Report: David Moyes actually helped convince Everton to go and sign ‘exciting’ player this summer

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West Ham United and their manager David Moyes went head-to-head with his former club Everton over Amadou Onana this summer.

Everton have won the race and the Athletic has produced a report on the deal which has taken the Belgian to Goodison Park.

They say that some at Everton are aware that Moyes does not go for a target unless he is fully convinced and that he has an eye for talent.

And that helped convince them that Onana was a player worth pushing for to bolster their midfield ranks this summer.

Moyes helped convince Everton to sign Onana

The report says it looked like West Ham and Moyes would win the race for Onana at one point and they were the first club to agree a fee.

But as Everton became determined to usurp their old boss for the Belgian international, Moyes’ level of conviction over Onana helped them feel they were doing the right thing.

Another former Everton manager also has spoken about the qualities that Onana can bring to the table.

Onana’s international manager Roberto Martinez spoke to Sky Sports about Onana earlier this week and couldn’t speak highly enough about Everton’s new man.

“Really exciting footballer,” said Martinez. “We are talking about a 20-year-old boy, who is probably one of the most talented at that age in European football, and that’s how excited we are in Belgium.”

“He’s got the physicality and the presence of a player that the Everton fans know very well in Marouane Fellaini. He can become anything in that central area, so I can understand the excitement around Everton – this is one of the most exciting prospects in European football at this present time.”

“It would be a shame if we speak only about his technical and tactical abilities. This footballer is quite unique in the way he is as a character; he is a leader, even as a young man, he is affecting others in the dressing room. He has got this incredible maturity that is not normal to have at such a young age.”

“I am sure that the manager at Everton will use him in a more defensive role, or he can even be more of a box-to-box player, where he really uses his physicality. Off the ball, he is one of the most impressive young players with his capacity without the ball, the intensity, the way he can press, and then it’s that arrival into the box.

“Sometimes he reminds you of a young Patrick Vieira in the way that he can drive with the ball. That’s a young player, he’s going to be 21 next week, so you’re still talking about potential, but what is already there is the leadership and the captain material that he brings to Everton.”

That affirmation from two former Everton bosses may make Toffees fans excited about the player they have just signed and there is excitement about seeing him in a blue shirt.