Everton news: Delph may never play for club again after official update – medical expert
Fabian Delph may have played his last game for Everton as a fresh injury and new signings could prove too difficult to overcome.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Delph, 32, has turned out just six times for the Toffees this term and has not featured at all since sustaining a hamstring setback in December last year.
Everton confirmed last Thursday (27 January) that Delph is still undergoing treatment and would be out for another four weeks at least.
The Toffees, under the stewardship of new boss Frank Lampard, signed midfielders Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli on deadline day.
The extra competition and his latest injury setback may mean Delph, whose contract expires in June, may not play for the club again, argues Dinnery.
“It’s a difficult one with Delph,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“He has barely played four hours of competitive football season. In 2020-21, he only played four-and-half hours. So he hasn’t had a lot of minutes.
“With Lampard coming into the club and the arrival of Alli and Van de Beek, that increases the difficulty for Delph.
“On his day when he’s fit, Delph has shown himself to be a decent player. But unfortunately, he’s a guy who can’t seem to keep fit.
“It’s possible that we never see him start again for Everton. He’s got a lot of hard work to do to force himself back into that first team.
“It’s not an injury I would expect to see him recover quickly from. Four weeks is a minimum estimate. We could be talking six to eight.
“His only hope of going out and getting more minutes is if there are more injuries and more Covid cases.”
Delph signed for the Toffees from Man City in 2019.
He is one of five players currently sidelined at Goodison.
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