Source: Liverpool_Echo
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov: Joining Everton is my lucky ticket
FROM heartbreaker to matchmaker: Guus Hiddink destroyed Everton’s hopes of silverware in May but his silver tongue has provided Diniyar Bilyaletdinov with a chance to fulfil a dream.
It is well known that Chelsea’s erstwhile manager gave a glowing recommendation when he answered a call from David Moyes asking about the talents of a young man who has become an important figure in Russia’s national team.
In football, though, that doesn’t necessarily mean the same information will be relayed when a potential target meets the middle man; there have, after all, been plenty of cases where players have been urged to resist all advances from certain clubs.
Hiddink, however, has a reputation for honesty and fairness, so when Bilyaletdinov sought his opinion on whether he should leave Lokomotiv Moscow, where he was settled and comfortable, to join Everton, the answer could not have been more emphatic.
“He told me Everton were one of only a couple of teams who really impressed when he was at Chelsea,” explained the man who is now affectionately known as ‘Billy’.
“He told me they play in a contemporary style, under a good coach who likes to pass the ball.
“I talked to Guus in Moscow, when we were with the national team last month and asked again what he thought. During the negotiations, he told me that it would be a really good step forward for me. That was all I needed to hear.”
Of course, Hiddink’s positive rhetoric will never make up for that 2-1 defeat Everton suffered at Wembley in the FA Cup final but, looking at Bilyaletdinov’s pedigree, there is little doubt he has recommended a player with the potential to be out of the top draw.
Comfortable in a variety of positions across the middle – his preference is to play inside left – Bilyaletdinov is poised to make his first start for the Blues when they kick-off their Europa League adventure with a tricky home clash against AEK Athens this evening.
