Everton new boy Robin Olsen has been hailed as being “amazing” by legendary Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga.
Zenga, who won 58 caps for the Azzurri between 1987-92, and was one of the few players in his position at that time who could hold a candle to Blues star Neville Southall, was Olsen’s coach at Cagliari earlier this year.
A former international team-mate of Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti, Zenga, 60, enjoyed his time working alongside the Sweden international at the Sardinian club.
Despite being capped 39 times himself, Olsen, 30, who joined Roma in 2018 as a replacement for Liverpool-bound Alisson, lost his place in the Italian capital to Spaniard Pau Lopez.
After spending last season on loan at Cagliari, he has now agreed a similar arrangement with Everton after the Blues were thwarted in their attempts to bring Manchester United’s Argentinian international Sergio Romero to Goodison Park.
Olsen’s arrival increases the competition for England number one Jordan Pickford whose form has come under increasing scrutiny after a series of high-profile errors in recent months.
One of observations that some of the former Sunderland man’s detractors make about him is a supposed lack of size for a modern goalkeeper at the elite level but that certainly isn’t an issue for Olsen who at 6ft 5in, is approximately four inches taller than his new team-mate.
Zenga told The Athletic : “Robin is an amazing goalkeeper.
“He is tall and strong with a great arm span — enough to cover the space of the net!
“He was a great signing for Cagliari in the time while Cragno was absent through injury and he has a great personality and strong attitude.
“I didn’t work for a lot of time with him because of COVID-19, then in June he finished his contract but I appreciated his personality and his professional attitude.”
