Everton will still pay Jean-Philippe Gbamin £22,000-a-week despite loaning the Premier League forgotten man to Russian giants CSKA Moscow this week, Fabrizio Romano reports on Twitter.
In the last two years, Everton have succeeded in getting Theo Walcott, Morgan Schneiderlin, Yannick Bolasie, Sandro Ramirez, Moise Kean, Oumar Niasse, Muhamed Besic, Bernard, Josh King and James Rodriguez off the wage bill.
That is millions upon millions saved. A much-needed, admittedly-belated exodus that loosens the financial noose hanging around Everton’s neck.
With Gbamin heading out to Russia, joining CSKA Moscow on loan on Monday, The Toffees have shaved a further £50,000 off their weekly bill.
According to Fabrizio Romano, CSKA will stump up 70 per cent of Gbamin’s wages.
That still leaves Everton responsible for forking over £22,000-a-week to their seldom-seen, £25 million Ivory Coast international however. That is nearly £100,000 every month.
Hardly an insignificant sum, especially when you consider that Gbamin has started just two Premier League games in nearly three years on the blue half of Merseyside.
Does Gbamin have a future at Everton?
Whether Gbamin has a future on English soil is anyone’s guess. If he can prove his fitness over in Russia, who’s to say Frank Lampard won’t offer the 26-year-old a fresh start come the summer?
Gbamin’s blend of skill, speed, aggression and technique would make him a pretty good fit for an Everton midfield that, for much of the last few seasons, has looked undermanned and frequently outmanoeuvred.
It’s interesting to note that Everton have decided against including a ‘purchase clause’ in Gbamin’s CSKA contract.
“My agent contacted the club and we sorted out the formalities in a short time,” Gbamin explains. “I am very glad. I want to give the team everything that I am capable of.
“I’m in good shape now, although I haven’t played for a long time. But I’ve been training. I hope that I will show the fans everything that I can do.”
A man reborn in Moscow?
While CSKA landed Gbamin, reports linking another seldom-seen Premier League midfielder with the Russian giants came to nothing.
Speculation suggesting that Leicester City’s Nampalys Mendy could be on his way to Moscow, his agent says, was nothing more than ‘fake news’.
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