Gylfi Sigurdsson is set to miss between six to eight weeks with a knee injury following fears he could have been out for a significant period of time.
The 28-year-old suffered an injury to his knee during the 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
Sigurdsson went down during the early part of the first-half of Saturday’s win after jarring his knee just inside the Seagulls half. He played on after receiving treatment from the Everton medical staff and completed the full 90 minutes.
On Monday, Everton revealed that the midfielder would seek the expertise of a specialist to reveal the full extent of his potential injury.
There had been concerns that the Icelandic creative midfielder could be sidelined through the World Cup and part of next season but his injury isn’t at the worst extent and instead, he will miss the majority of the end of the current campaign.
Blues boss Sam Allardyce told EvertonFC.com: “We’ll continue to assess Gylfi’s progress on a week-to-week basis and the medical team will work very closely with him, as they would with any injured player, to get him back playing as quickly as possible.”
World Cup bid
If Sigurdsson recovers from his injury before the end of the Premier League season, he could be ready for the trip to face Huddersfield Town at the end of April.
However, the midfielder’s return takes the full eight weeks he may not be ready until the final day trip to face West Ham United.
Sigurdsson is almost certainly setting his eyes on being ready to lead Iceland in the World Cup in Russia this summer and may possibly miss the rest of Everton’s season in a battle to be fit for the summer tournament.
There is also the possibility that the midfielder recovers quick enough to play out the final three games of the season in a bid to build his sharpness back up to the levels necessary for the World Cup.