Isaac Price makes Everton exit admission with Frank Lamaprd praise
Isaac Price has heaped praise on Frank Lampard and has admitted that he might have still been an Everton player had he remained in charge at Goodison Park.
Price, who had been an Everton player since the age of seven, departed Merseyside in the summer upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, with the midfielder instead opting to pursue first-team football with a move to Standard Liege.
The former Everton talent had made his first-team debut under the management of Lampard during his time in charge of the Toffees and despite the former Chelsea man’s tenure ending badly, Price has spoken highly of his management.
As quoted by the Belfast Telegraph on Thursday (12 October) he said: “He was massive for me, I learnt so much while he was there. I had my debut at the end of one of the seasons at Arsenal and ever since then, I felt like he really taught me a lot of stuff.
“He put a bit of trust in me. I was training with them regularly so I was learning a lot of things. Had it gone differently at Everton and he’d had the players he needed to get results maybe I’d still be there.
“He had a very good coaching staff – Ashley Cole, Joe Edwards, Paul Clement – who had all been around it for so long and worked with top players. When you talk to him you pick up bits of information. If you just watch Lampard on YouTube for 10 minutes you realise how good a player he was so you learn so much about the game.
“I talked to him regularly and he gave me some information I still use now.”
What could have been
While there will be plenty of Everton fans who wonder what may have been had Price remained at Goodison Park beyond the end of last year, there are likely few others who would have him back in their side if it meant that Lampard was still in charge of the Toffees.
So far this season, Price has impressed in Belgium, scoring once in his opening nine appearances and being called up to the senior Northern Ireland side once again, but given the depth of quality in Sean Dyche’s midfield, he would have been unlikely to see much game time had he remained an Everton player.
Dyche’s remit at Goodison is to keep the Toffees in the Premier League and ensure that they continue to avoid the drop to the Championship, it is hard when you are consistently in relegation battles to find a way to blood young talent into your side and continue to pick up results.
That may not have been to the taste of Price and he is well within his rights to take his career overseas in search of regular first-team opportunities, but by no means is it a stick to beat Dyche with.
You can guarantee that if and when Everton are safe in the top flight this year, Dyche will be more than willing to give the young talent at Goodison chances.
In other Everton news, Dyche could add to his struggles at Goodison with the addition of a £42m man in January