Andre Gomes’ time at Everton is up despite latest comments from Lille boss
Andre Gomes was once viewed as a star player at Everton, but the Portuguese midfielder would now struggle to make Frank Lampard’s squad.
Gomes moved to Goodison Park in 2018 on loan and impressed Marco Silva enough to warrant a permanent £22million move the following season [Sky Sports].
As a result, the 29-year-old’s deal tied him down at Everton until 2024. But Gomes fell out of favour under Lampard, and he was shipped out on loan to Lille to try and reignite his form.
However, Gomes has completed 90 minutes just once for the Ligue Un side since arriving.
Just last week, French outlet Jeunes Footeux said Gomes had been “far from convincing” and said it’d be “surprising if Lille made an offer at the end of the season.”
Lille boss Paulo Fonseca rallied behind his player and insisted “he will improve more over time” [Ouest-France]. But on the whole, Gomes seems to be struggling in France.
No space at Goodison
If Gomes is not enjoying his time in France, he’ll have an even worse time back in Liverpool.
Lampard has strung together a superb midfield trio of Amadou Onana, Alex Iwobi and Idrissa Gueye, and it’d take an awful lot for anyone to break into the starting lineup.
On top of that, Everton already have the likes of James Garner and Tom Davies competing for midfield places. Gomes’ return to Merseyside would see him arguably become Lampard’s sixth-choice midfielder.
If Lille does opt out of making a move for Gomes in January or next summer, then it’ll down to the Everton board to find him a new suitor, as it increasingly becomes clearer that he has no future at Everton.
Gomes’ signing seemed like a great idea at the time following his impressive loan spell, but it has to go down as another disappointing transfer decision made by the board and Silva.
Evertonians won’t be sad to see the back of Gomes. Lampard’s signings have already proved to be more impactful, and if he doesn’t rate Gomes then he needs to be backed.