23y/o PL rival confesses love for ‘relentless’ Everton
Wolves star Diogo Jota has admitted that he used to love watching Everton as a youngster.
The Portuguese ace joined the midlands club two seasons ago, but it would appear that his love of the English game started well before that.
The 23-year-old has revealed that he was an avid watcher of the Premier League long before making the switch to Molineux, and was particularly enamoured with the Toffees.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “I loved to watch Everton play, especially when they were playing at home.
“It was not a club that fought for the title but that always made life very complicated for the big teams. And I loved that drive and competitiveness.
“They were relentless.”
What can we take from this one?
It’s a bit of an odd one, truth be told.
It’s not unusual for players to come over from the continent and be obsessed with Arsenal, Manchester United, or even Liverpool, for instance, but to have a young Portuguese talent with a huge admiration for Everton is a little less common.
To be fair, it probably says a lot about Jota’s character that he was keen on a side who were a perennial thorn in the side of the top four, as opposed to top four contenders themselves.
Hopefully, under Carlo Ancelotti, however, we can set about ensuring the there is a whole generation of onlooking football fans from around the globe who are obsessed with Everton for the right reasons.
Challenging for silverware won’t be an easy task, of course, but there are few managers who have the same kind of pedigree that the Italian boasts, and given the right amount of time and patience he could be the man to bring the good times back to the blue half of Merseyside.
In other Everton news, Toffees plot raid for £30m-rated talent from PL giants.