Everton could welcome back Mason Holgate ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Aston Villa, but Carlo Ancelotti may be without Yerry Mina after he picked up a “muscular problem” in the Toffees’ 3-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Carlo Ancelotti blamed Mina’s lack of recovery as reason for his injury and says Everton will have to check up on his fitness in the coming days.
Ancelotti explained in a press conference: “Yerry had a muscular problem. Unfortunately, when you only have two days to recover, the player doesn’t recover properly and to have an injury like this can happen.”
Mina has made four appearances in two weeks – 22 minutes in Everton’s 2-1 win over Leicester City (July 1), 54 minutes in their 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur (July 6), 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw with Southampton (July 9) and 31 minutes against Wolves (July 12) – so he may have been overplayed.
There is still time for the £18m-rated defender to recover, so he can’t be ruled out just yet. The problem is that Ancelotti only has Michael Keane going into Thursday’s clash 100% fit, so he’s having to wait on news from the medical team before he can make decisions on his backline.
Bringing in another central defender next season is essential and Everton have been linked with Unai Nunez, Mohammed Salisu, Wesley Fofana, Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly, Thiago Silva, Gabriel Magalhaes, Marash Kumbulla, Christian Luyindama, Issa Diop and Tosin Adarabioyo, but they’re currently paving over the problem until the transfer window opens.