Everton captain Phil Jagielka believes new signings Arouna Kone and Antolin Alcaraz will be fantastic additions to the squad.
Kone completed his transfer from Wigan Athletic on Monday, while his former Latics teammate Alcaraz joined the Club a day later after signing a two-year deal.
England international Jagielka is aware of their familiarity to manager Roberto Martinez and the ability that the new pair possess after playing against them both last season.
“Obviously they are two players that the manager knows very well, two players who were big stars at Wigan,” he told evertontv.
“I know Kone played most of their games and scored most of their goals and was a really big handful.
“Alcaraz at the back, he unfortunately had a few injuries last season and didn’t play as much football as he would have liked but, the same again, he was a very important player for Wigan.
“They are two fantastic signatures to get and hopefully they can come into what is now a good squad and make it a little bit stronger.”
Kone was something of a thorn in Everton’s side last season, as the former PSV and Sevilla forward netted for the Latics against the Blues both home and away.
“It is nice to have those type of players on our team this time,” added Jagielka. “If he can put the same sort of performances in for us it can only make our squad stronger.”
Meanwhile, the new Blues skipper believes the recruitment of Alcaraz gives the Club much needed numbers in the defensive department.
“We’ve only got four centre halves including Shane [Duffy] so we haven’t got that many,” he continued.
“The manager played different formations at Wigan, if he’s going to play three at the back here, four isn’t a lot of centre halves to choose from – especially if a couple get injured.
“It’s definitely important that we’ve got strength in numbers and he’s a fantastic player and I’m sure he’ll be competing for a starting role.”
In his first season as Everton captain, one the responsibilities Jagielka will face is to ensure new signings settle at the Club, although he emphasised that the Everton dressing room is an easy enough place to feel at home.
“I think on the whole in the changing room it is easy to come in and within a week you feel like you’ve been here a season,” added the England man.
“I’ll do the usual things, introducing, and if they need anything, obviously, they can come and see me. But I think the lads themselves will welcome the new signings into the Club with open arms and I’m pretty sure they’ll find it easy to adjust.”