By Alex Roberts
Ferguson exploded onto the scene all the best way again in 2022, one other product of Brighton’s fabled scouting division, who scooped him up from Dublin facet Bohemians in January 2021, when he was simply 16.
Tons has occurred since then. A number of accidents, a drop in confidence, and irregular taking part in time have all contributed to his fall off over the previous yr and a half. As soon as hailed as Brighton’s subsequent £100 million participant, Roma now have an choice to purchase for a reported payment of round £30 million of their mortgage deal.
An enormous, urgent machine, Ferguson got here into the Premier League as a totally unknown amount, bullying defenders ten years his senior, out manoeuvring them along with his misleading tempo earlier than discovering himself within the excellent place to fit the ball house. It felt just like the second coming of Cú Chulainn by no means thoughts Robbie Keane.
He ended that first season with ten targets and three assists in his 25 video games throughout all competitions, forming fairly the understanding with the likes of Kaoru Mitoma and Alexis Mac Allister alongside the best way.
2023-24 wasn’t fairly as productive for the Irishman, though he did play extra, bagging six targets and one help in his 36 video games. The largest information from that season was his cruciate ligament tear in direction of the again finish of the season that will subsequently hold him out for the subsequent 147 days.
Final summer time, Roberto De Zerbi, the person who had put a lot religion in younger Ferguson made his dramatic exit, and Fabian Hürzeler got here in to interchange him. Ferguson discovered himself on the periphery after lacking pre-season along with his new supervisor.
Danny Welbeck and João Pedro took their probabilities up high, and Ferguson merely couldn’t break again into the primary staff. By the point January rolled round, he discovered himself shipped out on mortgage to West Ham, however, once more, he failed to ascertain himself, failing to attain a single objective throughout his time in East London.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s facet had been in determined want of a striker initially of the summer time switch window. Tammy Abraham departed for Beşiktaş on mortgage, leaving Artem Dovbyk as the one recognised quantity 9 on the new supervisor’s disposal.
Abraham leaving Roma is a tragic story. Unloved by boyhood membership Chelsea regardless of some high quality performances, he made the journey to Italy, beginning nicely earlier than an ACL harm throughout his second season on the membership ruined any probabilities of turning into their predominant man.
The truth that Hürzeler was prepared to let Ferguson go in the identical month he misplaced Pedro to Chelsea, clearly reveals he doesn’t characteristic within the German’s plans regardless of his insistence that he might nonetheless make it on the South Coast.
“For certain, he has a future at Brighton,” Hürzeler advised The Athletic. “I’m very completely satisfied for him that we discovered a great resolution, that he now has a possibility to get sport time. That’s crucial factor for Evan. I nonetheless see a variety of potential, and I nonetheless see that he’s a participant for us for the long run.”
The transfer to Roma does seem to go well with all events. Ferguson will get sport time in a extremely aggressive league, Brighton might, technically, nonetheless hold a maintain of him if he does find yourself bagging a load of targets, and Roma have the prospect to purchase a striker with baggage of potential for a comparatively low payment, doubtlessly promoting him on for double in a yr or two, almost definitely to Chelsea.
Loads of ex-Premier League gamers have discovered a house in Italy over the previous few seasons. Together with Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori, and Christian Pulisic all left Chelsea for AC Milan, and have executed nicely.
Napoli’s cigarette smoking, three-piece go well with sporting maestro Scott McTominay is the apparent architype, nevertheless. Since becoming a member of from Man United, he’s earned the adoration of a whole metropolis and received the Scudetto, all of the whereas his previous membership endured their worst ever Premier League season.
There is no such thing as a cause Ferguson can’t recreate that success. He’s combative sufficient to have the ability to go in any respect these infamously robust Italian defenders. Expertise in a sooner paced league can even go away him in good stead on the subject of making the suitable runs.
Gasperini can also be a great match as supervisor for a participant like Ferguson. The veteran Italian coach is fairly old fashioned, notably falling out with Ademola Lookman after he described him as “one of many worst penalty takers he has ever seen.” He does have a behavior of getting the most effective of gamers which have struggled elsewhere, nevertheless, Lookman is testomony to that.
If his begin is something to go by, he could win the Ballon d’Or. Ferguson scored 4 targets in his first Roma sport, together with a 24-minute hattrick in opposition to Serie D facet UniPomezia. He truly had a direct hand in 5 of their 9 targets with out reply.
His first was a header from a nook inside eight minutes, he then latched on to a by way of ball and fired excessive into the roof of the online for his second earlier than the Republic of Eire worldwide accomplished his hat-trick with a close-range end. His fourth was the cherry on high of the cake, once more from a nook solely this time he scored along with his foot.
Ferguson wasted no time getting on the scoresheet in his subsequent sport too. Bagging the one and solely objective in Roma’s win over Kaiserslautern of their second pre-season pleasant, profiting from some stunning defensive determination making from the Germans.
5 targets in his first two video games, albeit in opposition to lesser opponents, will probably have him bouncing off the partitions. Constructing confidence for a striker is half the battle, as soon as he has that, Ferguson 2.0 may very well be an actual drawback.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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