Ancelotti lays out Everton summer transfer plans

Despite Everton’s paucity of midfielders and strikers this season, manager Carlo Ancelotti seems to be indicating that the Toffees will not be pursuing new faces in those two areas during the summer transfer window.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin suffered a season-ending injury in training last week, just days after making his first appearance for the Blues in over a year. Meanwhile veteran Fabian Delph has spent almost as much time as Gbamin on the injury list. Allan has spent a good part of the season injured and now Everton’s indefatigable engine Abdoulaye Doucoure is out, with the Blues slump coinciding with the Frenchman’s absence.

However, Ancelotti seems to be satisfied with the midfield depth in the squad and says the Blue will not be looking to beef up the midfielders corps at the end of this campaign.

“I don’t think we are going to replace Gbamin because we are sure he has the quality and the potential that he can play. Before I came it was a great investment from the club and we still have trust in him. Honestly, he suffered a lot of injuries but we have confidence that when he is back next season he can be of help to us.

“Before this time of injury he had played at least 55-60 games without a problem. Unfortunately it can happen. Personally I was out injured for two years when I was 20 and I had a fantastic career afterward. It is a difficult moment for him but we are confident he will be back soon and in fantastic condition.”

The Toffees have Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison as their main striking options, but have struggled when either of the pair have been forced to miss time, having earlier sent out Moise Kean on loan to Paris St Germain where he has tapped into a rich vein of goalscoring form. There have been some noises from Paris about making the loan permanent, but Ancelotti quashed any such talk.

Josh King was brought in during the January transfer window as a back-up, but has yet to make his mark and there has been no indication that the Blues want to have him sign a new deal.

“Honestly, we didn’t have a look at the market for next season because we are in the fight for European positions. But I can tell you that it [a striker] will not be the position we are looking for.

“In front we are really well covered because we have Dominic Calvert-Lewin, we have Richarlison, we have in this moment Joshua King and we have Moise Kean coming back.

“I don’t have to convince him to stay at Everton. This is what the papers say. He is on loan and he has to come back. If Paris Saint-Germain wants him they have to open discussions about him. We are open [to negotiations] but if nothing happens then he will be an Everton player next season and an important player.”