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Premier League: Everton boss Roberto Martinez hails new boy Muhamed Besic

Image: Muhamed Besic: Has made a positive first impression

Everton new boy Muhamed Besic has been hailed as 'a very complete footballer' by manager Roberto Martinez.

The Bosnia international has been snapped up from Ferencvaros for £4million to add extra bite to the Goodison Park midfield.

Having caught the eye at the World Cup finals, Besic was expected to have little difficulty adapting to English football.

For a player to feel at home so quickly is incredible. It shows you his confidence in himself, his quality and the understanding of the players around him.
Roberto Martinez

It was, however, assumed that he would have to be patient as he attempted to oust Gareth Barry and James McCarthy from the Everton starting XI.

A promising pre-season suggests Martinez has some serious thinking to do, though, with Besic having already caught the eye of supporters, team-mates and coaching staff.

Martinez said of the 21-year-old after his debut in Leon Osman’s testimonial: “For a player to feel at home so quickly is incredible.

“It shows you his confidence in himself, his quality and the understanding of the players around him.

“He has looked like a player who had been at Everton for three years.

“That’s what I saw at the World Cup – someone who’s not fazed by anything.

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“It doesn’t matter if he needs to man-mark Lionel Messi or he needs to get on the ball and make you play.

“I think he’s a very complete football. He’s only 21 and he plays with the maturity of a really experienced player and I really enjoyed his performance.”

Osman, who saw his loyal service to the Everton cause recognised in a 1-1 draw against Porto, added: “He hasn’t tackled that aggressively in training, thankfully!

“But he has shown the touches and quality in training.

“It was a really good debut – if he plays like that every week he will be a crowd favourite for many years.”

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