Everton’s u23 manager David Unsworth revealed Beni Baningime has “played through pain” for 12 months due to an ongoing ankle injury. The 21-year-old has been a regular for the reserves and consistently impresses most weeks, but he’s only just started to play while 100% fit after working hard with medical staff to fix the problem.
Baningime struggled with injury last season and ended up making only one appearance during a forgettable loan spell at Wigan Athletic. The Everton coaches worked hard on his rehabilitation and now have him back playing at a high level. Unfortunately, he’s not had a call-up from Carlo Ancelotti due to stiff competition from Fabian Delph, Morgan Schneiderlin, Andre Gomes, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies.
Nevertheless, Unsworth is delighted with Baningime’s progress. He told Evertonfc: “Beni has been struggling with his ankle for about 12 months now. The type of lad he is, he’s just got on with it and played through the pain. The medical team have worked with him and that was his first game back at 100 per cent. I am really looking forward to seeing him progress from now until the end of the season because he’s a top player.”
The DR Congo man still has two-and-a-half years left on his contract, but his future is uncertain due to a lack of first-team football. Baningime’s last Everton appearance came all the way back in April 2018 and he’s only made the matchday squad six times since, so it remains to be seen if he’s retained over the summer.