Everton’s Premier League forgotten man Jean-Philippe Gbamin is in talks over a move to Russian giants CSKA Moscow, his agent Bernard Collignon tells BR.
While no one could say that Gbamin has been anything other than an expensive disaster at Goodison Park, it feels somewhat unfair to place the former Mainz enforcer next to the likes of Yannick Bolasie, Moise Kean and Davy Klaassen.
It’s fitness, rather than form, that’s been Gbamin’s problem in England’s north west after all.
Three years after joining Everton in a £25 million deal, the Ivory Coast international has made just eight Premier League appearances.
And, in his only start this term, Gbamin was hauled off at half-time. He looked about as rusty as a beaten-up Vauxhall Nova during November’s 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Does Gbamin have a future at Everton under Frank Lampard?
CSKA Moscow are offering Gbamin a clean slate with the Russian transfer window closing on February 22nd.
“Negotiations are still ongoing,” his agent said over the weekend. “Will the contract be signed? I don’t know.”
Time isn’t exactly on Gbamin’s side, with just a few hours remaining until the window closes. But it seems unlikely that Everton will stand in his way, with Donny Van de Beek’s January arrival from Manchester United forcing Gbamin even further down the pecking order.
CKSA are hoping to sign the 26-year-old on an initial loan deal. A permanent transfer remains a possibility, however. Especially if Everton succeed in securing Van de Beek on a full-time basis.
Gbamin was left out of the squad entirely by new manager Frank Lampard as Everton went down 2-0 to a Stuart Armstrong-inspired Southampton at St Mary’s.
That defeat, Everton’s second in three Premier League games under Lampard, leaves the Toffees 16th in the table. They are just five points ahead of bottom-placed Norwich City.
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