Is It Time To Bring Yakubu In From The Cold?

Everton’s shortage of striking options coupled with their financial plight is more than well documented, wherever you look. As the latest frustrating transfer window rumbles on for manager David Moyes it is patently obvious that there will be no new faces at Goodison Park, unless some of the so-called ‘dead wood’ can be moved on.

Into this category you can seemingly place a certain Yakubu Aiyegbeni, but perhaps it is time for Moyes to put whatever issues there are between them in the past and move on? Yakubu is clearly not the player he was before he ruptured his Achilles tendon at Spurs in November 2008, his pace has been affected and his finishing does not appear to be what it once was.

However, there will always be speculation as to what actually went on behind the scenes 12 months ago, when the player was the subject of a failed bid from West Ham. By Moyes’ own admission the player himself was keen on a move away from Everton, yet the club clearly felt he was worth more than they were offered. Rumours have continued to abound locally that Yakubu had been unhappy with the treatment he received from the club during his rehabilitation from injury coupled with accusations about his weight. Something, which in fairness has followed him throughout his career in England.

When last season started though all this seemed to have been forgotten and Yakubu’s bustling performance in a Merseyside derby win was followed up by a winning goal against Stoke City. The manager even singled him out for praise after that Stoke game but then promptly dropped him for the fit again Louis Saha. That goal against Stoke proved to be his only goal of the season in an Everton shirt; he was used sparingly for the rest of the year before being sent out on a three month loan to Leicester City.

While Everton’s remaining strikers struggled with injury and consistency it wasn’t lost on many fans that Yakubu was proving to be a success at Leicester. Forward to the present though and the once mooted permanent transfer toLeicesterseems to have gone well and truly cold. With Yakubu’s wage demands one possible sticking point and perhaps a reluctance to play Championship football on his part an issue too.

Unlike his Nigerian compatriot Joseph Yobo, who has been completely frozen out Yakubu has featured in some pre-season friendlies. He started against Bury at Gigg Lane and even scored the opening goal and then featured as a substitute for the last 20 minutes in the next match on home turf against Birmingham. Yet on the flip side he was left out of the tour to the USA and did not figure in Bremen either. His omission from the USA trip again served to underline Everton’s problems with only one fit striker being available for the match against Philadelphia Union.

So where do Everton and Yakubu go from here? The only answer seems to be to give him another chance, because in all honesty a parting of ways now no longer seems inevitable. If the club were to sell they would struggle to get the sort of fee they require for a number of reasons: he is out of contract in June 2012, his salary at Everton could scupper any potential deal and thirdly there will continue to be questions raised about his fitness levels until he proves otherwise.

In short then the player still has plenty to offer and a return to the fold is the obvious solution for both parties in the short term. Yakubu’s value to the squad is clearly worth more than any fee Everton might presently receive. Whether Moyes sees it the same way though is another matter.

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