Marco Silva gave an injury update on Andre Gomes ahead of Everton’s meeting with Manchester City, revealing that the 26-year-old could be out of action until mid-October.
Gomes has been sidelined with a rib injury since early September and is yet to train with the first-team, but Silva says he’s “doing some first steps to integrate in full sessions”. His last appearance for Everton came against Wolverhampton Wanderers on September 1.
Silva said in his pre-match press conference: “Andre Gomes (is) still out. Andre is still not fully working with his teammates, let’s hope in the next few days there will be more news about him.
“It’s possible this news is coming because we have the international break after this week. Like I said before, he’s doing some first steps to integrate in full sessions with the team, hasn’t done it yet, but next week let’s see how he reacts.”
Gomes has missed two Premier League games for Everton since picking up the injury – Everton’s 3-1 defeat at Bournemouth (September 15) and their 2-0 loss to Sheffield United (September 21). He was also absent when the Toffees beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 (September 24).
Everton next face Man City (September 28) and Burnley (October 5) which Gomes is likely to miss, but he could return after the international break to face West Ham on October 19.
In Gomes’ absence, Silva has turned to Fabian Delph and Morgan Schneiderlin at the heart of the midfield, but Everton’s recent results have been a problem – the Merseysiders have lost their last two Premier League games and currently sit 14th in the table after six matches.