And even though he has had only a fortnight's holiday since captaining the Los Angeles Galaxy to the MLS Cup, the forward is ready for a more demanding style of football.

"It (the Premier League) was relentless," he said, recalling his first taste of English football when he played 13 matches and scored twice.

"Every week was tough and I gained a lot of respect for guys who played every game.

"When you look around and see guys playing 35 games in a row it is impressive because it wears you down.

"After 10 or 12 games I was pretty down and out physically because it beats you up.

"It is a lot of fun playing in but it is demanding and there is no question it will make me a better player.

"I am going to enjoy every minute."

Donovan arrives with Everton in 10th place having had a difficult run of fixtures in September and October.

He has kept an eye on the fortunes of the club and believes they are in a false position.

"I think they are playing well but there is almost a sense that they are waiting for the other team to score," he said.

"Hopefully that has changed a little bit in the last few games.

"If you go a few games without winning you can find yourself at the bottom but I think it is pretty clear this team has the talent and the ability to be higher than they are.

"The way they have played has been better than 10th or 11th and my guess is by the end of the season they will be in the top places."

Donovan, 30 in March, is ineligible for tomorrow's trip to West Brom but will be available for the visit of Bolton on Wednesday and manager David Moyes is keen to get him up to speed as quickly as possible.

"He doesn't carry any weight and looks in good shape so hopefully we'll try to give him a good four or five days' training and see how he is for next week," said the Scot.

"It is hard to judge on one morning but we will get him up and running.

"We have a great set of boys who will make it easy to settle in.

"Creatively we hope he will make us some goals but he is not a prolific goalscorer."