Allan heads to Everton and hails influence of 'Professor Ancelotti'

Everton have completed the signing of the Napoli midfielder Allan for a fee of £22m plus £2.6m in add-ons, with the Brazilian agreeing a three-year deal until the end of June 2023.

The 29-year-old played 61 games under Carlo Ancelotti when the Everton manager was in charge of Napoli and has nine senior caps for his country, having won the Copa América alongside his new teammate Richarlison last year. Allan said he could not turn down the opportunity to work with the Italian again and join a club “with a rich history and real ambition”.

“It is a real pleasure to sign for Everton. I am immensely happy to be here,” said Allan. “I hope, like I have done in my entire career, I contribute with my performances together with my teammates and that I put in some great games, great performances and win important things.

“It is a club with a rich history in the Premier League, has real ambition and then there is Professor Ancelotti. He has done everything possible to bring me here. It is the size of the club and the name of the coach which means you don’t think twice about coming to Everton.”

Allan was formerly with Napoli’s domestic rivals Udinese for three years – in his final campaign in 2014-15 he ranked as the top ball winner in Europe’s five major leagues – after transferring from Vasco da Gama in Brazil.

“A strong part of my game is marking and the desire going in to win absolutely every ball,” he added. “I believe with my desire I can put in really good performances to win the fans over and I hope to win things as well. There will be a tremendous amount of dedication from me, a lot of dedication – a lot. I received a lot of messages from Everton fans and that made me really happy and confident in the work I can do here.”

Allan played more than 200 times for Napoli, including 158 Serie A appearances and 26 games in the Champions League. He featured in all 38 league matches in 2017-18 when Napoli accumulated 91 points to finish a close second to Juventus in Serie A.
He won the Coppa Italia – Italy’s premier domestic cup competition – in his final season at the Stadio San Paolo.