The summer optimism surrounding Everton seems like such a distant memory now, and for Djibril Sidibe, his career on Merseyside has been nothing short of miserable.
The Monaco defender joined the Toffees on loan this summer with The Liverpool Echo reporting that Marco Silva’ side have an option to buy the World Cup-winning right-back at the end of the season should Sidibe impress, yet as we all know, the 27-year-old has hardly been given a chance.
As numbers from Transfermarkt show, the fullback has played just 31 minutes of first-team football for Everton in the Premier League and has only managed starts in the League Cup, with Sidibe playing every minute of that cup competition.
Which is why it comes as no surprise that reports from Italy are emerging that AC Milan are interested in signing Sidibe in the January transfer window according to Fox Sports Italia, and Everton should be embarrassed with themselves with their extreme underuse of the Monaco defender.
Indeed, it makes sense as to why Seamus Coleman has started Premier League games for the Toffees with the 31-year-old right-back being the club captain, but there is no denying that the Republic of Ireland international has decreased massively in quality over the past few seasons.
And for Sidibe, who was part of France’s World Cup-winning squad as well as a Monaco team that went all the way to the Champions League semi-finals in 2017, it is a damming statement that Silva refuses to give the 27-year-old defender a chance over Coleman this season in the Premier League, who in the past 12 months has been criticised by the likes of Roy Keane and Keith Andrews.
Everton have wasted Sidibe so far this season, and if the defender does leave Goodison Park this January, it won’t be a surprise to many if the French fullback begins to perform well away from Merseyside.