Donny van de Beek has completed his loan move to Everton from Manchester United for the remainder of the season.
The Netherlands international, who struggled to get game time at Old Trafford, insists he can improve his game working under new Everton manager Frank Lampard.
Lampard was hired today and Van de Beek will be one of his first signings at Goodison Park. It is noted that he was an important figure in persuading Van de Beek to rebuff offers from elsewhere.
The player says he’s ready to go straight into Lampard’s side, if selected, but he will have to impress him in training first. That is not something he was able to do at United under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
However, Van de Beek will have to wait to make his Everton debut because he is cup tied for Saturday’s meeting with Brentford.
“Now I can say I am an Everton player, I am really happy and can’t wait to help the team,” Van de Beek told evertontv.
“I think it is a great club… there are really good players here and I came because I want to help them go up the table.
“I hope to bring my football qualities, my passing, and, of course, scoring goals. It is a big part of my game to score and give assists and I will try to do that again. And it is not only offensive, you have to defend as a midfielder and I can do that as well.
“I had a really positive meeting with the new coach. We have the same ideas about football and he had a lot of influence on my decision.
“I played against him when I was at Ajax, and he was at Chelsea [as manager], so he knows me as a player. He thinks I have qualities that can help the team.
“I can learn a lot from him because he was a little bit in the same position – a midfield player who scored a lot of goals.
“He can help me a lot, so I think I’m in a good spot.
“I want to improve with Everton. There are always things that can be better and I work hard every day to do that.”
Van de Beek was unable to show what made him special at Ajax in a United shirt, but he will hope to get more opportunities to experience the English game under Lampard.
He added: “I want to show my qualities, my strengths, to the people in England – but especially the fans from Everton.
“The most important thing is we win games and go up the table.
“We have good players in the team and the talent and ability to go up in the league. But, for that, we need to work hard and I want to be part of this.
“Everton is a big club, with big players, the history and amazing fans. The Club has everything to go up and be higher in the table.
“I played at Goodison twice last season without fans… it will be lovely to see the stadium full.
“It’s difficult I cannot play on Saturday but I will be there to see the game and focus on the next match.
“I’m fit. I train a lot for myself and I was training a lot with the team at United. I have a few days to train fully and I’m sure I’ll be there [ready for Newcastle].”
We wish Van de Beek the best at Goodison Park. Hopefully he can return and fight for a place under the next manager.
