Everton's £25-million man Yannick Bolasie could be sidelined for a whole year with an ACL injury, according to manager Ronald Koeman.
The winger, signed from Crystal Palace last summer, suffered serious damage to his right knee in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Dec. 4, and is set to undergo his second operation on the issue.
"It will be around 11-12 months before he is back. That is a big disappointment but he will come back," Koeman told the club's general meeting at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall on Wednesday.
The injury not only marked a premature end to Bolasie's debut season for the Toffees, but also ruled him out of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Africa Cup of Nations campaign which begins later this month.
In his stead, Kevin Mirallas, Aaron Lennon, Enner Valencia, and Gerard Deulofeu can share duties on either wing, but a lack of penetration down the flanks this term may encourage Koeman to enter the January transfer market. Memphis Depay has been linked and is out of favour at Manchester United, while a move for Charlton Athletic's precocious talent Ademola Lookman is in the works.
Everton, positioned seventh in the Premier League table, also revealed at the general meeting that season-ticket prices will be frozen or reduced, that there has been "solid progress" on finding a site for a new ground, and that the value of the next shirt sponsorship deal should exceed the current one by 300 percent.