Cardiff City’s Everton transfer for ‘hard-worker’ was a nightmare - Huddersfield Town avoided frustration | OneFootball

Oumar Niasse joined Cardiff City on loan in January 2019 from Everton, but it didn't go to plan for the Senegalese forward

Oumar Niasse joined Neil Warnock's Cardiff City in January 2019 to bolster the Bluebirds' attacking options amid a relegation battle from the Premier League, but his brief stint in the Welsh capital didn't go to plan.

Under Neil Warnock, Cardiff City earned promotion to the Premier League in 2018, finishing 2nd in the Championship to fire themselves back to the top flight.

Immediately, they were recognised as one of the weakest teams in the top flight, and sought recruitments in the transfer market, with the likes of Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Josh Murphy, Alex Smithies, Greg Cunningham, and Victor Camarasa, the latter on loan from Real Betis.

However, after just four wins in the first half of the season, it was clear Cardiff were at serious risk of a swift return to the Championship if they could not turn their form around, and delved back into the market again in the winter.

Leandro Bacuna joined from Reading on a permanent deal, whilst Oumar Niasse, who had fallen out of favour at Everton, joined on loan from the Toffees for the remainder of the campaign - but his impact left a lot to be desired.

Oumar Niasse's stint at Cardiff City was somewhat of a forgettable one

Oumar Niasse's journey to Cardiff wasn't a straightforward one.

The Senegalese forward began his professional career in Norway with SK Brann, followed by Akhisarspor in Turkey, and Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia, where his 12 goals and ten assists in 21 games across the Russian top flight and Europa League earned him a £13.5 million move to Everton.

However, with Romelu Lukaku ahead of him in the pecking order, Niasse played just 142 minutes of Premier League football and was not given a shirt number for the following campaign, joining Marco Silva's Hull City in January 2017.

Although he found more success at Everton in the 2017/18 season, scoring eight and assisting twice in 22 appearances, Niasse once again fell out of favour the following campaign, and subsequently joined Cardiff on loan in January 2019 to bolster the Bluebirds' survival prospects, but his stint was far from impactful.

Niasse was immediately thrust into the starting lineup following his switch to the Welsh capital, starting in away defeats to Newcastle United and Arsenal.

He played a part in back-to-back wins over Bournemouth and Southampton to give Cardiff hopes of survival, though without contributing to a goal, and he would continue to retain his place as the focal point of the side's attack for the next five games he was available for.

Unfortunately, though, Niasse's form in front of goal would not improve for Cardiff, missing notable chances against both West Ham and Manchester City, and ultimately, he would finish his stint without directly contributing to a goal as the Bluebirds finished in 18th.

The Senegalese made 13 appearances in his time with the clubs, with 12 of those being starts, being unable to provide the goals required to keep Cardiff afloat, and it would be fair to suggest that his stay in Wales left a lot to be desired.

Huddersfield Town avoided a similar fate to Cardiff City with the Oumar Niasse deal

From there, Niasse's career never truly recovered, once again finding himself on the periphery of the Everton squad, making just three league appearances the following campaign, all from the bench and without contributing to a goal.

His contract with the Toffees would expire in 2020, and he would be released as a result, though he found finding another club to be challenging, ultimately signing for Huddersfield Town in March 2021, almost a year after he was released by Everton.

He never made an appearance for the Terriers after signing, and would once again find himself without a club entering the summer.

League One Burton Albion took a punt on him in February 2022, where he scored three times in 22 games for the Brewers before once again being released.

Morecambe was the next team to come calling in March 2023, with Niasse signing a short-term deal with the club until the end of the season, netting once in ten appearances in the third tier.

The nine-capped former Senegalese international's professional career was over from there, and aside from a random brief stint with seventh-tier Macclesfield FC from November 2023 to January 2024, his playing career was over.