Everton escape routes for Cenk Tosun, Jean-Phillipe Gbamin and others who may be removed from squad

Frank Lampard is facing the first major decision of his short Everton reign.

After taking over the Goodison Park driving seat, Lampard acted swiftly to add two fresh faces to his squad on January transfer deadline day.

The former Chelsea midfielder underlined the influence he’s brought to Merseyside by signing Donny van de Beek, on loan from Manchester United, and Dele Alli on an initial free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur.

In total, the Toffees signed five players in total during the window, with Vitaliy Mykolenko, Nathan Patterson and Anwar El Ghazi also arriving.

What’s more, Everton now have a total of 26 senior players at the club.

Premier League rules only allow 25 to be registered in each team’s squad, which means one must be removed from the previous list submitted in September.

There are several players who could face the axe.

Cenk Tosun, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is the obvious one. He reportedly did not want to depart last month and is happy to see out his deal.

Fabian Delph’s contract is also up this summer. He’s made just six appearances this term and is currently injured, while Jean-Phillipe Gbamin has played only eight times for Everton since his £25 million arrival in the summer of 2019.

The unlucky player who Lampard decides to cut from his plans might not fancy sitting around on the fringes for the next few months.

If they want an escape route to go and play elsewhere, there are still several countries in Europe and beyond whose windows are still open.