Nkounkou: Ancelotti and Digne good for me at Everton

Everton defender Niels Nkounkou outlined how former Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti persuaded him to sign for the club in 2020.

Nkounkou, who is presently at Ligue 2 club Saint-tienne on loan, was speaking to Ligue 2 about his move to the Merseyside club a few years ago.

The young Frenchman also heaped praise on now Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne for helping him settle at Everton at the time.

Nkounkou said: "I had a lot of proposals to sign my first professional contract, starting with OM of course, but I also had Everton and several French and foreign clubs.

But one day, I received a phone call from Carlo Ancelotti and that changed everything. He told me about the sports project he saw for me, how he wanted me to become a top player. I very much appreciated his speech.

He told me that he was going to teach me a lot defensively, in the area where I had the most shortcomings, in positioning, and that he was going to help me correct that.

Carlo also told me that I was going to be the number 3 left-back behind Lucas Digne and Leighton Baines. But in the end, Leighton decided to hang up his boots and it was I who found myself behind Lucas, someone who helped me enormously in my adaptation.

As we were both French, it was easier. And he's an international so I learned a lot from him. When you're in contact with people like Lucas Digne or Carlo Ancelotti, a coach who made history and continues to make history, you learn faster. For all these reasons, I am happy to have chosen Everton."