Frank Lampard admitted he is in constant contact with Kevin Thelwell and is hopeful that Everton can make strong additions to the squad in the near future.
The Blues have been relatively quiet in the transfer market thus far, with the only signing being that of James Tarkowski on a free earlier this month. Links to other players have swirled in recent days and weeks, but nothing else has yet materialised.
However, Lampard is still hopeful that there will be movement in the future. The boss and the director of football are hard at work to try and identify the right players to take Everton forward as the beginning of the 2022/23 Premier League season approaches.
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The manager remarked: "[Kevin Thelwell] must hate me - I'm on the phone to him all the time! I have a great relationship with him. We're actively trying to push things forward."
Asked if he is hopeful of strengthening the squad in the near future, Lampard added: "Yes."
These comments came following Everton's first pre-season match of the summer, which ended in a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Quickfire goals from Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka were enough to secure a victory for the Gunners in what was a tough test for the Blues to begin their summer preparations.
Lampard admitted that there were some portions of the match that were much better than others. He confirmed that improving fitness was a priority, and admitted that the result wasn't necessarily the most important aspect of Saturday night's clash.
He added: "Fitness, conditioning [is what we wanted out of the game]. We're behind Arsenal - they've played a couple of games already and I understood that. You could see with the way they played.
"I was pleased with the application, pleased with the fitness and pleased with some elements of the game - and not so pleased with others. I don't like the result but that's not the important thing at the minute."
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