Yannick Bolasie could be frozen out of what is left of his Sporting Lisbon loan - but the Portuguese club will still have to pay his wages.
Everton sent the winger to Sporting on a season-long loan but the terms of the agreement mean they have to foot his salary up until the end of June.
Sporting have the option to buy Bolasie later this summer for in the region of £4m but will pass up on the chance.
The club's players returned to training on Monday but reports in Portugal say Bolasie was not with them and that coach Ruben Amorim is ready to cast him aside as he does not feature in the club's plans.
Any decision to end Bolasie's loan early will have to be made between Sporting and the player and Everton will not be liable to start paying his £70,000-a-week wages again until July.
Last week, FIFA recommended that all contracts and loan deals be extended until the end of the season, in each league, due to the suspension of games caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Everton, for example, are expected to keep Djibril Sidibe - who is on loan from AS Monaco - until the campaign is completed but Sporting are reportedly ready to ditch Bolasie now.
But the Blues will not have to pick up his wages again until July 1, when he enters the final 12 months of his Goodison contract.
