Abdoulaye Doucoure admits he came close to leaving Everton under Frank Lampard

On Mar 4, 2023

Abdoulaye Doucoure admits he came close to leaving Everton under Frank Lampard – but praises Sean Dyche for turning his career around and insists he feels ‘great’ under the new manager

Abdoulaye Doucoure came ‘close to leaving Everton’ under Frank Lampard
Doucoure had been frozen out of the first-team while Lampard was the manager
However, Sean Dyche’s appointment revived Doucoure’s career at Everton

Published: 07:13, 4 March 2023 | Updated: 07:58, 4 March 2023

Abdoulaye Doucoure has revealed how he came ‘close to leaving Everton‘ during Frank Lampard‘s tenure at the club.

Doucoure had been frozen out of the first-team while Lampard was the manager and was reportedly training on his own before the 44-year-old boss was sacked.

Doucoure was concerned about his future at Everton while Lampard was in charge given his contract was set to expire in the summer.

However, Sean Dyche‘s appointment revived Doucoure’s career at Everton – with the midfielder starting all five of the 51-year-old’s games in charge.

Speaking to Sky Sports about his time under Lampard, Doucoure said: ‘I was close to leaving. But in the end I stayed and I’m very happy because I never wanted to leave. I’m happy to be here and play and keep this team up.

Abdoulaye Doucoure says he came ‘close to leaving Everton’ during Frank Lampard’s tenure

Doucoure had been frozen out of the first-team while Lampard was the manager and was reportedly training on his own before the 44-year-old boss was sacked

However, Sean Dyche's appointment revived Doucoure's career at Everton - with the midfielder starting all five of the 51-year-old's games in charge

Doucoure was concerned about his future at Everton while Lampard was in charge given his contract was set to expire in the summer. But Sean Dyche revived his career

‘A lot of people maybe saw me [leaving Everton] but I always loved this club, I always want to fight for this club, play for this club. Unfortunately, I didn’t have this opportunity for almost six months but I knew there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel.

‘I kept working hard and when Sean Dyche was appointed I was very happy and I just thought, ‘I’m going to have another opportunity and [will] show in training [what I can do]… and it has worked well for me so far.’

Doucoure went on to speak about how people blamed his lack of fitness for falling out of favour under Frank Lampard. However, he denied such claims.

‘I heard sometimes people saying, ‘He’s not ready, he’s not fit’ but it wasn’t true,’ says Doucoure. ‘I was always fit, always ready to play. Maybe it was a personal thing but it doesn’t matter now.

‘I just came back and showed everybody I was ready to run and ready to help the team. I just never give up and I think Sean Dyche appreciated that.

‘I feel great, I feel ready. Maybe compared to the others my season starts just five games ago so I’m very fresh, I want to play as much as I can. Everyone knows I’ve got good legs so I will try to help the team with that.’

Doucoure says he feels ‘great’ and read to help the team for the remainder of the season