Gbamin's return halted dead in its tracks by fresh injury

No excuse for Silva; someone I was never comfortable with, but like I say, a bit of perspective as it's the key area of the pitch where games are won or lost.

Another 4 weeks training and ball work may put him in the frame.

How we have missed a genuinely athletic midfield who can make tackles, cover ground and distribute reasonably well. If he can replicate what he did in Germany he'll be comfortably our most effective central midfielder. Though the competition is sadly low.

BUT... I just can't get enthused about the football season in June and July. And I certainly can't be bothered with behind closed doors matches played purely to satisfy the Sky TV deal and their sponsors.

I am not a fan of the women's football. (Nothing against it. I just don't enjoy it.) But it says everything when this has gone the way of the Scottish League and all the other leagues that don't have the billion-pound deals in place. The Premier League playing on is only about money. It is doing itself no credit in continuing this farce.

Hopefully he has finally got his injuries sorted out and can be rehabilitated into midfield. There will be pressure to push him on, given the current midfield's performance.

All those currently playing in midfield have their weaknesses. Delph would probably be the best to play with him and should have benefited from the lockdown break himself.

I am unconvinced by Gomes as the midfield player to build around. Davies is still developing while Schneiderlin and Sigurdsson are hit and miss.

He played a lot of his time in Germany as a centre-back and we're desperately short at centre-back. Hopefully his versatility will give us options. I don't think we'll see a player until next season personally. After this long out, and in a league that he wasn't used to, he's going to need more time.

The young man has the physicality strength and speed required to be well suited to the needs of the Premier League, he will just need to to get up to its speed.

I know where you are coming from regarding his initial performances. He is going to need time to settle in. It's rumoured that PSG are looking to sell Gueye, though I would say there would be competition for him.

I know he was getting up to speed but he didn't look particularly pacy before the injury so I don't have great expectations when he comes back. Maybe he would be more suited to providing centre-back cover.

No sir, he did not. He made only 11 Bundesliga appearances at that position, and only one in the last two years. The man's a DM.

And I would contest that we're "desperately short" at CB. I think Mina and Holgate are quality and Keane is adequate cover until we sign someone better.

I think right back, central defence and central midfield have got to be upgraded in the summer if we are to have a chance of breaking into the top 6.

It's going to have to get much better, far quicker for him to go from golden hope ( like many, better for not playing) to anything meaningful for our midfield game. Power is what we need; speed, tackling, positioning, forward passing, intelligence, awareness, intuition but mist of all power.

How??? There's NO fucking contact yet!!!!

Terrible luck or is he or the medical team doing something wrong?

Either way, our midfield will continue to be powderpuff for these last games.

There you go – 9 replacements for him and all worth every penny we paid for them!!

Interestingly, the best midfield player last season isn't even on that list – Holgate over 2 games!!

He may be finished before he had started unfortunately.

Dreary reading given the alternatives for our midfield slots.

We (and he) have just been really unlucky with this one.

Maybe the lad was overcompensating and trying too hard.

Really feel for him because I don't think the Premier League will see him again.

Sorry to be a doom-monger but I expect a raft of injuries if the Premier League starts in a few weeks.

The lad is not to blame I know but it's almost inevitable that even when he gets fit to play again he won't last long. It just doesn't work out that way for Everton signings.

What's left of this miserable season is best forgotten and we can all hope that the next season will be far more rewarding.

I watched some Bundesliga games recently and without the crowd they are just plain boring.

Gbamin has just ruptured his Achilles tendon playing foot tennis or something. Out for another 6 months at least.

FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

Brands's gamble on an injury-prone Gbamin is in tatters.

Mersey Derby: we'll either get twated 0-6 or lose 0-1 in the last minute

We really are that crap/unlucky

Speaking from personal experience (I've had 3), a complete Achilles rupture or lateral tear -- they wouldn't be planning immediate surgery otherwise -- is likely a 12-15 month injury, not 6 or 7. Best case scenario is a return in time for the 2021-22 season. And there is absolutely no assurance he can regain Prem level. Beckham and Koscielny were able to. Yakubu and Barnes were not. And none of them were carrying a previous serious injury like Gbamin's.

Imagine what it must be like to come to your dream league at 23, believing you're poised on the edge of a brilliant career, and less than a year later suddenly find yourself staring into the abyss. Devastating. Heartsick for him.

Also a massive loss for us in a position where we need strength and depth. We need Delph to get up to speed and stay fit otherwise we will struggle, because I don't think we can buy ourselves out of a mess this season.

Still he's got 3 years(?) on our no doubt substantial dime to get himself as right as he can and then try to plan the rest of his career / life.

But now it really means the club need to be looking to fill his position rather than wait on him regaining fitness.

Perhaps a punt on Gana in the short term, one or two seasons? Better the devil you know?

Gbamin's injury records:

19/20 Hamstring Injury Aug 22, 2019 Jan 19, 2020 150 days 26Everton FC

18/19 Pulled hamstring at the adductors Aug 27, 2018 Sep 17, 2018 21 days 21. FSV Mainz 05

17/18 Cut Feb 5, 2018 Feb 8, 2018 3 days 11. FSV Mainz 05

17/18 Thigh Muscle Strain Dec 14, 2017 Jan 1, 2018 18 days 21. FSV Mainz 05

17/18 Thigh Problems Jul 17, 2017 Sep 4, 2017 49 days 31. FSV Mainz 05

16/17 Muscular problems Apr 20, 2017 May 4, 2017 14 days 21. FSV Mainz 05

16/17 Thigh Problems Sep 19, 2016 Sep 26, 2016 7 days 21. FSV Mainz 05

16/17 Ankle Injury Aug 4, 2016 Aug 15, 2016 11 days

15/16 Knock Jul 20, 2015 Oct 26, 2015 98 days

The power the footballers agents have with control over the clubs is astonishing. Wish him a speedy recovery and do feel sorry for the lad but this could just about finish him at EFC.

Doesn't look good for the rest of this half-baked season regarding the very weak central midfield. They have hardly any pace – and don't mention fighting ability –and that's with the crowd behind them. I fear where the few points we need are going to come from.

No-one is ever lonely in the Everton treatment room.

As regards the club goes, the injury always left a considerable question mark over him. As I understood it, and I'm the opposite of an expert here, he would have had a significant weakness and been likely to have had further injury at any time, which means any sign of injury and he'd have to rest. In other words, he'd keep missing the odd game or he'd suffer another big injury and be out long term.

As it happens he's suffered a different, but still long term injury. The poor lad is done in my eyes. He's like James McCarthy now, whereby he might well be a player, but he's never going to get fit enough to be counted on and never going to be a key part of our plans. We need to sign a different player to replace Gueye, and if Gbamin can recover, then great. I suspect he'll be a forgotten man like Danny Williamson.

Sometimes you just have to face reality and move to on.

Dave A raised a good question above: will we have the character to win games without spectators as we surely need at least another win to be safe? It's an interesting one – with maybe one or two exceptions, we don't have big-game players. It could well be that playing behind closed doors suits the likes of Tom Davies and Michael Keane who take a lot of stick from the crowd. Anthony Gordon might benefit from being blooded without a critical crowd ready to criticise him if he loses possession. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Morgan Schneiderlin may be better for the same reason. Who knows... but it will be very interesting to see how different players and teams react.

My best wishes to JP and hopefully he will confound some of us and recover to be a significant player for the club.

We can add 'never replaced Gana' to 'never replaced Lukaku' as part of our common lexicon. We have been a significantly weaker team in midfield since Idrissa left.

His injury track record did make him a gamble and I wonder if the fee we paid was segmented into payments on games played, I hope so.

Unfortunately, at the time of the injury and his subsequent relapse, I stated my doubts that it might be career-ending as it has been for other poor athletes who suffered similar.

Sad for such a young man and evidence, if needed, that a break is much easier to recover from than muscular or ligament injuries.

I wish him all the best but I wonder at what point do we start discussing with the insurance company that his career at the top level is over and seek a payout.

I guess his track is set now. Get back to fitness, a couple of loans in the Championship or Belgium, then free transfer.

I don't remember him having a particularly bad injury record before he signed for Everton.

After Covid-19 and without Gbamin, the squad is light of another quality player. It'll be a tall order to pull in 3 or 4 first teamers for the new season. A very unpredictable and weird summer transfer window beckons.

So sad for Gbamin. I just hope he can make a full recovery and play a full part in the future of EFC.

Stay safe everyone as a second wave is almost certainly on its way. Though I sincerely hope the scientists are wrong.

My post only said "regain Prem level", which Beckham certainly did, but agreed he did not 100% recover. I am not aware of any top footballer who has. Koscielny returned from his May 2018 blowout to captain Arsenal eight months later, but he looked pretty slow in last season's Europa League final.

David Connor #57, that got a grim chuckle from me.

Dave #67 and Jack #74, amen. He certainly left us on the best of terms, so let's hope there's mutual interest. Very surprised PSG listed him after one highly successful season.

It makes the new midfield signing even more important. We need a tough quality player who will give us 30 games plus per season. Someone mentioned resigning Gana, or even loaning him with a fee for a season would be a good move.

However, for the immediate future, the club needs to prioritise strengthening in midfield. A pragmatic approach is required in all areas including goalkeeper, for Carlo to build a squad that he can call his own.

Of course it's all bullshit and in order to keep the Sky money, the teams are going to embark on a playground version of the great game without interference from the now redundant speccies!

Personally, I've no interest in this prostitution of our game and shall not even groan when they are crowned champs – even though we will beat them on the day!

Far from me to judge but such a shocking injury doing football tennis raises questions about the physios and his recovery plan.

Looks like next year but let's pray he recovers but some players and over the years EFC has had on par to close second a staggering number of players who get crocked far too regularly.

I hope the lad is getting the full support that this latest set-back warrants and he makes a full recovery.

Whilst those stats do indicate he was injured on several occasions at Mainz with several mostly thigh/hamstring related injuries for a period of 112 days at Mainz, so I suppose he could be classified as injury prone, he only missed 12 games in 3 seasons.

This includes 3 games in the longest period he was out for, 49 days from Jul 17, 2017 to Sep 4, 2017, so most of the close season.

Correct link. Copy and pasted what I could.

He was injury-prone, but his Everton medical would have been thorough and, with his ability in the position he played, he was worth the risk. I was in favour of the transfer, though I admit it was into the season before I looked at his injury record. Everton have difficulty attracting players and Brands has had to take calculated risks on injury-prone players.

It has worked out on most occasions, but unfortunately there are difficulties with Gbamin. Gbamin fit would have been a good addition to the squad and one I would have liked to see playing. Good luck to him in his recovery.

Transferring in a replacement is very much up in the air because of the current pandemic.

I wonder exactly how the injury was sustained. Football tennis... is that with a football or a tennis ball?

What it does do for us is really highlight the massive holes that need filling in midfield. We definitely need two quality additions in there now.

It's terrible for the player personally, he has everyone's thoughts and sympathies, I'm sure, but it's also terrible for the team.

Midfield was the massive priority this summer even before this news. This makes it even more pressing on what, pretty much universally, is acknowledged as being a very different and uncertain transfer window for all clubs to invest and make signings.

Wouldn't be bothered if we didn't sign any other positions if it meant we sorted the midfield, it's so weak. It's not just the centre where we need 1 or 2 players, we're needing someone to play on the right, unless we want to see Theo trotting out and contributing zilch for another season.

Just have a horrible feeling it will be difficult to do what needs done. We'll end up watching the same shit for another season that we already know isn't good enough.

Ah, who'd be a Toffee? Oh yeah, all of us! 💙

Maybe we should go get Andy Carroll.

Central midfield should be our absolute top priority.

I think Gomes or Delph at their best are both pretty decent players but we've just not seen that at Everton bar a handful of games for Gomes last season.

I think 2 central players are needed though that will surely rely upon finding a home for Schneiderlin and maybe a loan for Davies. Otherwise we'd be paying the wages of 7 senior central midfielders (8 if you include Sigurdsson) for 2 spots which would seem unlikely.

I have said for years we lack goals and bite from our midfield. It is the engine room of any top team and we need better quality than we've currently got.

A trio of Gomes, Gueye and Sigurdsson worked okay. Gomes passed, Gueye ran and Sigurdsson scored. I had high hopes for Gbamin as the Gueye replacement. One quality addition may be enough to get everything to gel again. Delph and Schneiderlin can play backup and maybe Davies spends a season in the Bundesliga.

To those that say he's finished let's move on, can they give me the lottery numbers and remember Peter Reid? You never know.

The guy is our player, we look after him and try to get him back on the pitch. In the meantime, we need another central midfielder – which we kind of knew anyway.

It's a bit early to be completely writing his career off!

He's had some terrible luck and we need to get behind him.

I wonder how much recompense you get from the insurers in situations like this?

Centre-midfield was already the priority recruitment position for me. Now it is comfortably the priority. And two may well be needed. Which may mean going for cheaper options.

However, the stark reality is that both of these injuries are potential career-enders, and having both of them at the same time does profoundly impact his chances of ever being a top-level player again.

Nothing would make me happier than to have him prove me wrong.