Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye believes Seamus Coleman is different to ‘any other person’ he has ever met.
The 33-year-old has opened up on his relationship with the Toffees captain after it was confirmed that he had signed a new contract with the club.
Gana has enjoyed two spells with Everton over the past seven years and has regularly played alongside Coleman, who moved to Goodison Park in 2009.
After he suffered a season-ending injury in May, there were question marks raised over whether it would have been his last game for Everton. However, it was confirmed this week that the defender had put pen to paper on a new one-year deal.
Gana has now heaped praise on his captain in an interview with evertonfc.com.
“I love him! Seamus, for me, is unique,” Gana said.
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“Sometimes, I try to be more like him. I know I’m not perfect. Sometimes I can be sad and in those situations sometimes I keep myself to myself sometimes, rather than speaking out.
“Seamus is never like that, he always has the right words for the situation. He knows when to talk harder to bring everyone together and he knows when he doesn’t need to do that.
“He’s not just shouting in the dressing room every time, no, he talks when he needs to talk. Sometimes in football and in life people want to be loudest in the room, but Seamus talks when he feels like he needs to and he has something to say.
“It’s completely natural with him. I’ve never seen it in any other person I’ve met in my life.”
Everton need players that want to be like Seamus Coleman
While things were very different at Everton when Seamus Coleman joined 14 years ago, he has become the ‘perfect’ model for what the club want.
He is hard-working, committed and a brilliant human being that has served the Toffees very well for a majority of his career.
Coleman’s experience and leadership qualities are likely to play a key role with the younger ones at Finch Farm and on the pitch and hopefully he can influence them to become as dedicated as he is.
If the club can find more players with the mindset of Coleman then they will be heading in the right direction. You don’t need to be the best player in the world if you have the 34-year-old’s work ethic.