Everton’s Idrissa Gueye has impressed since his summer move to Goodison Park.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in action with Norwich City’s Steven Naismith
Everton’s director of football Steve Walsh has told the club’s official website that he told Ronald Koeman that Idrissa Gueye could do everything the Toffees wanted in midfield.
The Toffees, backed by Farhad Moshiri’s investment, splashed the cash over the summer by signing Maarten Stekelenburg, Ashley Williams, Idrissa Gueye and Yannick Bolasie – and Gueye has arguably been the most impressive addition so far.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in action with Norwich City’s Kyle Lafferty
Gueye, 27, was one of Aston Villa’s few stand-out performers as they suffered relegation to the Championship, but he wasn’t out of the Premier League for long as Everton swooped to sign him.
A favourite of Steve Walsh, Gueye has immediately become a fixture of Everton’s midfield – and the Toffees’ director of football has now had his say on the Senegal international.
Having starred with his ability to tackle, pass and intercept, Gueye has unsurprisingly been compared to Chelsea star N’Golo Kante, who Walsh signed for Leicester in 2015 – and Walsh has now told the Everton official website that he thinks Gueye is similar to Kante.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in action with Middlesbrough’s Adam Forshaw
Walsh revealed that he told Everton boss Ronald Koeman to look at Gueye, because he brings attributes that Everton were looking for; energy, quick passing, confidence running with the ball, pressing ability and intercepting passes.
It’s clear that Gueye brings all of those qualities to the Everton side, but Walsh thinks that Gueye needs to be more disciplined, and believes Everton have a really good player on their hands.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in action with Tottenham’s Dele Alli
“I told the manager to have a look at this lad because I think he can do all the things we want him to do,” said Walsh. “We earmarked the fact that we were looking for a bit more energy from that part of the field. He moves the ball quickly and runs with the ball. He is good at pressing and good at intercepting.”
“Don’t put too much on his shoulders but he is a little bit like Kante. You’ll see that when he presses. He just needs now to show a little bit more discipline and he’ll be a really good player for us, we believe,” he added.
What have you thought of Gueye’s performances for Everton?
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