Eintracht Frankfurt defender Niels Nkounkou has insisted he was happy to be at Everton and work under ‘world class’ manager Carlo Ancelotti at the time.
The defender has been speaking to BILD regarding his career so far, which has seen him play for Marseille, Everton, Saint-Etienne and now Frankfurt as well as loan spells with Standard Liege and Cardiff.
The full-back joined Everton for €270,000 in July 2020 as Carlo Ancelotti’s first signing of his reign at Goodison Park that summer.
The plan was to develop him for the future, and he did make a handful of appearances under the Italian coach before his return to Real Madrid.
Rather than developing at Everton, Nkounkou spent most of his time with the Blues out on loan, joining Standard Liege, Cardiff and Saint Etienne.
The latter came at the end of last season and saw his development go through the roof, with a series of impressive performances seeing the French side pay to sign him permanently and then move him on to Frankfurt not long after for a profit.
He’s made a positive start to life in Germany with a goal on his debut and that’s led him to looking back on the road that got him there with BILD.
“I was traveling a lot. Now I want more stability and work on myself in the long term in Frankfurt,” he said.
“I don’t plan on going again next year. I just like the Bundesliga. When Eintracht offered me the opportunity, I definitely wanted to take advantage of it. I am very happy to have had a coach like him (Ancelotti).
“I was able to learn a lot from him. He gave me the chance with the professionals and helped me improve my game.”
