Everton dealt major injury blow as David Moyes reveals Iliman Ndiaye damaged his MCL before limping off in tears in final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park

Everton have suffered a major injury setback as Iliman Ndiaye has been ruled out for an indefinite period of time with a medial ligament injury.

The 24-year-old could not hold back his tears after limping out of the final ever Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday.

Ndiaye appeared to kick the turf following a challenge with Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai and needed medical attention on the pitch shortly afterwards.

He was clearly desperate to continue, but quickly realised as he got back to his feet that he was going to be unable to.

Now, David Moyes has revealed that Everton’s top goalscorer in the Premier League this season will miss weeks of action with his MCL issue.

‘He’s got a medial ligament injury. It’s not looking great,’ said Moyes on Friday ahead of the Toffees’ trip to Crystal Palace.

The midfielder was forced off after just 25 minutes in the Merseyside derby earlier this week

Since joining from Marseille last year, Ndiaye is Everton’s top scorer in the Premier League (6)

‘Not sure how long it’ll be – it will certainly be a few weeks.’

The recovery time from an MCL injury depends on its severity, ranging from a grade 1 sprain to a grade 3 tear.

In the case of a minor sprain, one can expect to be back in action after as few as two weeks.

However, a full tear can take as long as twelve weeks to heal; in this event, Ndiaye would return at the start of May with just a few weeks left of the season.

And, if the Toffees’ forward required surgery on the issue, he could be sidelined for longer, and even miss the rest of Everton’s campaign in the worst case scenario. 

After joining from Marseille last summer, Nidaye has scored six goals this season and found the net in each of his last three top-flight appearances before facing Liverpool.