Gueye asks for contract termination as Everton transfer saga drags on

According to reports this afternoon, Idrissa Gueye has asked for his contract with PSG to be terminated to help push forward his long-mooted transfer back to Everton.

The return to Merseyside of the former Everton midfield star has been the longest running transfer saga of this window so far.

First the deal was on and the player, as well as his current club, were apparently happy and keen to get it done with personal terms etc agreed.

Then it stalled, with uncertainty over the details and whether the Toffees’ would have to pay a significant fee for the Senegal international.

And, recently there was even news that the deal might well be off altogether and that the Blues’ were looking at alternatives to the 32-year-old.

Most recently, further reports emerged indicating that talks would actually be back on this week! So, who actually knows what’s really going on, as is the case with so much of the Toffees’ transfer business.

Now, this story claims that Gueye has made a move to try and hasten things along by asking the French champions to terminate his contract.

Obviously, Everton supporters would have expected and hoped this transfer could have been done and dusted by now. It seems that these deals take longer and longer with each passing window.

There is now a week to go before the transfer window closes so time is running out to get this sorted before the end of the month.

Bringing in a quality defensive midfield anchor, especially one as experienced as Gueye, who also knows the club and English football so well, does make sense.

And, sorting out who plays this role is an even more acute issue now with Tom Davies becoming the latest victim of the club’s infamous injury curse, having picked up a knock minutes before he was due to play in the Fleetwood Town match last night.

Davies had only just returned to the team after more than six months out with a serious long-term problem that kept the midfielder on the sidelines for the whole second half of last season. You just couldn’t make this up!

Having said that though, after all this time has passed without getting the deal over the line for Gueye, the Blues’ now have other even more pressing priorities in the coming days.

That is of course, the absolutely urgent need to get some firepower and goal threat into this Everton team before the end of the window, and before the Toffees’ have lost potentially irrecoverable ground on their rivals.

We still seem no nearer to getting this issue resolved and I think it is virtually certain Everton will go into the match away at Brentford this weekend still without any more forwards.

I do hope the Blues’ can get Gueye re-signed as his nous and defensive qualities are ideally needed in this side’s midfield.

However, if I had to choose I would prefer the Toffees’ get one, preferably two, quality forwards in before the window shuts, even if the Gueye deal can’t be done.

After all, Everton have signed a talented young midfielder in Amadou Onana, who can play as a number six, and there are two other defensive midfielders in Allan as well as the almost forgotten Jean-Philippe Gbamin in the squad. Plus Mason Holgate could fill in too.

None of these options are ideal, but the over-riding priority has to be getting the strikers in who are so desperately needed.