Rafa Benitez has claimed Anthony Gordon's mentality was what held him back at Everton.
The former Toffees boss only worked with the 21-year-old for half a season before being given his marching orders at Goodison Park. Gordon was a blossoming prospect and has continued to take his game on under Frank Lampard, which drew transfer interest from Chelsea this summer.
Gordon though was not entirely convinced Benitez, who has referenced a pre-season game in Florida which rang alarm bells. The winger's fitness was not up to scratch whilst his progress in England's youth grades was supposedly being halted due to the perception of his work rate.
Benitez told Sky Sports : "We played in Miami in pre-season and after 50 minutes he couldn't run. We knew he was a player with quality on the ball, finishing, passing, with pace - but he couldn't run. We had that conversation with him after the game, it was hot but a young player should be okay but he had issues with his stamina.
"I was talking with the coaches in the academy and my assistants and then he went to Preston on loan. They said we know he has the talent, but maybe not the mentality. The boy told me, when he was in the national team U19s he was one of the best players, but he wasn't going to the U21s because they didn't see how hard he worked.
"He was confident that the way he was training was working. He played 12 games in total with us and he was doing well, I am really pleased to see him progressing. He has to improve some parts of his game - he knows that.
"We were spending time with him, but the main one was to change his mentality, and he was very keen to do it. He was working so hard on the pitch that he was getting better, because he had the potential."
Gordon has scored twice for the Toffees this term in seven appearances thus far. He helped the Merseysiders pick up their first win of the season against West Ham United at the weekend having remained at the club beyond deadline day.
He is now set to become one of the team's leading lights and Lampard was not surprised by the speculation surrounding his young star: "The interest in him is because he is a top player and why we are so keen to keep him. You saw the reasons why (we think so highly of him) in the last two games. He is our player, he has come through he is a very good player and will get better and better."
