The Everton reporter for the Athletic, Greg O’Keeffe, has issued supporters with the latest injury update on Jean-Philippe Gbamin.
On Wednesday afternoon, the reporter stated, when asked, that the club was working in the time frame that the Ivorian would not be returning to training before January (as per Greg O’Keeffe).
The last previous update from the club on the £25-million summer signing from Mainz (per BBC), was given in early October, stating that Gbamin had undergone surgery and would be out for ‘around three months’ (per Everton) – which is still in line with Keeffe’s latest update.
Everton’s midfield injuries
Marco Silva’s 25-year-old midfielder was only able to feature in two games for the Toffees after arriving at Goodison Park before suffering his injury setback (per Liverpool Echo).
With Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph picking up further injuries in recent weeks (via Liverpool Echo), it has left the Portuguese 42-year-old a little short on numbers in the middle of the park.
While Delph is set to be assessed, Gomes’ horror injury and Gbamin’s absence until the new year leaves Silva with a conundrum.
TiF Tactics – Should Silva sign a midfielder in January?
When Delph returns from injury, the Portuguese manager will have him, Tom Davies, Morgan Schneiderlin and Beni Baningime to choose from in the deeper two midfield roles of his 4-2-3-1 (per Transfermarkt).
That will then be added to early in the new year by the 24-year-old Ivorian and then Gomes, perhaps by the very end of the season (per Express).
So, that leaves Silva short for now but a large number of central midfielders at the club overall, leaving a conundrum as to whether reinforcements should be brought in, in the January window.
While loaning suitable cover for the middle of the park in seems the sensible option, the Toffees were reportedly interested in bringing in Hoffenheim midfielder Dennis Geiger on Tuesday (as per Sport 1).
The 21-year-old German may not be the most astute of options due to his age, a contract until 2022 and no release clause, which could make his price rocket, but signing a player of a similar ilk in the near future could be a good idea.
Delph is 29 and Schneiderlin is 30, while, supposedly, in their prime years now (per Quora) – before long they will need replacing, and having options lined up already is no bad thing.