
“We’re delighted because Oumar is a player we have been following for a long time.
“He is the right personality and someone who is in a very good moment of his career. He has had a lot of success in Russia and he brings a different quality to what we already have in our squad.
“I’m really pleased to be able to bring in Oumar in this window and we know he’s going to have a massive impact going forward.
“He brings a real hunger and desire to be successful into what is already a strong squad.”