Jonas Lossl left Everton without making a single first team appearance but claims he was set to replace Jordan Pickford in goal only for Marco Silva to be sacked as manager.
The Danish international joined the Blues on a Bosman-style free transfer in the summer of 2019 from relegated Huddersfield Town and returned to his first club Midtjylland on the final day of this year’s winter window.
Despite his lack of game time at Goodison Park, Lossl reckons he was on the verge of being picked for the first time when Silva was dismissed.
Instead, Pickford retained his place as Everton famously defeated Frank Lampard’s side 3-1 in barnstorming fashion under caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson.
Sport Witness quote Lossl as telling Tipsbladet: “The goalkeeping coach said after the game against Liverpool that I should stay ready because I had to stand in the coming weekend against Chelsea.
“Then the coaches were fired, and then I ended up in the stands the following weekend instead.”
Despite remaining at Everton for more than a year without getting a chance, Lossl also reveals that a conversation with Silva’s replacement Carlo Ancelotti at the time of the early rounds of this season’s FA Cup competition convinced him that his time was up at the Blues.
Sweden international Robin Olsen, brought in on loan from Roma earlier in the season to push Pickford harder, got the nod for both the third and fourth round ties at home to Championship sides Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday.
Lossl said: “I was in the office to push ahead of a cup match, two weeks before this deal with FC Midtjylland fell into place.
“I’m ready, I’m training well. Give me a chance’, I asked Ancelotti.
“He replied, ‘I’ve seen you train well, but I can’t. I’ll probably consider you, but we have other goalkeepers here.’
“It’s so undeserved for me that I did not get to play that match. I was not given the opportunity to show I had the level for it.
“There can be many opinions on whether I had that level or not. I believe I had it and I just asked for a chance.
“That stay is unresolved for me. I do not blame others for it, neither Everton nor the coaches.
“I look at what I myself could have done differently and I must learn from that. I switched to Everton to play, and I went away again because I wanted to play.”
