Osman excited by new arrivals

Published Jul. 23, 2013 3:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

Leon Osman says the summer arrivals have given everyone a lift at Everton ahead of the new season.

New manager Roberto Martinez has brought forward Arouna Kone, centre-half Antolin Alcaraz and goalkeeper Joel Robles with him from his former club Wigan and landed highly-rated teenage Spanish forward Gerard Deulofeu on a season-long loan from Barcelona.

Martinez has also managed to hang on to Belgium's Marouane Fellaini and England left-back Leighton Baines so far and international colleague Osman told the club's official website: "We've brought four new signings in already and it's been impressive.

"There's been a momentum with us so far. Now we're all together and have got the rest of our international lads back, we've got our full squad and we can start to look forward even more.

"It's about how quickly now we can all understand what the new manager wants and how he wants us to play. That's different from being comfortable on the ball. We need to be comfortable in the mind as well."

"Pretty much everything we've done so far on the field has been with the ball. All the running has been with the ball and it's something we don't usually do. I've loved it. You'd be surprised how hard it is with the ball though.

"It's because you're concentrating on the running and keeping the ball under good control at the same time. We worked long and hard in Austria, three sessions a day.

"As far as being comfortable and composed on the ball goes we've certainly got players capable of being that. That's a positive."