'Never' - Lucas Digne breaks his silence on Rafa Benitez fallout and issues firm Everton denial

Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne has opened up regarding the situation between himself and Rafa Benitez at Everton which led to him departing the club in January.

Digne was signed by Villa in a deal understood to be around £25 million. The French international had fallen out of favour with Benitez, who was the Everton manager at the time, which then led to Villa capitalising on the situation to acquire the player.

Speaking to French publication L'Equipe via Sport Witness, Digne stated this regarding the situation with Benitez: "I lived three and a half years of happiness and love with the supporters. I had, and still have, a great relationship with them, with people at the club, my former teammates.

“But I don’t look back. Football is like that. One day everything is fine, the next month it is less so. And you have to make decisions.

“When you are part of the framework, there are discussions with the coach. The relationship we had was not good. It was complicated to be excluded from the group for a month. It was an unprecedented situation in my career. But I had my family and my teammates with me.

“I also saw Raphaël Varane quite often, as we lived nearby. I took it upon myself. I continued to work on the side, to be behind my friends. I have never refused to play. It was a way for him to protect himself. I never asked for that. People who know me at the club know that everything was going very well. I was not the only one to leave.”

Digne also went on to outline the issues he had with Benitez, with specific reference to his style of play. The Villa left-back outlined: “In relation to the style of play, especially. I thought we had a team that could have a lot more possession, which we had the quality for.

“He