Leighton Baines could miss a third of Everton’s Premier League campaign and England’s next four European Championship qualifiers after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury for the second time in four months.
The 30-year-old is expected to be sidelined for between 12 and 14 weeks following surgery in London on Thursday. Baines missed the final two games of last season due to an operation on the same ankle, one that has been causing the left-back problems since 2012. The aim was to ensure he was pain-free in time for the new Premier League season but he is back to square one after the ankle was damaged in training last Friday.
Baines’s worst fears were confirmed by a specialist on Thursday and he immediately underwent surgery that has been deemed a success. He could miss 13 Premier League games for Everton with a 14 week lay-off and will be sidelined for England’s Euro qualifiers against San Marino and Switzerland in September, and October’s double-header against Estonia and Lithuania.
“We feel it will be the same recovery time as the last operation,” confirmed Everton’s manager, Roberto Martínez.
Everton’s second choice left-back, Luke Garbutt, has also been sidelined by an ankle injury suffered shortly after joining Fulham on loan. The 22-year-old does not require surgery on ankle ligament damage although faces a long rehabilitation period.
Baines’ long-term absence will not change Martínez’s priorities in the transfer market, with the manager seeking a new central defender, No10 playmaker and striker before 1 September. Martínez said: “It won’t affect my transfer plans because we’ve got Bryan Oviedo, who I consider fully fit even though he is not match-fit, and Brendan Galloway, who I am quite happy will have an important role this season.”
Everton completed the signing of Mason Holgate from Barnsley for an initial £1m on Thursday. The 18-year-old follows the same route taken by John Stones into the Premier League but Martínez, who has reiterated that the Chelsea-target is not for sale, admits his new defender is not under pressure to make an immediate impact.
“With Mason, an opportunity came up and we didn’t want to lose out,” he explained. “He is a young man with a very impressive future. His development is going to be important and it will be interesting to see how quickly he can have an impact on the first-team. But he is not a player who I would expect to perform straightaway in the Premier League, that would be very unfair.”
