Everton journalist Christopher Beesley has been talking up Jean-Philippe Gbamin’s chances of a fresh start under Rafael Benitez on the latest episode of the Royal Blue podcast.
Gbamin was signed back in 2019 but has only ever made three appearances for Everton, with injuries constantly setting him back and seeing the midfielder miss a total of 634 days since joining the Toffees (as per Transfermarkt).
Will Benitez succeed at Everton?
Yes!
No!
As is often the case when a new manager arrives, everyone starts on a clean slate and has a chance to prove themselves to be good enough and if the Ivorian can keep himself fit, this may be the best chance he has in an Everton shirt.
Despite suffering from a huge amount of injuries, Beesley believes that Gbamin could prove to be one of the big players, as he explained on Royal Blue.
“Under the watchful eye of a new manager, it’s a clean sweep for everyone, a new opportunity, chance to impress the new gaffer.
“Someone like Gbamin, he is almost in the same kind of territory to a certain extent, in that he’s someone who’s hardly kicked a ball in two years at the club.
“He just wants to show he can stay fit if he can avoid the injuries, and he’s ultimately one of the big-name players at the club. He’s somebody who was brought in at £25 million and great things were expected of him, but it just hasn’t worked out because of these chronic injuries.
“If he can show the new manager what he’s about, and it’s an overused cliche – but it’s almost like a new signing.”
TIF Thoughts on Gbamin…
Everton splashed out a large chunk of money for Gbamin when they paid Mainz £25 million but if he can’t manage to find his fitness and get a consistent run of games under his belt, then the Toffees may look to cut their losses.
Despite still being at the club, it seems Gbamin will have a fight on his hands to get in the starting lineup, with the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan now in his place and first-team regulars whenever fit last season.