Everton are not about to go "crazy" in the January transfer window but Carlo Ancelotti has hinted about a possible move for Sami Khedira.
The Blues boss is braced to be without Allan for an extended period after he was stretchered off with a hamstring injury on Wednesday night at Leicester City - and moving for Khedira has not been ruled out.
Everton have yet to put an official time-frame on Allan's return from injury but there are early concerns he could be sidelined for between six and eight weeks, which could encourage the club into doing business next month.
Ancelotti admits he was "worried" when Lucas Digne underwent surgery for ankle ligament damage and had been assessing whether the Blues should look to add cover in the January market.
But the "really fast" progress being made by the left-back - as well as the form of Ben Godfrey in deputising for the France international - has eased the manager's concerns.
Yet Allan's injury, coupled with Fabian Delph's absence, is a midfield headache the 61-year-old could solve next month and though he initially played down the prospect of a move for Khedira, Ancelotti finished answering the question by dropping a hint over the 33-year-old Juventus man.
"No. Sami Khedira was my player at Real Madrid, an important player for us. I have a good memory of him but I don't think we are looking for him at this moment," he said.
Before adding, with a smile: "Maybe in January..."
Asked about looking to January for reinforcements, the Everton boss replied: "We are looking for January transfers but not we are not crazy for this.
"The squad is competitive.
"We were a little bit worried when Digne was injured but the rehab of Digne is going really, really well and really, really fast.
"The fact that Ben Godfrey adapted really well as a left-back [means] we are quieter for this."
Allan became the latest senior player in the Everton squad to succumb to a muscle injury this season.
The 29-year-old had already missed one game with a groin problem but now faces a lengthy lay-off after picking up a hamstring injury in midweek.
James Rodriguez (calf) has been ruled out of the game with Arsenal, having missed the last two, Seamus Coleman is fit again but has missed over half of Everton's league games this term with hamstring complaints.
Delph (hamstring) is undergoing "individual treatment" according to Ancelotti, with no date set for his return. after he was injured two weeks ago.
"The answer is that the players are really really under pressure," the Everton boss said.
"There are a lot of games. We didn't have a proper pre-season, we have to count this, we have to consider also the journey the international players had to do in this first part of the season.
"And so all these kind of things of course affect the physics. We have to adapt because every team has its own problems. We have to adapt in this period and because you can get injuries the squad has to be a little bit larger than normal. "
