Everton: Swansea fire warning over Gylfi Sigurdsson

The Swans are getting extremely agitated with Everton, after Gylfi Sigurdsson decided against going on the pre-season tour to the USA.

In some ways, you could argue professional football is similar to reality television. (At least football’s better than the majority of it.) And in that respect, Everton are currently involved in the equivalent of a love-triangle scandal, which includes Gylif Sigurdsson and Swansea City.

As most football fans are aware, Sigurdsson has been on Everton’s radar for some time. In fact, it goes all the way back to last summer, when the Blues made a £25 million offer for him.

Swansea rejected the bid and shortly after, signing the winger to a new four-year contract. Unfortunately for the Swans, if they thought that was going to be the end of it, they were sadly mistaken.

Everton are back once more, like an infatuated teenager who won’t take no for an answer. Swansea have done their best to resist the interest, with chairman Huw Jenkins recently saying Sigurdsson is priceless.

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Of course, Jenkins doesn’t mean it literally, but the sentiment is entirely understandable. The Iceland international was a major reason the Swans stayed up last season, with nine goals, 13 assists and just his general propensity to cause havoc in the opposition’s half of the pitch.

Now though, Sigurdsson seems to have tipped his hat, indicating he himself would like to move to Merseyside. As reported by The Independent, he pulled out of the club’s pre-season tour to the United States, just hours before the team left for Philadelphia.

Swansea admitted the 27-year old didn’t feel in the right frame of mind to travel, with all the speculation surrounding his future. The pressure has only intensified, with Everton and Leicester City reportedly having £40 million bids recently rejected.

As a result, American owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien have felt compelled to issue a statement, effectively warning Everton about their conduct. As reported by the Echo‘s David Prentice, the statement said:

"We are disappointed Gylfi has taken the decision not to join his teammates in America where they are working with the coaching staff to prepare for the upcoming season. At this time we have not received an offer from any club which represents a fair valuation of Gylfi given his importance to our club.As we have stated, we will not be bullied or forced into a decision until a club meets our valuation of the player, no matter whether they believe they have an agreement with the player. Any such agreement would obviously be in contravention of Premier League legislation.We have the ultimate respect for Gylfi as a person and a player and we are optimistic that he will reconsider his decision and join his teammates."

As recently reported by The Guardian, Swansea’s valuation of Sigurdsson is apparently £50 million. So, taking all the available information into account, how is this going to play out?

It’s clear the Swans want to keep hold of the former Tottenham Hotspur player and will do whatever they can to put off other teams. However, increasing his valuation to £50 million shows they will make sure they get as much money as possible, if he does leave.

In theory, Swansea are in a position of strength, with Sigurdsson still having three years left on his contract. However, if the player himself wants to go, at some point you have to accept this.

From Everton’s perspective, it’s simple – are they prepared to pay the necessary £50 million, to essentially secure the transfer? If so, they should just get on with it and bring this whole matter to an end.

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How much further do you want Everton to push their pursuit of Sigurdsson, before tapping out? What’s the most you believe they should pay for the midfielder? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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