Everton vs Lille: The players to have played for both clubs

Everton welcome Lille to Hill Dickinson Stadium for the final fixture of the pre-season schedule. 

There’s limited competitive history between the sides with just two past meetings, as the clubs collided in the 2014/15 Europa League group stage. After a goalless draw in France, Everton ran out 3-0 winners at Goodison Park with Leon Osman, Phil Jagielka and Steven Naismith on target.

However, the two teams do share history when it comes to past players. Seven footballers have worn the colours of both clubs in an eclectic mix of Everton hits and misses.

Kevin Mirallas

Kevin Mirallas made his professional debut in the colours of Lille, having joined the club's youth programme from Standard Liege as a teenager. He scored 11 goals in 89 games for Lille over four seasons, before arriving at Everton in 2012, via spells at Saint-Étienne and Olympiacos.

The £6m deal for the reigning Greek Super League top scorer and Player of the Year looked shrewd business, and Mirallas marked his full debut with two goals against Leyton Orient. Though undoubtedly talented, Mirallas flitted between erratic and electric at Everton. He spent five seasons with the Toffees and scored 38 goals in 186 games.

Djibril Sidibe

Djibril Sidibe made more than a century of appearances for Lille, though it’s a spell at AS Monaco sandwiched between his stints at Lille and Everton that he’s best remembered for. 

Sidibie was part of an exciting side that won the Ligue 1 title in 20216/17, featuring alongside Kylian Mbappe, Falcao, and Bernardo Silva, before that talented team was cherry-picked by Europe’s elite.

He arrived at Everton on loan in 2019, having been a member of the France squad that won the World Cup a year earlier. Sidibie played 29 times for the Blues, but the loan was not made permanent.

Lucas Digne

An academy product at Lille, Lucas Digne’s rapid rise at Stade Pierre-Mauroy earned him high-profile moves to Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, before becoming Leighton Baines’ long-awaited successor at Everton.

The £18m deal to bring Digne to Goodison Park proved brilliant business, with the Frenchman delivering a steady stream of dangerous deliveries and spectacular moments during a debut season that culminated in Everton’s Player of the Year award.

Though occasionally suspect defensively, Digne brought a quality in possession that has been sorely lacking from Everton full-backs since his exit for Aston Villa in 2022. A fallout with Rafael Benitez, regrettably, curtailed his time with the Toffees.

Anwar El Ghazi

The most forgettable name on this list, certainly from an Everton viewpoint. El Ghazi joined on loan from Aston Villa in January 2022, just three days before the aforementioned Benitez was sacked. Two substitute appearances and 11 minutes of Premier League football later, he was off back to the Midlands. 

His stint with Lille was slightly better, scoring six goals in 44 games over two seasons.

Andre Gomes

Andre Gomes’ time at Everton started with an injury, and it would be a recurring theme that prevented the Portugal international from reaching the heights expected. Signed from Barcelona on an initial loan deal, he impressed after a delayed debut before injury issues took hold.

A devastating dislocated ankle, sustained after being scythed down by Son Heung-min against Tottenham Hotspur, set him back, and despite a remarkable return, niggling problems continued to plague him.

Gomes joined Lille on loan in 2022/23, completing a Lucas Digne-inspired Barcelona-Everton-Lille trifecta, before a free transfer return to France in 2024. Now 33, he’s with MLS side Columbus Crew,

Amadou Onana

Everton spent big to land Amadou Onana from Lille for a fee of around £33m, beating competition from West Ham to land the midfielder. A highly-rated prospect at Lille, Onana possessed a profile suited to the Premier League, with his long-legged ball-winning and ability to cover the ground immediately evident. 

He did not convince everyone across two seasons with the Toffees, with a feeling persisting that Onana had scratched only the surface of his talent. Despite repeated links with some of the world’s wealthiest clubs, he departed for Aston Villa in a £50m deal in 2024, banking the Blues a tidy profit.

Idrissa Gana Gueye

The biggest success story on the list. Idrissa Gueye joined Lille as a teenager and made his breakthrough during the club’s Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double-winning season in 2010/11, making 18 appearances, before becoming a fixture for the French side. Aston Villa pounced to bring Gueye to the Premier League in 2015, though the midfielder was unable to keep the Villans in the top flight.

Everton made their move as Gueye became the first signing of the Ronald Koeman era, and the Senegalese stalwart was a major hit. Gueye won Everton Players' Player of the Season in 2018/19 and made 236 appearances for the Toffees across two spells, split between a period at Paris Saint-Germain that yielded two Ligue 1 titles. A brilliant ball-winner, Gueye departed this summer for newly promoted Saudi Pro League side Diriyah Club.

 

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