Double Everton transfer gamble vindicated as new heroes emerge after injury woe

Gueye again

Idrissa Gueye was the saviour for Everton having scored more goals over the past week than he netted across two of the three seasons in his first spell at the club.

For all the riches that the Blues have squandered under the current regime – prompting wantaway owner Farhad Moshiri to admit in the summer of 2022 that “we have not always spent large amounts of money wisely,” the club’s first director of football Steve Walsh’s identification of Gueye’s £7.1million release clause following Aston Villa’s relegation in 2016 proved to be one of their most-astute pieces of business. For all the Senegalese midfielder’s attributes as a fire-fighting anchor man par excellence though, shooting has never traditionally been an area of strength.

Gueye netted twice in his second season at Goodison Park in 2017/18 but either side of that he had just a solitary strike from the first and third campaigns of his first spell. A blank in front of goal last term ensured that he went two full seasons – three years apart given his time at Paris Saint-Germain in between, without scoring for Everton but that’s now changed under Sean Dyche.

Having broken his duck by coming off the bench and grabbing a late winner against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Armistice Day, the 34-year-old has now put the Blues on their way to a brace of crucial victories over the past week that sandwiched his immense Merseyside Derby performance. The goals might have dried up for Abdoulaye Doucoure since his hamstring injuries around the turn of the calendar year but having stepped up when it mattered, Gueye has now enjoyed his most-prolific season for Everton.

Everton player ratings as Idrissa Gueye colossal and three superb in Brentford win

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