On the final day of the January Transfer Window Everton secured their third most expensive signing in Oumar Niasse for £13.5 million from Lokomotiv Moscow. Realistically Niasse will be competing with Arouna Kone to start alongside Romelu Lukaku.
Fantasy Football game www.oulala.com have taken a look and compared Niasse’s stats to that of Kone to see who comes out on top.
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Despite having less game time than Kone, Niasse bagged more goals, scoring eight in 15 appearances for his former Russian side. The new signing also has a far better ratio of minutes per goal (146 to 245).
Niasse also comes out top in terms of shots at goal averaging 3.6 compared to Kone’s 1.5 per game.
While Kone has lacked consistency this term, the Toffees new man has been hailed in the past for his appetite and desire for the game as well as his high work rate. Oulala’s stats perfectly highlight Niasse’s hard working attitude as he won an average of 1.7 aerial duels per game compared to Kone’s 0.5.
Apart from his work rate and being a threat in the air, perhaps one of the other major attributes that attracted Roberto Martinez to Niasse is the amount of chances he creates. The Senegalese international created a total of 26 chances, including six assists, for his former side. Current Everton front man Lukaku has scored 15 goals in 23 appearances. Niasse could potentially help Lukaku add a whole lot more to that already impressive goal tally. A traditional 4-4-2 formation could suit Niasse perfectly.
Oulala’s stats indicate that Niasse likes to dribble a lot. In fact the 25-year-old made an astonishing 28 successful take-ons with Lokomotiv Moscow in 15 matches. This could well give Everton an extra edge in attack. However, his stats show that he has also lost many take ons too. He will need to work on that in the coming weeks if he is going to permanently replace Kone who has made 15 successful take-ons this term.
Back in November Kone scored a hat-trick against Sunderland and in the past Lukaku has described playing with him as heavenly. However, the stats do not lie and many would agree that Kone’s performances have been far too erratic this season.
It must be said that Niasse is in no way, shape or form a good enough replacement for the likes of Lukaku, should the Belgium international leave Goodison Park in the Summer. Everton would need to do their utmost to try and keep Lukaku or invest in another top rated striker.
However, with Steven Naismith gone and Kone struggling at 32-years of age, Niasse could well turn out to be the perfect partner for Lukaku.
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