Kevin Thelwell gives new Everton injury update on Armando Broja and Youssef Chermiti amid £80m claim
Kevin Thelwell has declared that Armando Broja and Youssef Chermiti are set to return for Everton sooner than expected.
The Toffees are down to just one senior striker in Beto after a luckless run of injuries. Broja sustained an ankle injury in a 2-0 FA Cup third-round win over Peterborough United last month. The initial timeframe was that he would be unavailable for up to 12 weeks having been stretchered off.
Meanwhile, Chermiti has not played a senior game this season. He suffered a freak foot injury on the eve of the campaign, having caught the eye in pre-season. After playing a couple of games for the under-21s, the Portugal youth international then picked up a thigh problem.
To compound Everton’s frustrations, Dominic Calvert-Lewin tore his hamstring in a 1-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion which has put him on the treatment table for a significant period.
The Blues did want to sign a new centre-forward before the winter transfer window closed on February 3. However, there was a paucity of options available and Everton had no domestic loan spots free in their squad.
“With Broja coming back earlier than expected, with Chermiti coming back earlier than we expected, we made a decision collectively to stick with what we have got. Beto did great last week scoring a couple of goals, let’s see if he can score a couple more and in between times, we get those two strikers back to us and they can prove they’re very capable to help us win in some games.”
Everton have had tight financial restrictions since Thelwell joined the club in February 2022. They have twice fallen foul of Premier League profit and sustainability rules, resulting in a combined eight-point deduction last season.
There have been significant cost-cutting measures put in place to improve the situation, with players such as Richarlison, Anthony Gordon, Alex Iwobi, Demarai Gray and Ben Godfrey being sold.
Thelwell revealed that circa £225 million in player sales have been raised in the past three years and just £145 million spent – leading to a net spend of -£80 million. And given how much the situation has improved, Thelwell admitted he did not want to waste money in January which would subsequently hinder their scope to spend in the summer.
Thelwell added: “We are coming out of a tunnel. We can see the light but in our reality we are not quite out of that tunnel. I feel we are in fairly good shape and that gives us a real strong opportunity to attack the market and start to develop a team that is capable of getting back to winning trophies and getting into Europe and befitting of the world-class stadium we are going to be moving into.”
