Never going to get any serious game time under Frank Lampard at Goodison Park this season, everyone agreed it was best for André Gomes to find himself a new club.
He ended up at Lille on loan, the same club the Toffees bought Amadou Onana from for €40m this summer, with the Portuguese trying to fill the gap left by the Belgium international.
However, he appears to have failed to do so so far, making just four appearances in Ligue 1 under Paulo Fonseca, totalling 166 minutes.
This lack of game time isn’t exactly what Gomes or Everton will have wanted, and that suggests his future will not be in France beyond this season.
Add to that the fact, according to Jeunes Footeux, Lille are looking at 1. FC Köln’s Ellyes Skhiri for next season, and all fingers point towards a return to Goodison Park for the midfielder.
The website state Gomes is ‘for now far from convincing’ and ‘it would be surprising if Lille made an offer at the end of the season to permanently secure his services’.
The Portugal international arrived at Everton from Barcelona back in 2019 in a £22.5m but has never managed to impose himself in the Premier League.
Injuries haven’t helped him, of course, but there was hope this time in France could help him get back on track and potentially allow the Merseyside club to get some of their money back with a sale next summer.
So far, though, that doesn’t appear to be going to plan.
