Everton journalist Dave Prentice has been sharing his thoughts on the return of Toffees midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin from a long-term injury after manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that the midfielder is fit enough to play in the club’s upcoming Premier League match against Crystal Palace.
This comes after Prentice made an appearance on a recent episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue Podcast where he spoke about a number of topics concerning the Merseyside club.
On the subject of Gbamin’s return from an Achilles tendon rupture that has kept him out of action since May last year, and the possibility of him playing against Palace, Prentice had this to say on the matter. (2.03)
He said: “It’s good to see him back on the periphery and I think that’s where he’ll stay. Although I get the impression that Carlo is very keen to see him play as quickly as possible. He has mentioned before about his summer transfer plans could depend upon whether we have a fully fit Gbamin available or not and depending on which area the team is going to try and look to bring new faces into, so, he will want to use him sooner rather than later.
“I think that if an opportunity presents itself, I think Gbamin may be seen. I think it’s still very, very soon. He’s only been training with the first team for about 10 days. I think it would be asking an awful lot to throw him into a Premier League fixture so soon, but I don’t think it will be that long.”
Everton signed Gbamin back in the 2019 summer transfer window from German club FSV Mainz for a fee of £22.5 million.
TIF Thoughts on Dave Prentice’s comments on Gbamin and his return from injury…
Since his arrival at Goodison Park, the 25-year-old, who is currently valued at £16.2 million, has only made two appearances for the Toffees as a result of the two serious injuries he’s suffered during his time at the club that have seen him miss a total of 58 games (per Transfermarkt).
Do you think Gbamin should get some minutes against Palace?
Yes
No
Given how long Gbamin has been out of action, it may be slightly too soon for the midfield man to get back on the pitch for a substantial period of time against Palace on Monday in our view.
In other news: ‘Little bit of caution’ – Journalist drops Everton claim on Bramley-Moore Docks