Exclusive interview: Lucas Digne talks team of the season and adapting at Everton

When Everton confirmed the signing of Lucas Digne in 2018, the Premier League would become the fourth of Europe's top five leagues the left-back would ply his trade in. Quite the achievement for a player who, at the time of moving to England, was 25 years of age. After breaking onto the Ligue 1 scene with Lille in 2011, Digne would move to PSG in 2013 before a switch to Italian giants Roma in 2015. 

On the back of a fine campaign in Serie A, Barcelona came calling before his move to Everton in 2018. In the two years since, Digne has become a household name in the Premier League and a fan favourite among the Toffees faithful. Achieving the latter was never going to be an easy feat given Digne was following in the footsteps of Everton icon Leighton Baines. 

Baines had become a mainstay in the Toffees XI following his arrival from Wigan in 2007 and after 13 years at Goodison Park, he called time on his playing career earlier this summer with Digne leapfrogging the 35-year-old in the Everton pecking order immediately after his arrival from Barcelona. While Baines could have kicked up a fuss after years of loyal service, Digne insists it was quite the opposite.

"We have a really good relationship," the France international exclusively told WhoScored.com. “Leighton, obviously, is an iconic Everton player, and it has been a privilege for me to have a player like him supporting me, helping me.

"When I started in the Premier League he would give me advice about specific opponents, and he is a good person as well, so he definitely helped me settle. He basically is a very good player, and it has been a very positive competition, which helped me always push myself to do my best and develop."

And in being pushed to do his best and develop, Digne has now established himself as one of the best left-backs in England. There is obvious competition from across Stanley Park from a certain Andrew Robertson, but the Everton man has settled into his new surroundings like a duck to water. Indeed, Digne has been named at left-back in the WhoScored.com Premier League team of the season in his two seasons with Everton, this despite ample competition from a number of players in the position in England's top tier.

Is he proud of the achievement? "I am proud of that, and it means something because it is based on stats. I know that journalists - like fans - do have their favourite players and, also some others, which they don’t like a lot. So the player rating in different media is just an individual, subjective opinion by one person, but when a media base it on facts and stats, it becomes interesting."

Over the last two seasons, Digne has made the Premier League team of the season with a WhoScored rating of 7.36 in 2018/19 and 7.16 in 2019/20 and the stats side to his game is one that he personally appreciates. "To be honest, I enjoy having good stats. Stats are important because the numbers are facts and they very clearly show a lot of the results of your performance. It does not show everything, but a lot."

Professional players can use stats to their benefit, which Digne refers back to, adding: "I use stats in my work as a player - to be aware of the things I do well, and where I want - or need - to improve. I use it to develop myself as a player - and also for motivation. I read the stats after every game - and for example I get the stats from the France national team analysts after all of my club matches for Everton."

So, for a defender, what are the key stats Digne looks out for? "As a left-back obviously I have to focus on defending, and I feel that my good stats in, for example, "clearances" and "aerial duels won", and are important to me because they prove that I take care of the defensive side of the game."

Indeed, Digne won 3.4 aerial duels per 90 in the Premier League last season, that second only to Matt Doherty (4.2) of all full-backs in England's top tier in 2019/20 to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored strengths of 'aerial duels', while an aerial success rate of 68.3% ranked 11th of the 90 players to contest 100 or more aerial duels. A return of 2.8 clearances per 90 was impressive, too, with Digne's fine positional awareness ensuring opponents endured rotten luck down his side of the pitch with the ball in the air and on the deck.

Yet in the modern game, full-backs are tasked with providing an attacking outlet for the respective teams. Whereas in the past the focus would have been on defending, now they have to bombard up field to help stretch opponents and maximise the creative side to their game, overlapping when wingers cut in field and Digne is no different.

Since moving to the Premier League, only Trent Alexander-Arnold (25) and Andy Robertson (23) have registered more assists than Digne (11) of defenders, reinforcing the offensive quality to the Frenchman's game. "In England it has become a more important part of my game to attack and to create chances for my teammates. When I see the stats, it tells me that I have done a good job creating chances for my team with all those key passes, and I am happy about that." Digne went on to add.

And Digne is absolutely correct in stating that he has done a good job in creating chances. During his time in England, he has made more key passes (143) than any other defender, that ranking fifth overall in the Premier League since the start of the 2018/19 season. That serves to further emphasise the importance of a quality attacking full-back with Digne evidently enjoying the attacking pressure placed upon his shoulders.

It's a slight change in style to his time in Spain, where, as Digne puts it: "It was a completely different style of football in Barca, based on passing and not crossing." In England, though, that has changed, with Digne saying: "After moving to England from Spain, I have had to change my style. I had to adapt immediately to the intensity, the physical duels, again and again repeating the high-intensity runs, and basically always being involved. I am putting in a lot of crosses and making key passes for my teammates, and that is now an important part of my job.

"Even with the changes, though, Digne is a fan of the style of the game in the Premier League, stating: "I enjoy the English style of football a lot. It was a positive challenge for me as a player to change from one style to another. It has developed me. Having said that, I also enjoyed the different aspects of the game in my other clubs and the styles of the other leagues."

Digne has had the pleasure of playing in a number of top leagues, so the styles of play has benfitted him as a left-back and helped him develop quickly to the speed and physical rigours that has come with playing in Ligue 1, Serie A, LaLiga and the Premier League. And having played for PSG, Roma, Barcelona and now Everton, Digne has performed in his fair share of derbies across Europe, but how does the Merseyside Derby compare to the Rome Derby, Le Classique or El Clasico?

"No doubt that this is one of the greatest derbies in the world - a great event in the entire city, well, a great match in the entire football world. And it is definitely a fierce rivalry." Digne concluded. While fans may not be allowed back into stadiums for the foreseeable future, the Merseyside Derby is one that will be as hotly contested as ever when Everton and Liverpool resume rivalries next month.

First though, the Toffees kick off their Premier League season with a trip to Tottenham this weekend as Digne seeks to make it a WhoScored.com hat-trick and nail down a place in the Premier League team of the season for the third campaign running.