Former Wigan Athletic striker Arouna Kone is delighted with his move to Everton.

While his new Everton team-mates are heading off to Austria for pre-season this week Kone will not be joining them.

He will link up with the squad later this month as he is on extended leave having been on international duty at the end of last season.

"I feel delighted. I'm really happy about joining this team,'' said Kone.

"For me it is the fruition of work that has been going on for a month now. I'm really pleased to be here and I hope that everything goes well and I can have a great season for the club, just like I did last year with Wigan.

"For me it's an honour to be back working with the manager once again.

"Last season he really helped me a lot. For my first season I did the absolute best I could but I think that joining up with him at this club is like another dimension for me and I hope that I'm going to continue to improve alongside him.

"We'll keep working hard to try and help the club achieve all of its goals.

"I hope to be on target as frequently as possible here. I have faith in my own ability but I hope that everything goes smoothly and that I can also steer clear of injuries.

"I think that with the quality of squad Everton has, we will have a good season. I hope to score as many goals as I can next season. ''