Carlo Ancelotti says £25m Everton man has ‘realistic’ chance of playing again this season

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Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti is optimistic about the chances of Jean-Philippe Gbamin returning to action before the end of the season.

The Toffees signed Gbamin in the summer of 2019, bringing him to Goodison Park from German club Mainz for a reported £25million fee.

Unfortunately, the Ivory Coast international has endured a difficult time with injuries throughout his time at Everton and has made just two first-team appearances to date.

Shortly after his arrival at Goodison Park, Gbamin suffered a thigh injury and had surgery which ruled him out for a numer of months.

The midfielder was close to returning to action in 2020 but damaged his Achilles tendon in training and has since been struggling to overcome the problem.

A month ago, Ancelotti told reporters: “He is to start training with the team in 10-15 days and then to play in a month.”

Gbamin is yet to return to training, but on Friday, Ancelotti provided another update on the 25-year-old.

“To play this season is realistic,” he told the Everton media team. “Not in the next few games, but before the end of the season, we hope he can play.

“We have no concerns [about his long-term fitness], it will take time.”

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Gbamin has been so unfortunate with injuries over the past 18 months, and even once he’s available for first-team selection, chances are he’ll need a while to get back to full match fitness.

He’s a quality player and it’ll be great to see him fully fit and raring to go, bolstering an Everton side that has done well this term and which can certainly go even further in the coming seasons.