Everton’s Yerry Mina is still recovering from a foot injury and will miss Saturday’s Premier League visit of Southampton, according to manager Marco Silva.
Mina, 23, joined Everton from Barcelona on transfer deadline day and missed the Merseyside club’s 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening weekend of the new season.
“I can tell you Mina is not available for the match. He is recovering from a small problem in his foot,” Silva told a news conference.
Fellow new signing Richarlison, who struck twice against Wolves before going off with a cramp, has been cleared to play in the game at Goodison Park.
Midfielder Andre Gomes will not feature as he battles to shake off a hamstring injury while defender Kurt Zouma and playmaker Bernard are available to make their debuts.
“We’ve made new signings and I want there to be competition for each position. As a squad, it is the way I like to work. I like to have problems when making my decisions,” Silva added.
Southampton began their campaign with a goalless draw against Burnley.
In 2016, Mina was named to Colombia’s Copa América Centenario squad, starting one game against Costa Rica. He played in five of Colombia’s 2018 World Cup Qualifying matches from October 2016 to March 2017, and in May 2018 he was named in Colombia’s final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
At the 2018 World Cup, Mina scored three goals for Colombia, all coming from headers off corner kicks. Mina did not play in Colombia’s opening 2–1 loss with Japan,but started at centre back in each of Colombia’s remaining matches. In the group stage, he scored the opening goal in a 3–0 win over Poland,then scored the lone goal in a 1–0 win over Senegal which propelled Colombia to the top of their group and into the knockout stage.
Against England in the round of sixteen, Mina tied the scoring 1–1 in the 93rd minute to send the game into extra time. Colombia went on to lose the game on penalty kicks, ending their tournament. With his three goals, he tied the record number of goals scored by a defender in a single World Cup tournament, sharing the record with Germans Paul Breitner in 1974 and Andreas Brehme in 1990