Brazilian Allan hails influence of Carlo Ancelotti after joining Everton in £22m deal from Napoli

Former Napoli set to be first of three midfield signings with Rodriguez and Doucoure also on brink of moving to Premier League club

FILE - In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 file photo, Napoli's Allan leaves at the end of the Europa League round of 16 second leg soccer match between FC Salzburg and Napoli in the Arena stadium in Salzburg, Austria. Brazil midfielder Allan has reunited with Carlo Ancelotti after moving from Napoli to Everton. The transfer fee was not disclosed by the two clubs but media reports estimated it at $27.8 million. The 29-year-old Allan played 61 games under Ancelotti when the Everton coach was in charge at Napoli. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson, File)Show less

Everton secured the first of an expected trio of midfield signings with the arrival of Brazilian international Allan on Saturday from Napoli for a reported £22 million (Dh107.4m).

The 29-year-old is reunited with Toffees manager Carlo Ancelotti, with whom he worked at the Serie A club.

Everton are also close to reuniting Ancelotti with Colombian star James Rodriguez for a third time, after spells together at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, while a fee has reportedly been agreed with Watford for Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Allan played more than 200 times for Napoli, including 158 Serie A appearances and 26 games in the Champions League.

He featured in all 38 league matches in 2017-18 when Napoli finished a close second to Juventus in Serie A.

Allan admitted he could not turn down the opportunity to work with Ancelotti again.

“It is a real pleasure to sign for Everton. I am immensely happy to be here,” said Allan. “I hope, like I have done in my entire career, I contribute with my performances together with my teammates and that I put in some great games, great performances and win important things.

“It is a club with a rich history in the Premier League, has real ambition and then there is Professor Ancelotti. He has done everything possible to bring me here. It is the size of the club and the name of the coach which means you don’t think twice about coming to Everton.

“A strong part of my game is marking and the desire going in to win absolutely every ball,” he added. “I believe with my desire I can put in really good performances to win the fans over and I hope to win things as well.

"here will be a tremendous amount of dedication from me, a lot of dedication – a lot. I received a lot of messages from Everton fans and that made me really happy and confident in the work I can do here.”

Ancelotti took over as Everton manager in December 2019 and the club ended the season 12th in the table. They travel to Tottenham for their opening game of the new campaign on Sunday, September 13.