‘I heard sometimes people saying…’ – Doucoure speaks on his relations with Frank Lampard

Abdoulaye Doucoure has shared that he was on the brink of departing Everton during Frank Lampard’s tenure at the club.

Under Lampard’s management, Doucoure was excluded from the first-team and allegedly trained alone. With his contract set to expire in the summer, the midfielder was apprehensive about his prospects at the club.

Nonetheless, Sean Dyche’s appointment brought about a turnaround in Doucoure’s fortunes at Everton, as he started all five of the 51-year-old’s matches in charge.

Abdoulaye Doucoure told Sky Sports:

‘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.

‘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.’

‘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.