The Danish winger has repeated his ambition to remain at Everton after the summer
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Jake O'Brien celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Jesper Lindstrom during the Premier League match between Everton FC and West Ham United FC at Goodison Park. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Jake O'Brien celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Jesper Lindstrom during the Premier League match between Everton FC and West Ham United FC at Goodison Park. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Jesper Lindstrom has dropped another hint that he wants to stay at Everton beyond the summer.
The winger has been clear in his desire to remain on Merseyside in the past and has re-iterated that stance while joining up with the Denmark squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
But he acknowledged he would need to do more to convince manager David Moyes to make his loan move from Napoli permanent.#
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Lindstrom has been a regular since Moyes’ return to the club in January, the 25-year-old building a solid partnership with Jake O’Brien on the right of a team that has gone nine Premier League games unbeaten. The pair sometimes travel to training together.
While his confidence has surged with the trust of the new manager, Moyes has stressed both he and Jack Harrison needed to find more goals and assists if they were to impress him. Lindstrom picked up his first assist of the season when he fed Harrison for his goal at Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month but knows more is expected from him.
Had Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted his cross from close range against Aston Villa, or former Brondby teammate Mads Hermansen not kept his effort out against Leicester City, the statistics would look more favourable. Lindstrom said he had “scolded” Hermansen for denying him his big moment at Goodison Park.
“That's the premise when you're an offensive player”, he said this week.
“You're measured and weighed on goals and assists. If I could just do it, I would have done it too, but it's not as easy as it looks. However, I'm starting to find a rhythm and getting more used to playing from the start in every game, so I'm not so nervous about it.”
Lindstrom’s growth in importance and improving displays have led to him breaking into the Denmark squad for the first time in 18 months.
In his media comments, reported by Danish side Ekstra Bladet, he said he felt Moyes believed in him and added he wanted to stay beyond the expiration of his loan deal, something he has previously told the ECHO. Lindstrom had a fraught time at parent club Napoli, where he moved after winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, and quickly settled on Merseyside after his summer move. Everton have an option to make it a permanent deal should the club be willing to meet the roughly £20m sale clause.
Moyes, who was impressed by Lindstrom when his West Ham United side lost to Frankfurt on the German side's run to the trophy, is keen for him to provide more and the player said he was working hard to do that. Of his future, he said: “It's a bit up to Everton. Whether they choose to use the option or not. I'm really just trying to show that I'm good enough. The game is working. I'm happy. They're happy, but it's just about me continuing to play my way. Then we'll see if it's good enough.”