Cenk Tosun made his long-awaited return for Everton in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United, coming off the bench midway through the second half to play for 21 minutes. The 29-year-old didn’t see a lot of the ball, but Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to bring him back suggests he’ll have a part to play this season.
Finally back after eight months
After struggling for playing time at Everton in 2019/20 (8/26 appearances), Tosun was loaned out to Crystal Palace in January and made five appearances before damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in training. He returned to Everton for surgery in March and has spent the last eight months rehabilitating.
Tosun was on the recovery trail at the end of October when he was spotted training with the first-team, so he’s been building up his fitness for a few weeks. The 29-year-old’s long-awaited appearance against Newcastle will go some way to sharpening him up for Premier League football too, so Ancelotti would be wise to continue giving him minutes whenever possible.
How much could Tosun feature?
I think he will feature a lot this season, at least until January. Moise Kean was loaned out to Paris Saint-Germain for the rest of the campaign and can turn his move permanent if they trigger his buying option, so we may need Tosun to provide backup for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison.
The winter transfer window will give us an opportunity to strengthen our frontline, having been linked with Callum Wilson, Emmanuel Dennis, Josh King, Odsonne Edouard, Patrik Schick, Hee-chan Hwang, Hirving Lozano, Martin Braithwaite, Andrea Belotti, Sardar Azmoun, Victor Osimhen and Arkadiusz Milik over the summer, but it remains to be seen what Marcel Brands and Ancelotti have in mind.
Tosun has contributed a goal (10) or assist (6) every 160 minutes (52 appearances) on average at Everton, so he’s a useful player. Ancelotti likes him too, so there’s a chance he could stick around and fill the role left by Kean. It’s not the worst short-term solution, as Oumar Niasse and Sandro Ramirez’s departures have left us short in attack.