Sam Allardyce confirms major injury blow for Everton’s Eliaquim Mangala

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Everton’s Eliaquim Mangala could miss the rest of the season.

Everton boss Sam Allardyce has told the club’s official website that defender Eliaquim Mangala’s injury looks to be long-term, potentially ruling him out for the rest of the season.

The Toffees made headlines with big-money deals for Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott in January, but they also swooped to land Mangala on loan until the end of the season on deadline day.

Mangala, 27, had struggled to live up to his price tag following a 2014 move from Porto to Manchester City, and with Pep Guardiola bringing in Aymeric Laporte in January, City allowed Mangala to go out on loan.

The France international made nine Premier League appearances this season, and given that he ended up behind Laporte, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany in the pecking order, he was potentially playing for a permanent exit.

Mangala made his debut for Everton in their 5-1 defeat away at Arsenal, but then managed just 45 minutes against Crystal Palace as he suffered a knee ligament injury, forcing him to be substituted.

In the week since Mangala’s injury, Everton have found out more about the blow, and manager Allardyce has told the club’s official website that the injury appears to be ‘long-term’, ruing his luck as he felt Mangala would be a ‘very good’ addition.

“The injuries this week were a blow, with Mangala in particular – that looks like it could be long-term, which is a great shame for him and for us because I think he was a very good addition to the squad,” said Allardyce. “But, overall, we are in a good position to try to finish the season strongly,” he added.

That now means that Everton fans may have already seen the last of Mangala, as a truly long-term injury would rule him out for the rest of the season and possibly scupper any chances of a permanent deal over the summer.

With Tosun struggling to feature under Allardyce too, that’s two January signings for Everton who haven’t quite had the desired impact, and that will be a source of major frustration for the Toffees boss.