Sam Allardyce admits Oumar Niasse has ‘made it difficult’ to replace as Everton’s leading striker.
Niasse became something of a peripheral figure at Goodison Park following a £13.5 million move from Lokamotiv Moscow in January 2016.
The Senegal international spent last season in the Blues’ under-23 setup before being recalled as the search for Romelu Lukaku’s replacement came up short.
Since returning from the fringes, Niasse has found himself among Everton’s leading scorers this term with a tally of seven currently to his name.
Cenk Tosun’s arrival last month has intensified competition with the former Besiktas marksman vying alongside Niasse and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
But Allardyce has admitted that the 27-year-old has become difficult to displace in the pecking order on account of his impressive vein of form.
He said: “You’ve got competition because of Oumar’s great form in terms of what he’s achieving now.
“I think that Oumar’s position at Everton has never really been as good as it is at the moment, where he’s put himself in a position to shine and score goals.
“He’s got goals and assists to his name and has started games on a regular basis.
“The competition with him, Dominic and Tosun is fierce, which is what you want.
“Oumar’s grasped that position at the moment so it’s made it difficult for me to replace him at this moment in time.
“I think he’s got seven goals this season, a couple of assists and his form has been pretty good.”