The extent of Michael Keane’s injury has become apparent and Everton are going to be without another centre-back.
Keane will be out of action for Everton and unavailable for three to four weeks at least following his injury scare at Bournemouth last weekend.
The injury is not as bad as it first appeared in the initial moments after the head clash with team-mate Idrissa Gueye. But while that is obviously good news for the player and Everton, it still leaves the Blues very short of cover at centre half.
Keane joins new signing Yerry Mina who is also injured and unavailable for around the same amount of time as Keane. And on top of that of course Phil Jagielka is still suspended after his red card at Wolves on opening day.
Everton have also let several other defenders leave this summer with Ramiro Funes-Mori sold and Ashley Williams going to Stoke on loan. So the club are worrying short of alternatives in this crucial position.
It basically means that Everton only have Mason Holgate and new loan signing Kurt Zouma available for the visit of Huddersfield on Saturday.
And to add further to the team’s problems it’s still not certain that Morgan Schneiderlin will be fit to play in front of the defence.
So another option for the club is to dip into the free agent transfer market and see if there are any possible options.
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Toffees manager Marco Silva has said the Blues don’t need to enter the free agent market to sign anyone else. But that was before Keane’s horrible injury.
There are several defenders available on a free including Robert Huth who won the Premier League with Leicester City only three season’s ago, the former Liverpool and Palace defender Bakary Sako and ex-West Ham and Wales centre-half James Collins.
Given the threadbare nature of the Blues defence at the moment and the relative inexperience of Holgate and the fact Zouma has only just joined the club it might make sense for Everton to add an experienced centre-back to the squad to provide cover and support in the short-term.