Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has hailed Blues boss Frank Lampard and said he ‘kept the whole club together’ last season after replacing Rafa Benitez in January.
Begovic, 35, joined Everton as back-up to Jordan Pickford last summer and played seven times in all competitions across the campaign. The Bosnian stopper has also featured for Portsmouth, Stoke, Chelsea and AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League after joining Pompey as a 16-year-old in 2003.
And Begovic said the impact of Lampard, despite the Blues only picking up 20 points in 18 games after the Chelsea legend's arrival, cannot be underestimated, and he inspired the squad to survival.
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“I’m really looking forward to it [the new season] - we’ve got a great gaffer,” Begovic told talkSPORT.
“What he did in the last four to five months, credit to him the way he kept people and the whole club together. That inspiration to everyone was first class so we have got a great manager, really good staff and I think we’ve got a good squad.
“We’ll see how the summer works out and what happens but we've got some good quality. Hopefully we'll have some better luck with injuries and that kind of stuff this year but yeah we're looking forward to it and I think looking forward to a much better season.”
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