Ex-Everton star who cost £25m and had Arsenal interest issues plea for new club

The former Mainz star signed for the Toffees for £25million in 2019. But despite reportedly catching the eyes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham before his big move, he made just eight appearances for the Merseyside club in four years.

Gbamin's agent believed leaving Mainz for Everton instead of the 'top six' clubs in England was best, pointing to N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez's spells at Leicester before respective moves to Chelsea and Manchester City as evidence of it being better to work your way up.

But despite the cautious approach, the Ivory Coast international's time at Goodison Park turned into a nightmare, with surgery on a thigh injury, the COVID pandemic and a freak Achilles injury stopping him from playing regular football with Everton.

After loans with CSKA Moscow and Turkish side Trabzonspor, Gbamin decided he wanted to start fresh this summer, terminating his Everton deal despite it still having another year left on it.

"It was not easy to cancel the contract with Everton," his agent of 14 years, Bernard Collingnon told The Guardian. "JP left a one-year salary on the table, worth £5m. He didn't take any money.

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"The club had to wait until the end of the window to see if there was a club who wanted to buy him, but nobody wanted to pay Everton's price, especially for a player that can sign [a pre-contract agreement] for free in January.

"We found the agreement of cancelling the contract 20 minutes before the deadline, at 11.40pm. Once the deadline is passed, you cannot cancel the contract in the same way."

On Gbamin's progress in sealing a new move, Collingnon admitted that his client's 16 caps makes him more expensive than he'd otherwise be.

"Everyone is aware that JP is available," he said. "But all the clubs have budgets and most clubs use all their budget in the window.

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"JP is an international player, he is not affordable for all of the clubs. Also, in France, clubs have to wait until mid-October to receive their share of the TV rights.

"After that, maybe they can sign a player. It's like musical chairs."

But it turns out the ex-Toffees man is actually under some pressure to find a club, too, with the Africa Cup of Nations fast approaching in January and February.

"The coach of Ivory Coast [Jean-Louis Gasset] keeps calling," Collignon said. "He needs JP to play at AFCON, but JP needs to find a project."

Meanwhile, Everton have also found themselves in a tricky situation, with the Premier League recommending they receive a points deduction.