Everton are buying themselves time in their search for a new left-back to replace the retired Leighton Baines.
The Blues were hoping Baines would accept the offer of a new one-year-deal but the 35-year-old turned it down and has, instead, hung up his boots.
Baines' decision means Everton will have to scour the transfer market for a replacement who can provide cover for first-choice Lucas Digne.
But the Blues have more pressing issues at the moment and it is believed that a signing - most likely on loan at this stage - will not come until later in the window, with the club needing to offload players first to allow them to pursue the key targets set by Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brands.
And so to help fill the void left by Baines until a replacement can be found, new signing Niels Nkounkou will be part of the first-team set-up in the short-term.
The 19-year-old, signed from Marseille in July, is expected to spend most of the season playing for David Unsworth's under-23s side and the young left-back has been training with the Blues' second string since they returned to Finch Farm on August 3.
But Nkounkou will work under Ancelotti today as the Everton boss takes the opening session of the first-team's pre-season schedule and could be part of the squad that travels to Blackpool on Saturday for the opening friendly of the summer at Bloomfield Road.
It is likely that the teenager will remain part of the set-up until Baines' replacement is found although the hope is that he will be given as much exposure to first-team training this season as possible, while playing the majority of his games in Premier League 2 with the Blues' u-23s' team.
Nkounkou did not play for the u-23s in yesterday's behind-closed-doors friendly game with Southport because the decision had already been taken that he would train with the senior squad today.
