Niels Nkounkou has opened up on his decision to leave Marseille and join Everton this summer.
The defender was confirmed as the Blues' first arrival of the transfer window at the beginning of July after his contract with the French side expired.
Having initially been earmarked for a role with David Unsworth's under-23 side, the subsequent retirement of Leighton Baines accelerated his move into the first-team setup.
The 20-year-old was handed his competitive debut and was one of the star performers in the 3-0 win over Salford City last week in the League Cup and looks set to serve as back-up to Lucas Digne throughout the campaign.
And the youngster has opened up on why he chose to move to Everton and how a call from Carlo Ancelotti made both him and his family feel ahead of the move.
He told Telefoot via Le 10 Sport : "Leaving OM for Everton? First of all for a footballing and human choice.
"The OM project was interesting, but there was no certainty for my playing time. Everton made the playing time more beneficial for me. At 20, we all want to play, that's what I was looking for this year.
Catch the latest Royal Blue podcast by clicking HERE
"So I made the choice to sign for Everton. Today, I am very happy to be here. Did Ancelottti convince me? Not particularly, but yes there was a call from Carlo Ancelotti which was very satisfactory.
"It satisfied me, my family and my loved ones.
"It is also beneficial to have a call from the coach in charge for transfers."
