Jean-Philippe Gbamin, who cost Everton £25 million, had his contract cancelled a year early after making just eight appearances for the club. The Ivory Coast international now plays for CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria after a nomadic few years.
A promising start that quickly soured
Gbamin joined Everton from Mainz 05 in 2019, signing a five-year deal just shy of his 24th birthday. He was seen as a physical presence in midfield, standing six inches taller than his predecessor Idrissa Gueye, and had six seasons of regular European football under his belt – three at Lens and three in the Bundesliga.
When he signed, Michael Ebert, Kicker's Bundesliga reporter for the South West region, told the ECHO: "I think he has the kind of attributes that would make him a successful player in English football. He has a strong body and is physical so he should suit that style of play."
However, Gbamin played just one-and-a-half games before injuries derailed his Everton career. He made his debut as a half-time substitute in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace on August 10, 2019, and then played the full game in a 1-0 home win over Watford the following week. Those 135 minutes were his only action that season.
Injury nightmare and loan spells
First sidelined with a hamstring injury, Gbamin then ruptured his Achilles tendon during the pandemic-disrupted campaign. He returned for an 11-minute cameo against Crystal Palace on April 5, 2021, but was soon back on the treatment table with an inner ligament injury.
His final appearances for Everton came in late 2021, including a start against Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 1, 2021, where he was substituted at half-time, and a 19-minute outing at Chelsea on December 16, 2021.
Gbamin then went on loan to CSKA Moscow in February 2022, signing just three days before Russia invaded Ukraine, followed by a spell at Trabzonspor in Turkey. After the 2022/23 season, his agent Bernard Collignon told BBC Sport: "We will have to find another project for him. I am the one who chose Everton for him because it would have been a stepping stone to move on elsewhere."
New life in Bulgaria
Gbamin's Everton contract was cancelled by mutual consent on September 2, 2023, almost a year early. Since then, he has played for four more clubs in three years: Dunkerque in the French second tier, Nantes in Ligue 1, Zurich in the Swiss Super League, and Metz in France's top flight, where he moved from defensive midfield to centre-back.
On July 5 this year, Gbamin signed a two-year deal with CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria. He has played 18 matches so far this term and won the most recent of his 24 Ivory Coast caps in a 1-1 draw with Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations on December 28, 2025, though he missed out on a place in their 2026 World Cup squad.
