Everton have been dealt a significant blow following the news that Lucas Digne has sustained a severe injury as the 27-year-old suffered major damage to his ankle ligaments in a training session at Finch Farm on Thursday.

As noted by Sky Sports, Digne has missed only five league matches since he joined the club in the summer of 2018 from Barcelona in an £18m deal, rendering him as a real stalwart of Carlo Ancelotti’s plans.

One of those was against Newcastle earlier in the season in a 2-1 defeat which saw summer signing Niels Nkounkou fill in for the then-suspended Digne. It may well be the case that Nkounkou is the primary backup option to the Frenhcman and could start against Leeds tomorrow.

“The left-back was injured during a training session at USM Finch Farm this week,” a brief Everton statement read on Thursday.

“Digne is due to undergo surgery on Monday before commencing his rehabilitation under the care of the club’s medical staff.”

No timeframe has yet been provided for Digne’s return, but many Everton fans unsurprisingly took to Twitter as the gravity of the news set in…

Some saw the lighter side of the issue as others noted there could be an  opportunity for the promising Thierry Small…

One Evertonian holds out hope that Digne will enjoy a phoenix-like re-emergence…