Muhamed Besic has been pictured laughing and joking with his new team-mates.
The Bosnian even cracked a smile at the beginning of his first press conference as an Everton player.
But it is the other, darker side of Besic that has caught the attention of Blues fans.
Besic, with his cold stare and sometimes abrupt nature, cuts a mean and moody figure.
There’s a swagger – not cockiness or arrogance – but a confidence and nerveless attitude. Besic is not rude but matter-of-fact in much of what he says and the feeling is he will play in a similar vein.
“I have got respect for my team-mates and they are great players but I have come here to play,” Besic declared.
Tough, uncompromising and keen on the basics of the game, the £4m signing from Ferencvaros comes to Goodison with
the growing reputation as a midfield terrier.
A hard-man? It looks that way. A midfield enforcer? Time will tell but there’s a mystery and intrigue about Besic.
Tales of ill-discipline at old club Hamburg and claims of being strangled by his manager, only add to the air of unknown about him.
Eleven yellow cards and two reds last season in Hungary’s top flight strongly suggest he has fire in his belly and delivers bite in the tackle.
Besic, with his slick back hair and arms covered in tattoos, is not built like a powerhouse who can dominate in the fast lane of central midfield.
But anyone who watched his 45 minute cameo against Porto in Leon Osman’s testimonial is sure to have been impressed.
Besic instantly endeared himself to the home fans with a neat one-two, a pair of Cruyff turns and then a perfectly weighted 30 yard cross-field pass. The 21-year-old also threw in some full-blooded tackles for good measure.
Gareth Barry and James McCarthy are ahead of him in the pecking order but Besic is sure to be snapping at their heels.
Besic’s display in the World Cup against Argentina – and Lionel Messi in particular – was the standard by which he had been judged.
Blues boss Roberto Martinez, a long time admirer of the Berlin-born player, says that night gave him “clarity” over Besic.
“I have never seen a young man perform in the manner he did for Bosnia against Argentina in the World Cup,” Martinez said.
“For a young player, playing in a new position, as he did and having to cope with one of the best players in the world, that day I learnt that he was Everton material.”
But now Besic has donned the royal blue shirt, there are new heights he has to aspire to.
He has all the makings of being a cult hero at Goodison.
I love that all Everton fans and the press look at him as some kind of rough psycho, in his past 2 years at Hungary we never saw him that way. For us he was just a f***ng talented kid who is devoted to football and football only. Never seemed more aggressive than necessary just a heart-driven, technically talented versatile player who we can always trust in every circumstanses. And never heard a wrong word from other players about him. But as someone said here before: it's good for Everton having him and very-very bad for the opponents.
