Everton’s Yannick Bolasie takes aim at Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew as he prepares to face West Brom yet again
Winger claims he gave his all for Eagles before completing £25m Goodison Park move ahead of another Baggies meeting
YANNICK BOLASIE could be hit with a sense of deja vu this afternoon.
Having run out for Crystal Palace against West Brom last week, he hopes to make his Everton bow today . . . at West Brom!
Only two players have faced the same opponents in their first two games of a Prem season — Gaston Ramirez in 2014 and Stephen Warnock in 2006-07.
And Bolasie wants to put the record straight — with a shot across the bows for Alan Pardew into the bargain after his £25million move from Palace on Monday.
Yet the parting words from his old Eagles boss left a sour taste after four years as a cult hero at Selhurst Park.
Asked if he could have done more to keep the winger, Pardew claimed Bolasie’s heart and soul were no longer at the club.
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But the DR Congo star hit back: “If my heart and soul weren’t in it then I wouldn’t have wanted to play against West Brom. But I was there for the team because I respect all the boys at Palace.”
Bolasie, 27, had to put up with various accusations during his Selhurst Park days, most notably that he was too erratic and did not score enough.
Yet the one thing which could never be questioned is his attitude.
Bolasie’s honesty has already impressed many at Goodison. He said: “I’ve always had belief but people talk about goals. I haven’t scored hundreds but that’s part of my journey. It’s been unorthodox. It’s going to be like that here, but I’m looking forward to it.”
So, too, is Goodison hitman Romelu Lukaku.
The two know each other via the new boy’s cousin and DR Congo team-mate Boli Bolingo-Mbombo.
Bolasie revealed: “I know Rom’s cousin and he’s always said Everton is a great club. I could see from the way he’s settled and how he’s improved his game and he’s always been bantering with me saying ‘don’t you want to move?’”
So does Lukaku now have to return the favour and commit his own future to Goodison, with rumours still rife that he could move on this window?
That is one debate Bolasie will not be getting involved in, as he joked: “I don’t know about that to be honest . . . I will leave that to the manager’s decision.”