Lucas Digne has revealed that Marco Silva made him want to join Everton.
The France international was unveiled as the Blues’ second summer signing on Tuesday in an £18 million switch following two seasons with Barcelona.
Digne follows Richarlison in signing up at Goodison Park as Silva begins shaping his new charges ahead of the forthcoming Premier League season.
And the left-back admits that the Everton manager was a driving factor in his decision to pen a five-year deal on Merseyside.
“My first impression on meeting the new manager was really good,” said Digne.
“I had a great feeling with him when we spoke. Immediately I said, ‘I want to come to Everton.’
“The club has brought in a lot of players and we are building to bring some success in the Premier League.
“We will work together as a team to try to make this happen. That is what is important and I could not be more excited about this challenge.”
Silva in turn has hailed the 25-year-old’s eagerness to join the Toffees.
He said: “It is important to say that he is a player who, from the first moment he was contacted, showed enormous desire to play at Everton.
“He is a high-quality player, aggressive, with good technical ability and in the past five seasons he has played two years at Paris St-Germain, one in Roma and for the past two seasons he has demonstrated his clear quality in Barcelona.
“Lucas is a player who will add competitiveness in a position where we only had Leighton Baines last season and he is accustomed to winning.
“This is his mentality having captured titles in his career and having these on his résumé.”