Football
ESPN staff 8y

Oumar Niasse joins Everton from Lokomotiv Moscow for £13.5 million

Everton signed striker Oumar Niasse from Lokomotiv Moscow in the final hours of the transfer deadline on Monday.

The 25-year-old Senegal international joins Everton on a four-and-a-half-year deal until 2020 for a £13.5 million fee, the Premier League club confirmed.

Niasse, who was named the Russian Premier League's Player of the Year in 2015, has scored 13 goals with 10 assists in 23 games this season.

"It's a great day for me, a big dream to play in the Premier League and a big dream to play for Everton," Niasse told Everton's website. "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."

Everton will introduce their new man on Wednesday and hope to feature him against Stoke this weekend.

Manager Roberto Martinez said: "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."

Also on Monday, Everton announced that Conor McAleny has joined Wigan on loan until the end of the season. The 23-year-old had been on loan at Charlton but returned to Everton in early November.

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