El Hadji Baye Oumar Niasse (born 18 April 1990) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward.
Niasse has played top-flight football in Senegal, Norway, Turkey, Russia and England. He won the 2011 Senegal Premier League with Ouakam and scored in Lokomotiv Moscow's win in the 2015 Russian Cup Final. He signed for Everton for a £13.5 million transfer fee in 2016. Niasse made his full international debut for Senegal in 2013.
Club career
Ouakam
Born in Ouakam, Dakar Department, Niasse began his football career with hometown club US Ouakam in the second tier. He signed his first professional contract with Ouakam in 2008 and in the 2008–09 season helped his team win the Second League title by scoring 21 goals. Playing as a winger, Niasse also played a key role in Ouakam winning the Senegal Premier League title in 2011.
Niasse started a trial with Norwegian club Brann in February 2012, and after impressing signed for the club on a six-month loan. His time in Norway was hampered by poor form and injuries, and he returned to Senegal after playing just three Tippeligaen matches.
Akhisar Belediyespor
After a trial period with French club Saint-Étienne, Niasse was offered a contract to join the club but refused the offer. He joined the summer camp of Turkish Süper Lig club Akhisar Belediyespor and signed permanently with them in August 2013. Niasse scored on his debut in Turkey and ultimately finished the season with 15 goals.
Lokomotiv Moscow
Before the 2014–15 season, Niasse signed with Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow in July 2014 for a €5.5 million transfer fee. He scored Lokomotiv's equalising goal in the Russian Cup Final against Kuban Krasnodar on 21 May 2015 as his side went on to win 3–1 after extra time.
Everton
Niasse joined English Premier League club Everton on 1 February 2016 for a transfer fee of approximately £13.5 million, signing a four-and-a-half year contract. He made his debut for the club against AFC Bournemouth on 20 February 2016, entering as an 80th-minute substitute for striker Romelu Lukaku.
After 152 minutes of football in his first season at the club, Niasse was not given a squad number for the following 2016–17 season. He was informed by then-Everton manager Ronald Koeman he would need to search for a new club during the summer 2016 transfer window, saying, "[I]f Niasse likes to play football he needs to leave Everton."
However, following the close of the transfer deadline for loaning and signing players in England, he was listed as part of the 25-man Everton squad for the 2016–17 season submitted on 1 September 2016 and eventually issued squad number 24.
In October 2016, Niasse was demoted to the under-23 squad and had his personal locker revoked.
Loan to Hull City
On 13 January 2017, Niasse signed a loan contract with Hull City until the end of the 2016–17 season with an option for a £10 million permanent transfer from Everton. He made his debut the next day as an 83rd-minute substitute for Abel Hernández in a 3–1 home win against AFC Bournemouth. His first goal for Hull and in English football came on 26 January in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester United, where he made his first start for the club. Hull won the second leg 2–1 but ultimately lost the tie 3–2 on aggregate.
Niasse scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–0 victory against Liverpool on 4 February. On 11 March, he came on as a substitute against Swansea City and scored both goals in a 2–1 victory. Hull were relegated to the Championship at the end of the season and opted not to exercise its option to outright purchase Niasse.
