Everton have a ‘reduced expectation’ that summer signing Jean-Philippe Gbamin will recover from a second thigh operation to feature again this term, according to Football Insider.
The Ivorian joined the club from Bundesliga outfit 1.FSV Mainz 05 in a deal worth £25million and was awarded a five-year contract, but has only been able to make two appearances across all competitions to date.
Gbamin suffered his initial muscle injury during training at Finch Farm ahead of our trip to Aston Villa last August, and was later forced to undergo surgery in October after suffering a setback in his rehabilitation.
Another setback befell the 24-year-old at the start of the month and Gbamin again required surgery to his thigh, leaving boss Carlo Ancelotti forced to announce that the crocked holding midfielder faced another eight-week lay-off before being able to make his first outing under the Italian.
However, it is now expected that Gbamin’s season is all but over despite Ancelotti’s claim, as the latest bout of surgery will leave him sidelined for too long to regain the levels of fitness required to feature in the first-team.
Will Gbamin feature again this season?
Yes
No
Everton chiefs had planned to make Gbamin a key part of former boss Marco Silva’s plans following the midfielder’s summer transfer, but now face seeing his maiden campaign in England written off completely.
Fans saw little from Gbamin during his 135 minutes of Premier League action, as the 12-cap Ivoirian was still adapting to life in England before the blow and Silva was forced to hand him his debut earlier than planned after Andre Gomes sustained an injury at Crystal Palace.
The speed of the Premier League particularly caught Gbamin out, who claimed after the Eagles draw in quotes by the Liverpool Echo: “It was hard to come in like that – a great game with high intensity.
“I tried to give my best on the pitch and it was difficult in some moments. The coach gave me the chance to play and I wanted to take it.
“I am not 100% ready to be at a high level just yet – and I need to be faster. I have had only one week of training with the team, so I will keep going and work very hard.”
Gbamin will very much be like a new signing for the club next season should he fail to regain fitness in time to help our efforts this term, but at least he would have had time in Ancelotti’s training sessions to learn what the Italian expects of him and how he will be tasked in the 2020/21 campaign.
In other Everton news, the club scouted one of Ancelotti’s transfer targets over the weekend but face having to pay €30million for him.