Marco Silva recently admitted that Everton “don’t have a date” for when Jean-Philippe Gbamin could return from his “long-term” injury. The 24-year-old had surgery on a quadriceps problem and isn’t expected to be back until 2020. Unfortunately, Everton can’t lock down when to expect him back.
Silva said: “For sure, Gbamin will not be back before (New Year) and let’s see when he’ll be available. (He) will be long-term injured and we don’t have a date for (him).” The Ivorian international hasn’t had the best start to life at Everton – Gbamin has made only two appearances and hasn’t played since August.
Everton paid £25m for the midfielder over the summer and have only gotten 135 minutes of football out of him this season. Silva has Fabian Delph, Morgan Schneiderlin, Tom Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson to call upon in Gbamin’s absence, but the 24-year-old was the one player fans were desperate to see in action.
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And with Everton continuing to struggle in the Premier League – suffering a sixth defeat in the last two months – Gbamin’s absence becomes all the more costly. Silva’s men face Manchester City (1/1/20), Brighton & Hove Albion (11/1/20), West Ham United (18/1/20) and Newcastle United (21/1/20) in January, but it remains to be seen if he’ll be fit in time.