Everton

Oumar Niasse: 'I don't deserve Everton treatment'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 11 October 2016

Out-of-favour Everton striker Oumar Niasse insists that he does not deserve the treatment he has received from manager Ronald Koeman.

Everton striker Oumar Niasse has insisted that he does not deserve the treatment he has received from Ronald Koeman since the manager's arrival at the club.

Niasse was brought to Goodison Park for £13.5m by Roberto Martinez last January, but made just two Premier League starts during the second half of the 2015-16 campaign.

The Senegal international has since been told that he has no future at the club under Koeman, leaving him without a squad number and banished to the Under-23s until at least January.

"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. It's sad, it's really sad. And, to be honest, I think that I don't deserve this. But what I can do is just keep my head and fight to change things. I'm not going to make a drama over this. I just deal with it. I know that it's just one period," he told The Guardian.

"Koeman said: 'You have to leave.' I couldn't understand how that decision could have been made after 45 minutes but I just said: 'OK, thank you.' It's his decision. He's the manager. What can I do? I called my agent and he said that he would look into the opportunities for me. To be honest, I didn't ask Koeman to explain his reasons. I just thought, even if I asked why, I would never understand. After just 45 minutes, you cannot say to me: 'You are no good.'

"He changed everything. He took my shirt number and he told me I wasn't allowed to be in the dressing room for the first team; that I wasn't going to train with them. I had to go with the second team. I said: 'OK, no problem.' When you say you don't need a player, you don't have to see him. I've just kept working in training. Even if I'm training with the Under-23s, I give them the respect."

Niasse has scored two goals in two games for Everton's Under-23 side so far this season.