OPINION
There is little doubting that Everton fans would love to see the silky midfield skills of Andre Gomes remain at Goodison Park for the long-term – but their hopes of signing him permanently might just have taken a huge blow.
The Toffees managed to nab the Portuguese international on a season-long temporary deal from Barcelona and after failing to make the first couple of match day squads has come into the side to make a massive difference.
His playmaking abilities are beyond anything anyone else has to offer in the middle – other than attacking maestro Gylfi Sigurdsson – while he has a resoluteness to his game which makes him almost perfectly balanced in the centre of the pitch.
Signing him up is likely to be a priority of both manager Marco Silva and director of football Marcel Brands – but while Barcelona might have been willing to let him leave under normal circumstances, the goalposts may have just been changed.
The Sun claim on their website that the La Liga giants have suffered a hammer blow to their squad with midfielder Rafinha picking up cruciate ligament damage on Saturday – an injury blow which could leave him ruled out of action for the next nine months.
The Brazilian was a replacement for Sergi Roberto, another midfielder who picked up a serious looking injury, and with Barca looking light on the ground in terms of midfield options, they may look to keep Gomes to themselves in order to cover the problems suffered.
Everton’s hopes of signing the Portugual international look to have taken a serious blow – at least until Barca figure out what to do with their own midfield options – and they might have to start getting contingency plans in case they miss out.