Sunderland are bracing themselves to lose Ellis Simms with the on-loan Everton striker set to be recalled by his parent club. The Black Cats striker scored his seventh goal of the season during the 4-1 win over Wigan on Thursday night.
The news will come as a major blow to the Wearsiders, who will be left with Ross Stewart as the only out and out striker at the club and he hasn't long returned from injury. Reports suggest Simms will miss Sunderland's trip to Blackpool on New Year's Day.
Everton boss Frank Lampard said his side were considering recalling Simms with the Toffees struggling in the final third. He said: "We have the ability to recall him and we are considering that. It will be my decision first and foremost.
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"[It would be] to give us possibly other options in an attacking sense. I think Ellis has done well there, he has scored goals. It was a loan to help his development to go to the Championship and he has done pretty well.
"That is helpful to us that he has games in his locker this year, we will look at that strongly… There is a balance of what is best for Ellis and clearly what is best for us and to get him in a position to be ready to come in and score goals.
"It is one question to be scoring in the Championship, another to be scoring goals in the Premier League as well. When we look at where we are at, and I am talking about options off the bench for us and options to start if someone shows himself. We have to look at everything in our hands and Ellis is our player.”
There have been suggestions that Everton could look to cash in on Simms, and the Black Cats would be serious contenders given the need to add a striker to the squad in January. “I think Everton are just happy Ellis is playing football," Tony Mowbray said when asked about his future.
"It’s like Amad and Man United, I think Everton are just happy Ellis is here and playing. If you look at what we did at Blackburn, we had Harvey Elliot, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tosin Adarabioyo, and we helped with their development. I think if clubs send young players on loan, they want to know that they’re playing football and improving.”
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