Everton: Gylfi Sigurdsson saga finally concludes

Everton have reportedly finally agreed a fee for Gylfi Sigurdsson, to conclude a saga which should never have gone on this long.

Gylfi Sigurdsson finally…..finally!…..appears set to move to Everton. (Of course, we write this with a certain sense of trepidation.)

At least this is the case, according to a report from John Percy of The Telegraph. Percy writes that the Blues have agreed a fee of £45 million for Sigurdsson.

The winger will undergo a medical on Wednesday, before confirming the deal. He is then expected to be available for the Toffees’ big game next Monday night, versus Manchester City.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been Everton — at least in terms of how they’ve dealt with this particular pursuit of a player — if they hadn’t continued to make things awkward, before finally agreeing to pay £45 million. As per a report from the Daily Mail‘s Simon Jones, they proposed to pay £40 million up front, with two further payments of £2.5 million in add-ons.

(We’ve stated this before, but we became increasingly frustrated with how the Blues conducted themselves during this whole saga. They stubbornly refused to pay Swansea City’s initial demand of £50 million – then Everton allegedly attempted to back out of paying the £45 million all in one go, which they apparently verbally agreed to previously.)

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In essence, the Toffees forcdc Swansea’s hand in this matter. The Welsh club had hoped to have this resolved before the league season started and were pressured by Sigurdsson himself, who had stressed his desire to move to Merseyside.

Pending the transfer being made official by both clubs, there is little doubt Everton are getting an excellent player, who will help boost their push for a top four spot. Last season, the Icelandic international played a significant role in leading the Swans to Premier League safety, highlighted by nine goals and 13 assists.

As for Swansea themselves, while they would have preferred for Sigurdsson to remain with them, they already have their sights set on several replacements. According to Jones, these potentially include Manchester City’s Wilfried Bony and West Bromwich Albion’s Nacer Chadli.

Next: Things go from bad to worse for Ross Barkley

Dare you finally allow yourself to believe Sigurdsson is actually on his way to Goodison Park? For once we have no specific questions. Just share your (random) thoughts in the comments section below.