Christian Norgaard is carrying a ''small injury''

The reason behind new signing Christian Norgaard failing to appear in any of Everton's pre-season friendlies since he joined the club to great fanfare has finally been revealed: he's carrying a "small injury".

Christian Norgaard was one of four Everton players to speak at the Men in Blazers live event with lifelong Evertonian presenter Roger Bennett that was held at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.

“I have a small injury at the moment but soon, hopefully I’ll be ready and I can’t wait to get out there for the first time.

“We’re hopefully close, I can’t really put a time frame on it. I feel like we are getting very close, so not too long.”

The 32-year-old Danish international was expected to feature prominently in the Blues' warm-up matches following his £7M move from Arsenal earlier this month. Having arrived with impressive Premier League pedigree and being handed the Number 23 shirt — vacated by long-serving former Club Captain Seamus Coleman — supporters were eager to see the defensive midfielder anchor David Moyes’s midfield.

However, Norgaard was a notable absentee throughout Everton's final pre-season preparations, leading to growing speculation among fans regarding his fitness. Moyes has now clarified the situation, confirming that the Dane has been sidelined with a minor setback rather than anything long-term.

Norgaard addded that "being at a club like Brentford where they worked so intensely on set-pieces made me learn a lot. Hopefully I can bring this to Everton because there is so much height and so much size in the team.

“I don’t see why Everton should not be one of the best teams in the league when it comes to set-pieces.”

The manager assured supporters that the issue is relatively minor, though the club opted to exercise caution rather than risk aggravating the problem before the competitive campaign gets underway. While the decision was taken to keep him out of match action, Norgaard is expected to resume full training shortly as he works his way toward full fitness.

It remains to be seen whether the midfielder will be passed fit in time to make his official Everton debut in the opening weeks of the season, but the coaching staff will be hopeful of having their new man available in the engine room as soon as possible.

 

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