http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/how-everton-new-man-steve-11696160
How Everton new man Steve Walsh influenced signing of Idrissa Gueye
Gueye put pen to paper on four year deal on Tuesday after Blues triggered buy-out clause
Steve Walsh's influence is already being felt at Everton with the arrival of Idrissa Gueye (left)
Steve Walsh held a transfer summit with Ronald Koeman at Finch Farm on the day of his appointment as Everton’s director of football.
It was a meeting designed to help kick-start the Blues summer spending after a frustratingly slow start.
Koeman had been looking for the players into inject quality all over the pitch but his pursuit of midfielders was proving tricky.
But
Walsh arrived at Goodison with an expert knowledge and understanding of the market.
He suggested
Everton make a move for Idrissa Gueye.
New Everton signing Idrissa Gueye poses for a photo at Finch Farm
Koeman was already well aware of the Villa midfielder’s quality but with Walsh’s recommendation in tow, the pair agreed to press ahead.
Walsh was the man who threw his weight behind Leicester City parting with £5.5m to sign N’Golo Kante and it proved one of the steals of the summer.
The France international was the engine room in Leicester City’s remarkable Premier League title success and was sold to Chelsea last month for £30m.
The
similarities between Kante and Gueye are stark .
And a stats comparison even shows Everton’s new boy to have enjoyed a better season in a number of key areas and only marginally behind in others, despite playing in a side that was relegated.
Idrissa Gueye Europa League action for Lille against Everton in 2014
Ligue 1, from where Gueye was signed by Villa, is a division Walsh knows like the back of his hand so with his conviction and Koeman’s experience, it was a very much a meeting of minds around the table at Everton’s training ground that day.
Gueye made his first-team breakthrough at Lille in 2010 and helped them to title success the following season before leaving for Villa last summer.
The Senegal international faced Everton twice last season, in 4-0 and 3-1 victories for the Blues, and also faced them on two occasions in the 2014-15 campaign.
Tony Hibbert of Everton and Idrissa Gueye of Lille chase the ball during the UEFA Europa League Group H match at Goodison Park on November 6, 2014
Roberto Martinez’s Everton were drawn in a Europa League group with Lille and Gueye played the full 90 minutes in both matches.
Blues fans may not have noticed him at Goodison in November 2014 or last season when their team swept Lille and Villa aside.
But after signing a four-year-deal to become the second capture of the Koeman-era, they are set to see a lot more of him.
