van de Beek was Lampard’s ‘unequivocal pick’ for first Everton signing
Everton made two deadline day moves for attacking midfielders as Frank Lampard set about improving the Toffees’ squad at the 11th hour.
Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli were the two purchased by Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright before the January transfer window slammed shut and adds much-needed class to their midfield full of workhorses.
Lampard will no doubt be happy to have both players in and available for selection ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Brentford on Saturday (5 February).
It was, however, van de Beek who Lampard really wanted and he made sure that was clear when he put pen to paper at Goodison Park.
“Although Everton would later move for Dele too on a permanent deal, Lampard’s unequivocal pick was Van de Beek,” Patrick Boyland and Mark Carey write in The Athletic.
Oozing class
Watching van de Beek at his absolute peak is one of the most wonderful sights in all of football and that alone should excite Toffees supporters.
His ability to completely control a game while hardly exerting energy is an art very few have ever mastered and that is now at the disposal of Lampard.
He may well play slightly further forward than he did during his heyday at Ajax but he will still influence the game to a degree not seen by any Evertonian this season.
The rest of Lampard’s midfield options, Alli apart, is full of hard-working, non-stop running workhorses who can put in the hard yards whenever van de Beek or Alli don’t want to.
The Dutchman can cover a lot of ground too and has done for Manchester United in the few times he has played, but he much prefers being able to focus on attack and creating chances for his strikers to bury.
In other Everton news, they could be about to land a world superstar who is yet to sign a new deal at his current club.