Can Evan Ferguson take his big chance in Serie A?
It feels like it’s make or break for Evan Ferguson now that he’s joined Roma, despite the fact he’s only 20-years-old. A couple of underwhelming seasons in England have seen his stock fall so far, not even West Ham wanted to keep him.
By Alex Roberts
Ferguson exploded onto the scene all the way back in 2022, another product of Brighton’s fabled scouting department, who scooped him up from Dublin side Bohemians in January 2021, when he was just 16.
Lots has happened since then. Several injuries, a drop in confidence, and irregular playing time have all contributed to his fall off over the past year and a half. Once hailed as Brighton’s next £100 million player, Roma now have an option to buy for a reported fee of around £30 million in their loan deal.
A huge, pressing machine, Ferguson came into the Premier League as a completely unknown quantity, bullying defenders ten years his senior, out manoeuvring them with his deceptive pace before finding himself in the perfect position to slot the ball home. It felt like the second coming of Cú Chulainn never mind Robbie Keane.
He ended that first season with ten goals and three assists in his 25 games across all competitions, forming quite the understanding with the likes of Kaoru Mitoma and Alexis Mac Allister along the way.
2023-24 wasn’t quite as productive for the Irishman, even though he did play more, bagging six goals and one assist in his 36 games. The biggest news from that season was his cruciate ligament tear towards the back end of the season that would subsequently keep him out for the next 147 days.
Last summer, Roberto De Zerbi, the man who had put so much faith in young Ferguson made his dramatic exit, and Fabian Hürzeler came in to replace him. Ferguson found himself on the periphery after missing pre-season with his new manager.
Danny Welbeck and João Pedro took their chances up top, and Ferguson simply couldn’t break back into the first team. By the time January rolled around, he found himself shipped out on loan to West Ham, but, again, he failed to establish himself, failing to score a single goal during his time in East London.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were in desperate need of a striker at the start of the summer transfer window. Tammy Abraham departed for Beşiktaş on loan, leaving Artem Dovbyk as the only recognised number nine at the new manager’s disposal.
Abraham leaving Roma is a sad story. Unloved by boyhood club Chelsea despite some fine performances, he made the trip to Italy, starting well before an ACL injury during his second season at the club ruined any chances of becoming their main man.
The fact that Hürzeler was willing to let Ferguson go in the same month he lost Pedro to Chelsea, clearly shows he doesn’t feature in the German’s plans despite his insistence that he could still make it on the South Coast.
“For sure, he has a future at Brighton,” Hürzeler told The Athletic. “I am very happy for him that we found a good solution, that he now has an opportunity to get game time. That is the most important thing for Evan. I still see a lot of potential, and I still see that he is a player for us for the future.”
The move to Roma does appear to suit all parties. Ferguson gets game time in a highly competitive league, Brighton could, technically, still keep a hold of him if he does end up bagging a load of goals, and Roma have the chance to buy a striker with bags of potential for a relatively low fee, potentially selling him on for double in a year or two, most likely to Chelsea.
Plenty of ex-Premier League players have found a home in Italy over the past few seasons. Along with Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori, and Christian Pulisic all left Chelsea for AC Milan, and have done well.
Napoli’s cigarette smoking, three-piece suit wearing maestro Scott McTominay is the obvious architype, however. Since joining from Man United, he’s earned the adoration of an entire city and won the Scudetto, all the while his old club endured their worst ever Premier League season.
There is no reason Ferguson can’t recreate that success. He’s combative enough to be able to go at all those infamously tough Italian defenders. Experience in a faster paced league will also leave him in good stead when it comes to making the right runs.
Gasperini is also a good fit as manager for a player like Ferguson. The veteran Italian coach is pretty old school, notably falling out with Ademola Lookman after he described him as “one of the worst penalty takers he has ever seen.” He does have a habit of getting the best of players that have struggled elsewhere, however, Lookman is testament to that.
If his start is anything to go by, he may just win the Ballon d’Or. Ferguson scored four goals in his first Roma game, including a 24-minute hattrick against Serie D side UniPomezia. He actually had a direct hand in five of their nine goals without reply.
His first was a header from a corner within eight minutes, he then latched on to a through ball and fired high into the roof of the net for his second before the Republic of Ireland international completed his hat-trick with a close-range finish. His fourth was the cherry on top of the cake, again from a corner only this time he scored with his foot.
Ferguson wasted no time getting on the scoresheet in his next game too. Bagging the one and only goal in Roma’s win over Kaiserslautern in their second pre-season friendly, taking advantage of some shocking defensive decision making from the Germans.
Five goals in his first two games, albeit against lesser opponents, will doubtless have him bouncing off the walls. Building confidence for a striker is half the battle, once he has that, Ferguson 2.0 could be a real problem.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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