Everton have officially completed the signing of Aston Villa midfielder Idrissa Gueye. The Senegal international finalised a move to The Toffees after his release clause, believed to be in the range of £7.1m, was triggered earlier in the week.
Rated as one of the best young midfielders in France during his time at Lille, Gueye made 134 appearances for the French club and was a major part of their run to the title in 2011. Gueye then joined Villa for £9m in 2015, making 35 appearances as Villa were eventually relegated. Gueye, the only bright light in Villa’s horrific season, made the second most combined tackles and interceptions across Europe’s top 5 leagues, second only to Leicester’s N’Golo Kante.
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The 26-year-old defensive midfielder has 32 international caps to his name. He was a part of the Senegal squad that took part in 2012 Olympic Games and the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Gueye became new manager Ronald Koeman's second signing of the season after having successfully roped in veteran goalkeeper Martin Stekelenburg from Fulham.
Koeman who was delighted with the signing said, "Idrissa will provide quality in our squad in the midfield. He was one of the players with the best record in interceptions and pressing in the midfield. We need this kind of quality and I'm happy to have him joining our club."
In an interview after signing, Idrissa said, “I have played a season with Aston Villa which was a hard season but I think my style is good for the Premier League. You have to fight every game. All the teams are strong and you have to concentrate all through the game. I am very happy to be here at Everton and I am very happy and excited to put on the Blue shirt to start the new season here. Everton is a big team with big players and great fans. The manager told me he is very happy to have me here and that we will have time to talk about football after. I am a defensive midfield player and I like making passes and also getting forward. Goodison Park is a very good stadium and the fans are very good, too. They push their team forward and I am excited to play there.”
Everton's first match of their Premier League campaign is against Spurs at Goodison Park on August 13.
