Everton have had their fair share of disappointing signings in the past, but one former Toffees flop has now found a new lease of life in Ligue 1.
After this summer’s business, we’ve seen the likes of Jack Grealish have an instant impact at Everton, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has also had a great start to life on Merseyside.
It doesn’t always work out that way, though. Just look at Thierno Barry’s struggles for example, and he’s not the only one to find it tough to settle at Everton over the years.
Everton fans may remember Jean-Philippe Gbamin for his ill-fated spell at the club, but they’ll be very surprised to hear he’s just had a brilliant week for FC Metz in France.
Jean-Philippe Gbamin shines in Ligue 1
Metz are on a great run of three wins in a row now after defeating Nice 2-1 at the weekend. It’s a brilliant turnaround for a side that saw the Ligue 1 outfit lose four out of five matches prior to that, conceding 18 goals in that time.
Naturally, that puts a spotlight on the defenders at Metz, but Gbamin has helped turn things around and he has now peaked after being selected in FotMob’s team of the week for the French division.
Gbamin received an overall rating of 8.1 out of 10 for his display against Nice on Saturday. He registered an assist, which helps, obviously, but also excelled defensively, too.
The 30-year-old made two tackles, one clearance, two interceptions, and seven recoveries. He also won six ground duels across the 90 minutes.
In a more attacking sense, Gbamin had an 89% pass success rate, completed three successful dribbles, made nine passes into the final third, and registered five accurate long passes.
Not a bad day out for the Ivorian, but it’s a far cry from his time with Everton.
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What happened to Jean-Philippe Gbamin at Everton?
Gbamin joined the Everton squad in 2019 for a whopping £25m, but he only ended up playing eight times for the Toffees. That’s a staggering £3.13m per appearance; not exactly cost-effective.
To be fair to Gbamin, after just two Premier League games he pulled his hamstring and missed the following 27 games. The following summer, he ruptured his Achilles tendon and missed another 36 games.
Everton ended up sending Gbamin on loan to CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor before releasing him on a free in 2023. He spent some time without a club before landing in France with USL Dunkerque.
From there, he moved to Nantes then to FC Zurich in Switzerland, before heading back to France to sign for Metz this summer.
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