Rumoured Everton target Oussama Idrissi has issued a desperate plea for potential suitors to come and snap him up this summer following a stand-out campaign with AZ Alkmaar, while speaking with De Telegraaf.
Idrissi had flourished in the Eredivisie before the Dutch top-flight season was abandoned as a result of the worsening coronavirus pandemic, with his 13 league goals and five assists helping the AFAS Stadion natives secure qualification into next term’s Champions League qualifying stages.
The 24-year-old Moroccan further found the back of the net a total of four times across all competitions, and penned an additional five assists, for a combined 17 goals scored and 10 assisted, making him Alkmaar’s second-most lethal attacker and third-best creator for the campaign.
His performances for AZ were alleged to have sparked serious interest from the Premier League and Serie A earlier in the year, with reports by Calciomercato.it claiming that Idrissi was being monitored by West Ham, Leicester, AS Roma and Napoli alongside Everton.
AZ would now appear unlikely to be able to fend off any move for Idrissi, should an interested party put forward a suitable figure, as the seven-time international winger has declared his intentions to move on from the Netherlands this summer in search of a new challenge.
“I have analysed my season and that gives me even more ambition to take the next step. It was clear when AZ came in that AZ wouldn’t be my final destination,” Idrissi stated.
“It would be crazy if I didn’t have that ambition. In the end, good footballers always want to act on the highest possible stage. In the Netherlands, that stage is missing.
“The Eredivisie does not have the intensity and the clubs to participate at [the] top level. As a result, hardly any top players come to the Netherlands, the top players who do stay here usually do not stay very long,”
Should Everton make a move for Idrissi this summer?
Yes
No
Should Director of Football Marcel Brands put Everton forward as a potential destination for Idrissi this summer, the Dutchman would be acquiring a natural winger who is comfortable performing on either side of the attack. His most favoured position, however, is on the left from where he featured exclusively over the 2019/20 campaign.
The RKSV Halsteren Youth product, who has never played domestic football outside of the Netherlands, further displayed his attacking prowess in the recent Dutch term with Sofa Score data showing a total of 2.1 shots per game over 25 matches played, plus 3.4 successful dribbles (68%), 5.7 ground duels won (49%) and 24.2 accurate passes in the opponent’s half (77%).