Friday 26 August 2016 21:14, UK
Kevin Mirallas insists Romelu Lukaku has put all the speculation regarding his future behind him and is focused on Everton.
The Belgian international had asked for a move away from the club earlier in the summer and had been linked with a return to former club Chelsea.
However, the 23-year-old has chosen to stay at Goodison Park and Mirallas, in an exclusive interview for Sky Sports, says his fellow countryman is fully focused on performing well for Ronald Koeman's side.
"I know there's been a lot of speculation about him but Romelu's focused with the team, focused with the club and I hope he scores this weekend," Mirallas told Sky Sports.
"Romelu is important for a lot of reasons. He's the best striker at Everton and he's scored a lot of goals, but he's so important in the dressing room.
"He's a good person, a good guy and he works a lot."
It's been a busy summer at Everton with John Stones leaving for Manchester City but Koeman, who arrived from Southampton, has brought in the likes of Idrissa Gueye, Maarten Stekelenburg, Ashley Williams and Yannick Bolasie.
And Mirallas thinks it is the best squad he has been a part of at Goodison Park since his arrival from Olympiakos in 2012.
"It's all change at Everton," the Belgium international said. "When you come to the training ground you can see it's all changed.
"The squad has changed, then there's the new chairman and the new manager. Last season wasn't good but it's all changed and I hope we can win something.
"When I started here the team was very good but every year we changed two or three players. This year I think it's the best squad [we've had]."
Mirallas, who endured a frustrating season for club and country last year, has started Everton's first two games in the Premier League, scoring his side's equaliser in their 2-1 win at West Brom last weekend.
And the 28-year-old has put his good start to the season down the Everton's new manager, Koeman.
"He talked to me after a couple of days in pre-season and said he believed in me," Mirallas said.
"He said last season was bad but in football sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad.
"However, he told me if I trained hard I'd play hard and I started pre-season well. After that he continued to talk with me and gave me confidence."
Watch the full interview with Everton winger Kevin Mirallas on Soccer Saturday from 12pm on Saturday on Sky Sports News HQ.
