Everton’s early pre-season focus has been about creating a squad that is stronger and capable of playing with more intensity - both going forward and in defence.
Amid the injury chaos that blighted the end of the last campaign, Frank Lampard repeatedly expressed his desire to create a team that is more “robust”. That can be achieved, in part, by signings - with James Tarkowski representing the arrival of a centre back who has played more than 30 Premier League games in each of the past five seasons.
Significant attention is also being paid to strengthening the current players, first team coach Chris Jones told the ECHO. And in a fascinating overview of the club’s approach to the first weeks of pre-season he highlighted Dominic Calvert-Lewin as one of several players to have impressed.
