Everton’s Idrissa Gueye is set to be on the sidelines for three weeks with a leg injury, according to The Sun.
The newspaper claim that the 28-year-old midfielder turned up for a training camp with Senegal in Morocco already injured.
The Sun report that national team doctors have now ruled Gueye out until mid-April, which will cause him to miss the Toffees’ games against bitter rivals Liverpool and current league leaders Manchester City.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse commented on the 28-year-old’s injury and confirmed that he knew about it ahead of time.
“My squad is almost complete, but ‘Gana’ had a muscle tear when he came over,” said Cisse, as quoted by The Sun.
“I had wanted him to be in my team, but I think he will be out for three weeks.
“I wanted him to come over with the rest of his national teammates, so we could assess his injury, he was able to do so.”
Gueye has been a regular for the Toffees this season, making 32 appearances across all competitions during this campaign.
OPINION
Gueye is a key member of Sam Allardyce’s side and for him to potentially miss the Merseyside Derby is huge. The 28-year-old runs the Toffees midfield and without him in the heart of their team, Liverpool will have a clear run at Allardyce’s crumbling defence. With the Toffees being far enough away from the relegation zone, but miles off finishing in the top-six, the game against the Reds was one of the few games that felt important for the club in the second half of the season. So it’s a shame that the Toffees will likely be without one of their regular first-team players.