‘I don’t care what he wears’ – Frank Lampard hits back at Dele Alli criticism

Frank Lampard has said he will judge Dele Alli on what he produces for Everton and not on his choice of clothes or car.

The new signing has received strange criticism since his deadline day move from Tottenham with Alan Brazil questioning his use of a Rolls-Royce and former England manager Glenn Hoddle faulting the clothes he wore at Goodison Park on Saturday.

While admitting the pundits have a right to their opinion, the new Everton manager insisted he would not “handcuff” the midfielder’s personality and is more concerned with the 25-year-old’s efforts to relaunch his career at Goodison than lifestyle choices. Alli, and fellow new recruit Donny van de Beek, are both in the Everton squad for the Premier League trip to fellow strugglers Newcastle on Tuesday.

Lampard said: “I’ve heard some of the reaction and I have a lot of respect for everyone who has spoken, ex-players who admire in Ally McCoist, Alan Brazil, Glenn Hoddle; I would never go against their word. But when you are working closely with players and working with Dele, my personal opinion is that I don’t care what car he drives, what clothes he wears, as long as I get a lad that comes to training every day, wants to improve every day, respects the club and respects his teammates and then produces and gives everything to produce.

“The modern day has moved on, it’s changed, we all have to be aware of that, and I’m not hitting back at any former players’ observations because everyone is allowed their own opinion but I can only deal with what’s in front of me. Dele and Donny are both great lads, I mean it. Maybe Donny wears an overcoat that is longer than the one Dele wears, and he has a different type of jacket, but it doesn’t bother me. As long as they produce on