Everton midfielder to miss key Manchester City and Liverpool games

Eagle-eyed Everton fans would have noticed that something was amiss with Idrissa Gueye last weekend. He seemed a step off the pace at snowy Stoke City, and most of us dismissed it as the midfielder was coming back from illness that caused him to miss the previous weekend against Brighton & Hove Albion.

However, it now appears that the player had suffered a muscle tear at some point that he played through but showed up when Gana went through medicals after arriving at Senegal’s training camp for the international break.

Speaking during a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s friendly against Uzbekistan, the Lions of Teranga manager Aliou Cisse said (via SportsMole) -

“My squad is almost complete, but ‘Gana’ had a muscle tear when he came over. I had wanted him to be in my team, but I think he will be out for three weeks.

”I wanted him to come over with the rest of his national teammates, so we could assess his injury. He was able to do so.”

There were no additional details released about the location of his injury or any official confirmation from the club, but if Gana were to miss three weeks including this weekend then his participation is severely in doubt for the key home clashes against runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City and the Merseyside Derby against Liverpool. The Blues go to Swansea City on April 14th and his presence will depend on if he has been able to train before that.

Gueye posted a picture with his fellow Senegalese call-up Oumar Niasse on Monday that caused a storm on Instagram after former Evertonian Ross Barkley commented on it. A rash of hateful responses followed, resulting in Barkley deleting his comment, and he will likely never be seen again on Everton-related social media.