View: Boulaye Dia flatters to deceive on World Cup stage and Everton must now reconsider transfer interest
Everton must reconsider their interest in signing forward Boulaye Dia after struggling to impress during Senegal’s last 16 defeat to England at the World Cup.
The Toffees have reportedly been interested in a move for the striker, and Tutto Salernitana claimed on 12 October that Everton had an offer on the table for the World Cup striker.
After an injury to Senegal’s talisman and proven goal-scorer Sadio Mane days before the World Cup, the burden of leading the line fell to Dia who subsequently started every one of his country’s matches in Qatar.
The 26-year-old forward bagged Senegal’s first goal of the World Cup against a dreadful Qatar side during their 3-1 win but failed to find the back of the net after this promising start.
During England’s 3-0 victory in the last 16, Dia had a gilt-edged chance to take his side into an unlikely lead on the half-an-hour mark as he forced Jordan Pickford into a great save from close-range.
After falling upon the ball on the left-hand side of the box, Dia stepped past a sliding John Stones before hitting his strike into the ground in the hope of lofting it over the England shot-stopper, but to no avail.
With the world watching and Frank Lampard surely keeping tabs on his transfer target in action, this miss couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Knockout matches such as these are balanced by fine margins, and this opportunity could have swung the pendulum in Senegal’s direction after a bright start.
After this huge moment, Dia’s involvement in the game seemed to decrease – being forced onto the right-hand side in the second half to little effect – before being subbed off on the 72-minute mark.
Toffees fans may well be hoping that their club terminate any interest in the Villarreal forward, who is currently on loan at Serie A outfit Salernitana after scoring just five goals in La Liga last season.
Despite the increased interest from a number of Premier League clubs, the fact the forward wasn’t wanted under Unai Emery at the Spanish club and is still up for sale suggests that there is an element of quality missing from the striker.