Idrissa Gueye believes Everton belong in Europe and that is where he hopes he can take the club
14:51, 11 Nov 2025
Idrissa Gueye celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Everton and Fulham at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Helping Everton return to ‘where it belongs’ remains the inspiration for Idrissa Gueye’s continued impact on Merseyside The veteran midfielder turned 36 in the summer but he has not lost the desire to help a club that means a great deal to him.
His belief – shared by manager David Moyes – is that Everton should be in Europe. And he wants to help the club get there while he can.
Reflecting on his return to the Blues in 2022 after a stint at Paris Saint-Germain, Gueye said: “I said it when I came back here that the goal was to get the club back up to where we feel it belongs – playing in Europe, fighting towards the top of the league. We haven’t reached that goal yet, so we keep going – we keep working.”
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Since he reunited with Everton, Gueye’s influence has been directed toward helping a troubled club survive relegation.
A key figure in the survival fights under Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche, he then impressed Moyes when the Scot returned to the club in January.
Gueye was crucial to the surge in form that quickly lifted the Blues away from the bottom three even amid an injury crisis.
The importance of Gueye was not lost on Moyes at the time. While the Everton manager is aware that reducing the midfield workload and reliance on the veteran is important to ensuring his longevity, whether or not to extend his contract into the club’s first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium was a straightforward decision in a complex summer.
Gueye agreed, telling Everton’s media team that his love for the club runs deep: “It is something that just comes naturally. It always has done. Honestly, it’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t know this club.
“From very early on I enjoyed nice moments with the supporters, the players and staff here.
“I just feel at home. Everton means a lot for me. I had the opportunity to extend my contract in the summer and I didn’t hesitate. I was delighted to stay here.”
Covering the loss of Gueye, who is expected to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations next month with Senegal, will not be easy.
He has started every Premier League game this season and proved a useful asset in front of goal – pulling the Blues back into the game at Liverpool earlier in the campaign and then providing the crucial breakthrough in the win over Fulham at the weekend.
It is not just his impact on the pitch that has been useful to Everton bosses over recent years. Gueye has been a key character in the dressing room, one looked up to by the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure, Amadou Onana and his international team-mate Iliman Ndiaye. In his celebration on Saturday he opted for the ‘cobra’ gesture beloved by Arnaut Danjuma, another former Blue.
Moyes acknowledged his wider importance when Gueye penned his extension. He said: “His experience and his knowledge of the club is going to be so important going forward with the introduction of lots of new players and the new stadium. Idrissa will play a big part in integrating everybody.”
