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Frank Lampard has been confirmed as Everton’s new manager — and Manchester United outcast Donny van de Beek appears set to follow him to Goodison Park.
The former Chelsea boss, 43, emerged as the leading contender to succeed Rafa Benitez last week after the Toffees faithful made their feelings known about fellow candidate Vitor Pereira.
And Lampard did enough during Friday’s final round of interviews to persuade the club to put him in the hotseat.
He said: “It is a huge honour for me to represent and manage a club the size and tradition of Everton. I’m very hungry to get started.
“After speaking to the owner, chairman and the board, I very much felt their passion and ambition. I hope they felt my ambition and how hard I want to work to bring it together.
“You can feel the passion Everton fans have for their club. That will be hugely important.
“As a team — the competitive level that the Premier League brings and the position we are in the table — we certainly need that. It’s a two-way thing.
“I think Everton are a unique club in that you can really understand what the fans want to see. The first thing they want is fight and desire and that must always be our baseline.
“My first message to the players will be that we have to do this together. We’ll try to do our job and I know the fans will be there backing us.”
Benitez, 61, was axed earlier this month after Everton slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Norwich.
That loss was their 11th of the season in the Premier League and left the Merseysiders looking nervously over their shoulders towards the relegation zone.
But Lampard, who was sacked by Chelsea in January 2021, is widely expected to lift the gloom and the addition of Van de Beek on loan until the end of the season will be a welcome boost.
The Dutchman, 24, has been little more than a bit-part player since joining United from Ajax for £35million in September 2020.
And he will be delighted to be in the mix for regular first-team football again after failing to prove himself under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
Everton return to action on Saturday when they host Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more details become available. Please keep refreshing the page.
