Everton news as concern emerges over Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Amadou Onana
There will be concern growing at Everton after Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Amadou Onana didn’t play in the club’s pre-season game at Wigan, according to The Mail on Sunday.
The newspaper reported on page 92 of its print edition on 23 July that the pair missed out on the 1-0 victory over the League One outfit on 22 July, with the start of the Premier League season less than three weeks away.
The Toffees’ first-team coach Steve Stone told the Liverpool Echo on 14 July that Calvert-Lewin was about two weeks away from joining up with the rest of the group after suffering a hamstring injury at the end of last season, while there has been no news on Onana’s fitness.
Race against time
Time is running out for the Everton duo to get themselves fit for the start of the season, with the home clash against Fulham on 12 August less than three weeks away.
Sean Dyche will be desperate to have them both involved in the game – preferably in the starting lineup – as he looks to get the campaign off to the perfect start at Goodison Park.
There is no doubt that the pair are key players within the squad, but the Toffees boss has spent much of his time in charge without the luxury of being able to call upon Calvert-Lewin, who only made 17 Premier League appearances last season.
As Stone says, though, he is expected to be back working with the rest of the side in the next week or so now, so they’ll be hoping to get him up to speed and in with a shout of playing in the season opener.
Onana’s omission will also be a concern. The midfielder missed Belgium’s international games in June because of a “minor groin injury”, but perhaps that problem is worse than previously expected.
Time is ticking to get them both fit ahead of the start of the season.
In other Everton news, the Toffees look set to have missed out on a key transfer target.