03 November 2023 , 13:19
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Abdoulaye Doucoure has been made the highest-paid player at Everton as a reward for his heroics over the past six months.
The 30-year-old midfielder has shown impressive leadership, scoring the winning goal against Bournemouth to save the Toffees from relegation last season. He has carried his form into the current campaign with strikes against Sheffield United, Brentford and Bournemouth to keep the club out of the drop zone.
In total, Doucoure has scored eight times and set up a further three since Sean Dyche arrived in January. Doucoure has signed a deal until the end of June 2025. It caps a remarkable turnaround for the former Watford star who had been frozen out of the team under Frank Lampard and told he was no longer a first team squad member.
That went down badly with his team-mates who rallied to support him. Sean Dyche wiped the slate clean on his arrival at the club and has now made Doucoure his most important player.
It ends the chase for his services from a string of clubs across Europe. He’d been out of contract in summer, but Everton activated a clause in his deal that saw it extend for another 12 months. "I love the club and I’m very happy to extend my stay here,” Doucoure said.
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“It was a very easy decision to make. I love all the people around the club and all the fans who have shown me so much love in the past couple of months. My wish was to stay here and continue to enjoy my time with Everton.
"It means a lot to stay here. I always fight for this club and I’ve always been in love with this club. I’ve always wanted to stay at Everton.
"I think signing my new contract shows the club is going the right way. The team is doing very well at the moment. We are confident and we know the team is very good.
"We want to put Everton where they belong, to be honest. We want to be higher up in the table, and obviously, we are in a good spot in the Carabao Cup as well.
"I want to give everything and compete every week for Everton."