Everton to Be Buoyed By the Return of "The Yak"

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Something quite remarkable about Everton's storming finish to last year's league season is that they were missing Yakubu Aiyegbeni, the club's premier striking talent, since the end of November when he ruptured his Achilles against Tottenham.

You have to wonder whether Arsenal would have been able to hold them off had they been able to count on the goals that Yakubu brings to any team he plays for.

He burst into the spotlight in 2002 season when he scored two notable hat-tricks in the Champions League, one against Olympiacos and the other against none other than Everton's great rivals Manchester United.

Soon after this he was playing in England for Portsmouth and after scoring crucial goals for them and Middlesbrough he eventually found himself at Goodison.

He scored on debut ten minutes in, in a victory over Bolton and has not really looked back.

A big, strong and exceptionally mobile striker, he is possessed with a fine natural athleticism which gives him an excellent starting point in any match in the more robust Premier League competition.

His absence was a headache for David Moyes last season as he was left having to play Tim Cahill as a front man on many occasions. This lessened the effectiveness of Everton as a goalscoring outfit, even though the Australian made the difference in several games he is not a natural striker and is much more suited to playing in support of someone like Yakubu.

Moyes will be as pleased as punch to have the big Nigerian back in the team and will be relishing the prospect of taking on the big guns as an underdog again this season. The Scotsman has pledged his foreseeable future to the Liverpool outfit and his talent as a manager seems to be increasing as the years go by.

For fans of Everton and the game it will be great to see Yakubu back out on the pitch and hopefully he can start knocking them in again for the sake of one of England's proudeeplst football clubs.

Appreciation to Wikipedia for statistics and factual information.

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