The USA international will spend the next 10 weeks at Goodison Park while Major League Soccer is still in its close season having agreed a similar deal to the one which has taken David Beckham to AC Milan for the second successive year.

Donovan does have previous, albeit brief, experience of European football.

He made seven appearances for Bayer Leverkusen as a teenager before returning to America but went back to Germany for another loan spell with Bayern Munich 12 months ago.

The 27-year-old is now ready to embrace the task ahead of him at Everton, where compatriot Tim Howard has helped him settle in.

"I am ready to enjoy it and I want to personally get myself sharp while I am here," he said.

"Tim Howard has had nothing but great things to say about this team so I am excited."

Manager David Moyes will hope Donovan can bring another attacking dimension to his team, who have scored 26 goals in 19 matches.

With playmaker Mikel Arteta and striker Victor Anichebe still out with long-term knee injuries and Ayegbeni Yakubu working his way back to full fitness after a ruptured Achilles tendon a lot of pressure has been put on Louis Saha and midfielder Tim Cahill.

Donovan, however, also has one eye on his international duty with the USA this summer.

"Going into a World Cup year this experience will keep me sharp," he told evertonTV.