Seamus Coleman once again showed he is one of football's good guys with a poignant training ground phone call to an Everton team-mate.
The Blues captain led the side to safety after a gruelling relegation battle that almost ended in disaster. Frank Lampard heaped praise on the 33-year-old throughout the final weeks of the season, ranking his leadership skills so highly he included him in the matchday squad to face Burnley despite knowing he was unlikely to be able to play a part on the pitch as he regained fitness.
In the aftermath of the dramatic comeback win over Crystal Palace that secured Everton's Premier League survival, manager Lampard went further and declared Coleman one of the best people he had met.
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Speaking after the final game of the season, the defeat at Arsenal, Lampard added: "I have never met anyone who has his morals and standards and he is an incredible player. You talk about legends of football clubs and he is certainly one of those.”
Coleman is currently on duty with the Republic of Ireland, who he also captains, for the Nations League.
And on Tuesday the Irish FA released images of him with two children from Ukraine who are living in Ireland - revealing Coleman called Blues team-mate and Ukraine international Vitalii Mykolenko so they could speak to him.
The Irish FA wrote on Twitter: "We welcomed two Ukrainian children who are living in Ireland, Illia Sydorenko & Mattvii Rybkin, to training today. As a special treat, our skipper Seamus Coleman video-called his Everton teammate Vitalii Mykolenko to say hello. Look at their reaction."
