Upwardly mobile Everton must have big plans for the future considering the investment that's gone into the club over the last years, but the youth academy is another good way of sustaining success in the long-term.

With that in mind, potentially losing Bassala Sambou would be a blow for the club.

The German’s contract ends this summer and the Liverpool Echo are reporting he’s turned down a two-year deal in favour of looking towards other interested clubs. Indeed, the striker has played 22 times in Premier League 2 this season, netting nine and assisting two, according to Transfermarkt, which is pretty good going. 

As per the report, he appears to be keen on playing first-team football amid interest from the Championship and beyond and it’s understandable why. So far, there haven't been any chances in the first-team at Goodison Park, despite the lack of goal-scoring prowess in their side since the departure of Romelu Lukaku in 2017.

In front of him this season has been Cenk Tosun, who’s scored just three in 25 league appearances, and though Dominic Calvert-Lewin is growing in stature, the England U21 man could use some help. Obviously, Richarlison has been applauded for his performance this season, but he’s only averaging 2.4 shots per game himself and has scored just 13 from 35 appearances.

Frankly, he’s not a striker but Sambou is, so perhaps he will be wondering what he has to do to get in the team.

This concern should be worrying for the Everton hierarchy because they’ll need to draw on their youth team (a group of players who have won two PL 2 titles in three years, after all) in the future when their budget just doesn’t stretch to whole-squad improvements. It’s okay to buy a few players, but very few sides outside of the elite boast endless amounts of cash.

If he does leave, the Toffees could be kicking themselves about that in a few years time.

Everton fans, who do you think should replace Cenk Tosun next season? Join the discussion by commenting below...