Following the additions of Idrissa Gueye and Ashley Williams over the past few weeks, Everton continued to strengthen their squad with the signing of Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie earlier this week for an undisclosed fee, believed to be worth £25 million.
The 27-year-old has penned a five-year contract with the Toffees, and speaking about his latest new face, Everton manager Ronald Koeman outlined some of the qualities the DR Congo international will bring to his side:
“Yannick is a player who has been a long time on my radar because he’s the type of winger I like – fast, strong and he can play different positions in the forward line. He’s a really good signing for the club. At 27, he’s a good age and he has experience in the Premier League. He will give strength to the team and I’m very pleased to have Yannick as part of what we are trying to build here at Everton.”
The History
Bolasie endured a nomadic start to his footballing career – having started out at Rushden & Diamonds as a 16-year-old, he had spells at non-league side Hillingdon Borough and Maltese outfit Floriana.
He returned to England in 2008, although over the next few seasons Bolasie would take in stops at Plymouth Argyle, Dagenham & Redbridge, Barnet and back at Rushden & Diamonds, before joining Bristol City in June 2011.
While Bolasie only scored one goal in 23 appearances for the Robins in 2011/12, his performances saw him named the club’s Young Player Of The Year. Having failed to settle in the south-west, he handed in a transfer request, and completed a move to Crystal Palace in August 2012.
The 27-year-old enjoyed a successful first season with the Eagles, scoring three goals and registering eight assists in 45 matches as they secured promotion back to the Premier League.
Over the past three years, Bolasie has stood out as one of Palace’s main attackers, with his pace and dribbling ability a constant menace to opposition defences. In 90 Premier League appearances, he has scored nine goals and added 19 assists.
While Bolasie was eligible to play for France, England and DR Congo at international level, he chose to represent the latter, making his debut against Libya in March 2013. He currently has 27 caps to his name, and has totalled seven goals and two assists for his country.
The Prospects
Given the significant outlay made by Everton on Bolasie, it’s expected that he’ll warrant a regular starting berth once he’s fully acclimatised on Merseyside.
As already referenced, Koeman hinted at Bolasie’s versatility, which, given the Dutchman’s liking for experimenting with different formations, should prove invaluable.
Koeman opted for a 3-4-2-1 system for the Toffees’ opening day clash against Tottenham, with Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas in central attacking midfield positions behind Gerard Deulofeu in the “false nine” role.
With Barkley likely to be a regular starter, Bolasie appears most likely to take Mirallas’ position in that formation, with Romelu Lukaku taking Deulofeu’s spot in attack once he returns from a heel injury. That’s providing he stays at the club beyond the transfer window, of course.
Alternatively, in a 4-2-3-1 system, Bolasie could play out wide, with either Deulofeu or Mirallas on the opposite flank, leaving Barkley in the number ten role behind Lukaku.
Comparing the underlying statistics from Bolasie, Barkley, Deulofeu and Mirallas last season, it was the Belgian who led the way for minutes per chance with 26.6, ahead of Barkley (33.8), Bolasie (38.4) and Deulofeu (162.3).
In terms of creativity, the Spaniard shone the brightest, though, creating a chance every 41.7 minutes, marginally better than Barkley (57.3) and Mirallas (60.7), with Bolasie surprisingly only managing to create a chance every 95.2 minutes.
Bolasie’s statistics from last season weren’t particularly impressive then, but the DR Congo international was part of a Palace side that did struggle during the second half of the campaign.
The major attraction of Bolasie from a Fantasy perspective is his price tag, coming in at just 6.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), compared to 6.5 for both Deulofeu and Mirallas, while Barkley is valued at 7.5.
Currently owned by 4.9% of FPL bosses, Bolasie is likely to be closely monitored over the next few matches, with his favourable valuation making him an intriguing option.
With so many bit hitters such as Sergio Aguero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eden Hazard performing during the opening Gameweek, the need for enablers in both the mid-price and budget brackets is likely to increase over the coming weeks.
There’s no doubt that Bolasie has the potential to frustrate but, if he can find an end product, we could have a player who emerges from the pack to become a very popular option as a third or fourth midfielder.
Furthermore, he also faces a very favourable run of fixtures as he settles in at Merseyside, with Everton set to face just one of last year’s top eight (wba, STO, sun, MID, bou, CPL, mci, bur) in the next eight Gameweeks.
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