Having signed a contract extension with Everton keeping him at the club until 2025, France international Lucas Digne has handed the Toffees an advantage beyond the obvious boost of extending his services into the future.
With Digne himself admitting that he feels Everton under Carlo Ancelotti is the best place for him to play elite-level European football, his signature has dealt a blow to Premier League giants Manchester City. According to the Daily Mail, the 27-year-old was a target for Pep Guardiola’s league leaders as recently as December ahead of the January transfer window.
Both Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko have failed to consistently impress, with Guardiola preferring right-back Joao Cancelo as his go-to operative on the left flank. Digne was duly earmarked as a priority target to nail down the left-back spot at the Etihad Stadium.
The Cityzens look set to revert to square one in the summer as they target a left-back, but a new deal for Digne is a major signal of intent by Everton that the defender will be unavailable for years to come.
Read Everton Verdict
With a deal keeping Digne at the club until he is at least 31, the new deal signals that the Frenchman is intent on spending the prime of his career on Merseyside.
Perhaps haunted by previous spells of only moderate success at PSG and Barcelona, the tutelage of Ancelotti could be a key factor in Digne’s contract extension. He evidently feels settled and ready to challenge for the Champions League positions and will remain an Everton mainstay for years to come – to Guardiola’s inevitable disappointment.
It is a fitting yet subtle form of revenge after Manchester City’s 3-1 dressing-down of Everton last week, albeit one in which Digne secured an assist.
