Rafa Benitez has revealed he had been keeping tabs on Demarai Gray for four years before signing the attacker for Everton this summer. And the extent of Benitez’s interest in the 25-year-old is highlighted by the fact Benitez even exchanged messages with Gray when the Spanish coach was without a club. Gray joined the Blues in July in a £1.7m deal from Bayer Leverkusen and has made a flying start to life at Goodison, with three goals in his opening four league matches. Benitez was convinced that with the right players around him, and making sure he felt confident, Gray would deliver at Everton. And the Blues boss, after he’d left Dalian Professional in China and was out of work, was still thinking about the former Leicester City player should a new job materialise.
Rafa Benitez said: “When I was at Newcastle we played against Leicester and he did really well. Since then we were following him and I was in contact with his agent asking about how he was doing. I also sent the boy a message when he was in Germany asking how he was getting on and how was he adapting to the style of life in Germany? So I had communication and was following him. I told my staff to keep an eye on him because we knew he has the potential. It’s just a question of giving him confidence, having the right team-mates around him and the right environment with the fans, who appreciate what he is doing. All of these things together help him to do well. It’s easier for us to support him because he is continuing to work hard and score goals, but overall he is doing what everyone was expecting – making the difference with his quality.”
