This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin will not be offered a new contract by the club “anytime soon” according to The Liverpool Echo, with his first-team chances set to be limited with the addition of Fabian Delph and the return of Andre Gomes.
What’s the word?
The Frenchman’s contract runs until 2021, but reports are suggesting that he will not be offered a new one due to numbers ahead of him in the pecking order. The Echo explains that when the likes of Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph are available, Schneiderlin will most likely struggle to find first-team action.
The same report also explains how the 29-year-old was looking at potentially leaving in the summer, as Schneiderlin told Winamax (as cited by The Liverpool Echo): “Today, I still have two years left, and I am a bit divided.
“For the moment I am in the optics to respect my contract, after we will see. If the club wants to sell me and I am offered an interesting project for me, anything is possible.”
Everton’s fourth choice
The former Southampton man has been in dismal form this season, and in truth, has struggled wherever he has been since leaving the Saints for Manchester United in 2015. At the Red Devils, Schneiderlin failed to nail down a starting spot under Louis van Gaal, starting just 32 times in all competitions across two seasons.
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And since joining Everton, he has once again had to settle for a spot on the bench a lot, starting just 10 league games last season and 24 the campaign prior. However, it is this season so far in which the sale of the midfielder would truly be justified, even if he has started six of their eight Premier League fixtures.
The Toffees have had a shocking start to this new campaign and sit inside the relegation zone on just seven points after eight games. Performances from players such as Schneiderlin are a reason why the club are in such a disastrous time, as he has registered a 4/10, 5/10 and 4/10 ratings in Everton’s last three matches.
In the most recent fixture against Burnley, the France international did not make a single tackle and instead committed three fouls and he also made one error which almost led to the home side scoring.
Now that Gomes is back after he played 10 minutes at Turf Moor, the FA Cup winner will most likely be back on the bench and based on his form this season, it’s where he belongs. In truth, Delph, Gomes, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and perhaps even Tom Davies should all be ahead of him the pecking order.