Jean-Luc Vasseur replaces Willie Kirk as manager of Everton Women; Frenchman joins on a two-and-a-half-year deal; Vasseur, who won Women's Champions League with Olympique Lyonnais Féminin: "I've come here to write new history with Everton and to win titles"
Wednesday 3 November 2021 10:17, UK
Everton Women have appointed Jean-Luc Vasseur as the club's new manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
Frenchman Vasseur replaces Willie Kirk, who left earlier in the month following a mixed start to the new Women's Super League season.
Vasseur is a Champions League-winning boss with Olympique Lyonnais Féminin and the 2020 recipient of FIFA's World Women's Coach of the Year award.
He led Lyon Women's all-conquering 2019/20 team which, as well as being crowned European champions, won the French league title, Coupe de France, Trophée des Championnes, and Women's International Champions Cup.
Vasseur has already visited Everton's training ground USM Finch Farm, women's stadium Walton Hall Park and club headquarters at the Royal Liver Building with Alan McTavish, managing director of Everton Women.
"It's an honour to be here at Everton, which is such a famous club in England," he told evertontv.
"I spoke with Sarvar Ismailov [Everton Women sporting and commercial director] and he told me this is a big club with a big history and an amazing future.
"I've come here to write new history with Everton and to win titles. "We have a lot of talent and resources so I think there is good capacity to improve.
"I have the ambition to build a team that can achieve Champions League qualification. We have to be patient and fight to win."
Sky Sports' Charlotte Marsh:
Everton Women have followed their male counterparts in appointing a superstar manager. Much like Carlo Ancelotti's arrival was hailed as an incredible coup, bringing in Vasseur is a huge arrival.
Heading into the new season, there was one soundbite that kept coming from the club - we want Champions League football. Everton were 16 points from those places last season, but there was huge belief that they could push into that top three this time around.
Make no mistake about it - Kirk worked wonders at Everton. He made them competitive at the top of the Women's Super League and has recruited some incredible talent. But something had not been clicking this season and it cost him his position.
In Vasseur, they have a manager with the CV and experience to match Everton's ambitions. He inherited a women's football powerhouse in Lyon, scooping up pretty much every trophy going with his squad of stars.
Everton will offer a very different prospect, but not one that he is unfamiliar with. He will need to work quickly to get his team firing and in such a tight league, reaching those Champions League stages may already be out of reach.
But watch this space. Although Vasseur has never managed in the Women's Super League, he brings plenty of experience and it should be an exciting prospect not only for Everton, but the league as a whole.