Everton are considering handing Oumar Niasse a run-out for the club’s under-21 side next week.
Niasse has struggled for fitness since his £13.5 million move from Lokamotiv Moscow in the January transfer window, to date only playing a combined 45 minutes for the Blues since his arrival.
Roberto Martinez is in urgent need of options to share the goal-scoring burden with Romelu Lukaku ahead of a hectic run of fixtures that includes a Merseyside derby clash with Liverpool just three days before Everton’s crucial FA Cup semi-final against either West Ham or Manchester United on April 23rd.
And the Everton manager has hinted that Niasse could now feature for David Unsworth’s Under-21 side, who face Chelsea on Monday night, as the Senegal international attempts to return to full fitness.
He said: “Oumar, everyday is a very good day for him in terms of working for longer periods and he’s adapting to the level of the British game.
“It is too early to see if he needs a game with the under-21s but we will carry on developing his programme as he goes.
“It is important we give him as much as we can because it is not easy to pick up the level with the inactivity he had, with the problem he had with his wrist.
“Obviously, he is so keen to please and so keen to do things well that sometimes rushes things and sometimes is not the player he is and that’s where he needs help.”