Everton Director of Football Steve Walsh has revealed his process of picking up world class talent after his stint with Leicester City.
Walsh switched the King Power Stadium to Goodison Park last summer, having already made a high quality reputation for bringing N’Golo Kante, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez to the Foxes.
Kante has been his best poach of all, with the midfielder playing a big part in their Premier League title win last season, and has continued his good form this term with Chelsea.
The France international is one of Chelsea’s main players now at Stamford Bridge as the Blues aim to lift the Premier League trophy come the end of the season, and Walsh has revealed how he spotted the highest talent in mediocre categories.
“Character is very important and you can find out a lot about players when you are watching them on the pitch,” Walsh told evertonfc.com.
“It’s not necessarily about what you do when you’ve got the ball, a lot of the time it’s about what you do when you don’t have it.
“Are they prepared to roll up their sleeves and put a shift in for the team? Do they get back into the team shape and know their defensive responsibilities as well as their attacking prowess?
“Then obviously you do your homework, you ring people who have worked with them before, and I speak to players who have played with them before, especially if they’re experienced players and I trust their judgement.”
Even though Walsh didn’t actually mention Kante, it is obviously his work ethic and attitude that has seen him light up the top tier of English football.
By Drew Darbyshire (@DarbySports)
