Gbamin's rehab plans, Carlo Ancelotti's upset and Brands talks

This week's Royal Blue looks at what next for Gbamin after his latest injury set-back

Jean-Philippe Gbamin's injury rehab plans, Carlo Ancelotti's upset and Everton talks

Jean-Philippe Gbamin will undergo surgery on his injured Achilles in London on Tuesday.

It will be the third time the midfielder has gone under the knife this season and it will keep him sidelined for an, as-of-yet, undefined period.

All Everton have said is that he will require an "extensive period of rehabilitation".

You can understand why those close to him at Finch Farm have labelled him as 'unbelievably' unlucky and described themselves as 'devastated' after he was struck with a second major injury of the season, after August's tendon problem in his right quadriceps had kept him out up until this point.

Carlo Ancelotti, yet to see Gbamin in action for the Blues, is said to been left deeply upset by what has happened this week.

Word from the training ground is that, cruelly, Gbamin had looked strong in the small group work that had taken place during the first phase of training as the squad returned to Finch Farm and his injury, sustained on Tuesday afternoon, came just hours after quotes from an in-house interview were circulated to the media.

In it, he said he was hoping to feature again before the end of the season but now a "serious" Achilles injury, sustained in "non-contact" circumstances, mean that will no longer be happening.

Instead, after a season blighted by that thigh injury, restricting the 24-year-old to only 135 minutes of action, he must now look to next term.

Easier said than done, of course.

But those close to Gbamin say he is - remarkably given he awaits a third stint in surgery next week - in good spirits, still laughing and smiling despite the events of the week.

Director of football Marcel Brands held a long chat with the £25m signing from Mainz on Thursday, and he is already zoned in on his recovery but having already experienced a near whole season on the sidelines, with various set-backs along the way, he knows there will be good days, bad ones and that nothing can be taken for granted.

He is, however, finding it hard to accept that he has gone from playing an average of almost 30 league games in each of the past six seasons, to this, 135 minutes and a campaign of torment.

Nevertheless, Gbamin is said to be in determined mood and people who know him well speak of how tough he is.

His levels of resolve, of course, are all important right now.

It has been discussed that the midfielder could spend the first part of his rehab in France, with talks having taken place about spending two weeks in Paris with a specialist before moving to the south of the country to continue his recovery.

Everton said he will need a long period of rehab and there are concerns that he may not play for the club again until 2021, with some estimates putting a nine month timescale on injuries of this type.

But Gbamin, it is believed, thinks it possible he could be back much sooner, as long as the surgery goes as planned next week.

Yet after a season stopped dead in its tracks after less than two games, and then one that has toyed with him ever since, he'll be taking one day at a time.