Gbamin Gone Again Leaving Everton With Work To Do In Transfer Market

The news that Jean-Philippe Gbamin will be out injured for another six months leaves Everton with a familiar problem to solve.

The Ivorian was just returning to the fold after a lengthy lay-off with a thigh problem, and had hoped to feature for Everton before the end of the 2019/20 Premier League season which is set to restart towards the end of June.

Gbamin’s hopes were dashed when he injured his Achilles tendon in training on Thursday and will now be out for another six months.

There is no doubt that the Everton midfield has missed the presence of Idrissa Gueye. After all, there is a reason one of the most wealthy clubs in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, chose to add the then 29-year-old to their team of stars last year: he’s a player who can offer something many others can’t.

This was the problem Everton faced when it came to replacing Gueye during the 2019 summer transfer window. A like-for-like replacement would either be difficult to find or, once found, was likely to cost a considerable amount of money.

Everton, then managed by Marco Silva, went some way to replacing what Gueye brought to the side with the signing of Gbamin, a player director of football Marcel Brands had been monitoring for some time.

“I know him from my PSV Eindhoven time,” Brands told SB Nation. “I tried to get him a couple of years ago when he ended up going to Mainz 05.

“From the moment we saw it was possible for Idrissa Gueye to go to Paris St Germain, we proceeded to him because he was on our list. It was not an easy deal because there was other interest in him.”

Brands got his man, but that man has only been able to feature for Everton twice due to injury, so Gueye was never really replaced.

Now it feels like Everton will be trying to replace two players, Gueye and Gbamin, and there will be few arguments made against anyone who says the club need more than one new face in the middle of the park, even with Gbamin set to return in 2021.

The appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as head coach at the end of 2019 brings a new dimension to Everton’s transfer dealings, and there might be a few more obvious names linked to the club alongside some of Brands’ attempts to bring in players from under the radar who match certain criteria.

Ancelotti has also changed Everton’s formation, which itself brings challenges in the transfer market when looking for the best tactical fit. Will Ancelotti stick with the 4-4-2, or revert back to 4-3-3 once he has the players he thinks can use the latter system effectively?

There will be players who fit both, and it’s to these Ancelotti will likely turn.

The more obvious names linked to the club include Brazilian midfielder, Allan, of whom Ancelotti is a fan from his time in charge at the 29-year-old’s current club, Napoli. Allan would be ideal for a box-to-box role in a 4-4-2, and as he enters his 30s could well do a job in a holding role in a 4-3-3.

Many of the other players who would be a good fit in Everton’s midfield, and some who will no doubt be on Brands’ radar if not Ancelotti’s, ply their trade in the French league, as Gueye and Gbamin once did.

Ligue 1 is rich in midfield talent, and has always been a good training ground for players who want to make the move across the English Channel to the Premier League.

Though they aren’t identical players, the likes of Maxence Caqueret at Lyon, Ibrahima Diallo or Stade Brestois, Lille’s Boubakary Soumaré, and Angelo Fulgini of Angers might all be on Everton’s radar, and could all do a job.

Elsewhere in Europe, players such as Diadie Samassekou, Santiago Ascacibar, Denis Zakaria, and Wilmar Barrios might also register on Everton’s search for a new holding midfielder.

There are plenty of options out there, and it wouldn’t be unrealistic to suggest that Brands and Ancelotti could work together to bring in one high profile player and another from a little further under the radar.

At the moment a new midfielder is a necessity, but two could give them the improved depth and quality to challenge for the European places coveted by Ancelotti and the club.