'No way' Everton can sell Oumar Niasse before January transfer deadline, says Sam Allardyce

Oumar Niasse looks set to remain an Everton player until the summer at least after manager Sam Allardyce categorically ruled out the possibility of selling the Senegalese forward during the remaining days of the January transfer window.

Niasse's impressive Goodison Park revival - which came after he was initially completely frozen out by former boss Ronald Koeman and embarked upon a productive loan spell at Hull City - has fizzled out in recent months and the respective arrivals of Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott appear to have pushed the oft-maligned player further down the attacking pecking order.

However, the 27-year-old provided a timely reminder of his effectiveness on Saturday [20 January] by volleying home debutant Walcott's header just 56 seconds after being introduced as a second-half substitute, to rescue a point for out-of-form Everton in their 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion, that was overshadowed by a horrendous double leg fracture suffered by midfielder James McCarthy.

According to The Guardian, Crystal Palace, whose £7m ($9.7m) summer move for Niasse fell through at the 11th hour on deadline day due to a dispute over agent fees, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Brom are all ready to pay £13m to take the former Lokomotiv Moscow striker - who Everton were said to be willing to sell.

However, there now appears to have been a U-turn with Allardyce insisting that he is not going anywhere this month after all.

"No I can't let Niasse go, there's no danger of that," he was quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo. "The hardest thing to come here in January is to come and play up front.

"And there is no way we can let Oumar go. We've given Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] the weekend off because of the huge amount of games he's played the fatigue he's suffered so we said go and chill, rest and recharge your batteries and come back."

While Niasse is poised to remain at Everton, one forward who looks likely to follow the likes of Ross Barkley, Kevin Mirallas and Burnley target Aaron Lennon out of Merseyside before the 31 January deadline is Sandro Ramirez.

The Spaniard has struggled to impress and scored just one solitary goal since moving to English football from La Liga outfit Malaga for £5.2m in July and has been attracting interest from Valencia, Real Betis and Sevilla in recent months.

Newcastle United have now asked to sign Sandro on a loan deal until the end of the season and are prepared to pay a £2m fee in addition to covering his £100,000 a week wages in full, per the latest from the Mail.

Takeover talks at St James' Park between divisive owner Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners may now have broken down irrevocably despite the latter's insistence that a £250m offer remains on the table, but it seems that Rafael Benitez will still be given the chance to strengthen his overmatched squad over the next 10 days with low-cost deals and loans.