Everton’s capture of French left-back Lucas Digne from Barcelona over the summer has already quickly proven to be a great piece of transfer business by Marcel Brands and Marco Silva.
The 25-year-old has quickly made the left-hand side of defence his own and firmly established himself as a favourite amongst the fans following his £18million arrival.
On Friday evening Digne also got his first competitive 90 minutes under his belt since 2017 for his country as they went 2-0 down to the Netherlands, so his Everton form is paying off on that front as well after he missed out on their World Cup squad last summer, and teammate Blaise Matuidi has explained to L’Equipe (via SportWitness) that having honed his attacking instincts at the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Barcelona, he now feels his spell in the Premier League will make him a complete player as he already feels he’s made defensive improvements to his game.
“Lucas played at PSG, Roma, Barça, the big clubs where he progressed offensively. And here he plays in a championship that forces him to be stronger defensively. I don’t see all his matches but I have seen him, and I find him effective. Above all, in the selection (national squad) he never disappointed.”
Obviously that will have its own benefits at international level for him, but consequently, being more of a fixture for his country, Everton will also see the benefits of that as he gains greater experience.
Win, win in many ways.