Oumar Niasse has broken his silence on his Everton exile, claiming ‘I don’t think I deserve this’.
Niasse was frozen out of the Blues’ first-team plans by Ronald Koeman this summer following a solitary 45-minute outing during pre-season.
Since making a £13.5 million move in January, the Senegal international has struggled with life at Goodison Park with just seven first-team appearances.
And the 26-year-old has revealed the full extent of his Merseyside misery.
“It’s sad, it’s really sad. And, to be honest, I think that I don’t deserve this,” Niasse told the Guardian.
“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.
“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.”
Koeman has continually made no secret of Niasse’s need to pursue a career away from Everton but the player turned down offers from various clubs.
And speaking from his home in Worsley, Manchester, the former Lokamotiv Moscow striker has lifted the lid on his life under the Barcelona icon.
He added: “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’.
One of Koeman’s first acts as Everton manager was to strip Niasse of the no.14 shirt afforded to him upon arriving at the beginning of the year.
“He changed everything,” admitted Niasse.
“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.”