Not so long ago, Ferguson, 21, was touted as Brighton’s next £100 million player, with all of the Premier League big boys linked with a move following his breakout 2022-23 season on the South Coast.
A couple of underwhelming seasons, some serious injuries, and a crisis of confident have seen his stock fall through the ground, but a loan move to Roma was meant to be his redemption. As of yet, it hasn’t turned out that way.
Reports coming out of Italy are now suggesting that the Serie A club are considering terminating his loan in January. So, how did we get here, and what could be next for Ferguson?
What went wrong at Brighton?
Fabian Hurzeler’s side aren’t exactly blessed with top quality striker, relying on 35-year-old Danny Welbeck as their main goal threat. To be fair, he’s scored seven goals in his 15 Premier League appearances, so it’s working relatively well.
The Republic of Ireland international is a pressing machine, back in 2022-23 he was bullying defenders ten years his senior, coming into the league as a complete unknown quantity, going on to score ten goals in his 25 appearances.
2023-24 wasn’t as productive, in fact the biggest news from that season was his cruciate ligament tear that would subsequently keep him out for the next 147 days.
Last season appeared to be when the penny dropped for Ferguson and Brighton. Roberto De Zerbi, the man who gave the striker his debut, was replaced with Hurzeler, who never seemed to believe Ferguson to reach the potential many thought he had.
With Welbeck and Joao Pedro performing well, Ferguson simply couldn’t break into the starting eleven, and he was shipped out on loan to West Ham in January, in order to get more regular minutes.
Ferguson did not get those minutes. He only managed eight games, all in the Premier League, scoring zero goals. Roma came calling despite this, securing a loan with a reported £30 million option to buy next summer.
What are Ferguson’s numbers at Roma like, and how does he compare to his teammates?
Ferguson made a good start to Roma’s pre-season, scoring into two consecutive friendlies, he was starting to look like the player that exploded onto the scene just a few years ago.
The goals dried up though. Ferguson didn’t score for Roma in a competitive game until their 3-1 win over newly promoted Cremonese on November 23rd, and ultimately, strikers will be judged by the number of goals they score.
Beyond the biggest stat of all, Ferguson hasn’t built much of a case for himself. He’s had just 20 touches in the opposition box, had three shots on target, and generated an xG of 1.10. At least he’s about right with that.
All of that is poor, but when you look at Ferguson’s fellow Roma forwards and their lack of attacking output, it paints a different type of picture. Artem Dovbyk has just two goals, and so does Paulo Dybala.
Matias Soule is currently their top Serie A goal scorer with four, although he’s more of a number ten than an out and out striker. The same can be said for Tommaso Baldanzi, who has played as a striker at times, scoring zero.
Roma have fallen from the top of the table to fourth following two consecutive defeats against Napoli and Cagliari, largely due to the fact they can’t score enough goals. Of the top four, they’re the lowest scoring with just 15 goals from their 14 games.
What next for Ferguson?
Well, according to Gasperini, Roma are willing to give him a bit more time but clearly insinuated he needs to do more on the training pitch, saying: "Nothing against Evan Ferguson personally, it's about performances and he's had so many chances.
“Do we want to wait for him? Of course. He has to do better and not just on a technical level. For example, Hermoso is a pillar of the locker room, sets an example."
Whether he shares the same sentiment in private, we obviously don’t know. Even if he has his loan terminated in January, he still has time to win over some hearts and minds. Dovbyk is out with a hip injury for the next couple of games at least.
We also can’t forget that Ferguson is still young, this isn’t make or break for him, no matter how much it might seem so. He has bags of potential, and a top level European club with a the right environment could get the best out of him still.