Everton have suffered a major injury blow after it was confirmed that Jack Grealish suffered a foot injury in training. Moreover, Fabrizio Romano has reported that the Englishman will be out for three months with a stress fracture in his foot.
David Moyes' star man will be a huge miss for the Toffees, just as they are getting players back from injury and AFCON.
The toffees are having a decent season, in comparison to recent campaigns, as they currently sit tenth in the Premier League, just four points off the Champions League places. Moyes can owe a lot of it to the brilliance of Grealish and his contributions on the pitch.
He could not have started his career at Everton any better, as he secured the Player of the Month award for August, where he registered four assists in his first two matches, establishing himself early as a star player in Moyes's side.
Moreover, the Englishman has already become a fan favourite amongst the Everton fans, particularly when he scored the winners against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
His attacking stats have been amongst the best in the league this season, with the third most assists of any player (6) and the fifth most chances created, in an Everton side that has not scored a lot of goals this season.
Everton fans were looking forward to seeing Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye back on the wing for the first time since the the beginning of the AFCON, but Moyes will have to reshuffle.
Moreover, negotiations for reinforcements may intensify, with two weeks left of the January transfer window.
Everton submit loan bid for Youssef En-Nesyri. - Striver.Football
It will be interesting to see whether Everton signs Grealish this summer, especially with rumours that they may pay £50 million to make his loan permanent. Have Everton fans seen the last of him in a blue jersey?
They will certainly hope not.
It is heartbreaking for Grealish and damaging to his World Cup hopes as he would have certainly been in the thinking of England boss Thomas Tuchel, and with six months to go until the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Furthermore, with a massive chunk of the season missing for him, he will inevitably fall further down the pecking order.
We may see him again, towards the end of April or May, but that may not be enough to get him on the plane.
For Grealish, it is a case of whether he can get back in time to make enough of an impact, to stake a real claim, but with his timescale rumoured to be around three months, it will be a tough ask for the 30-year-old.
