On Monday Everton secured the £5.3 million signing of Belgium forward Kevin Mirallas from Olympiakos. The 24-year-old agreed a four-year contract at Goodison Park, but the deal was completed too late for him to take part in Everton’s opening league match against Manchester United.
Bio
As a youth player Mirallas played for his home town club Standard Liège in Belgium. He then left for began his senior Career in France with, first division side, Lille OSC. Since the start of the 2004/05 season, Mirallas appeared 76 times for Lille, scoring 10 times.
In 2008, he made the move to AS Saint-Etienne. He immediately made a name for himself by scoring on his debut against club rivals Lyon.
In June 2010 Mirallas joined Greek club Olympiacos on a one-year loan for a fee of €2.5m. The striker made his debut in a 5–0 win against KS Besa Kavaje in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa League Qualifiers. He scored his first two goals for the club in a 3–1 home win against Olympiacos Volos.
Mirallas’s scored in a 2–1 away loss to their greatest rivals Panathinaikos in the Derby of the eternal enemies, after which his contracted was extended to four years. Olympiacos won that season’s Greek Super League and Mirallas finished as the club’s top scorer with 14 goals, with only Djibril Cissé scoring more league goals than him.
The following season Mirallas scored his first ever hat-trick for Olympiacos in a 4–0 away win against Levadiakos F.C.and scored four in a 7–2 defeat of Asteras Tripolis. Olympiacos again won the league and Mirallas was the league’s top scorer with 20 goals.
Having played 28 games for Belgium, you could say he’s also fairly established at international level.
Positioning and Ability
This is a player that shone in the Belgian under 21 team that became noted for its great football and high technical ability, he came through the same ranks at Lille that produced Eden Hazard and to say he has similar quality is not overstating his potential.
One look at Mirallas in an Olympiacos shirt and you’ll see things very few players have. He combines a great touch, with fantastic skill, pace and movement and the ability to get into positions and finish well.
Together with his potential goals, David Moyes cites Kevin Mirallas’s ability to play in a number of forward positions as being key to him signing the Belgian. Mirallas can play on the right, the left or down the middle. This is a huge boost for Everton who are currently struggling with squad depth.
How will he fit in?
I’d expect him to start the majority of games for the Toffees. He’ll either start on the opposite wing to Steven Pienaar, or he’ll partner Nikica Jelavic up-front.