Gylfi Sigurdsson could be joining Everton

Gylfi Sigurdsson would be an asset for Everton

Everton want to sign Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson according to the Dailystar.

The 27-year-old Icelandic midfielder has had a tremendous season for the Swans and currently leads the assists chart with 11 assists and he has scored eight goals.

However, Swansea would want at least £30 million for the play-maker as new manager Paul Clement is a big admirer.

Everton should match this asking price as he would be a steal…even for £30m.

Everton’s Ross Barkley has not produced many goals or assists this season and while he works hard, he is not a natural play-maker like Sigurdsson.

Sigurdsson joined Swansea from Spurs for only £6.8m in 2014. He’s gone on to become the most important player for the Swans by contributing to more than half of Swansea’s goals this season.

He is, in my opinion, one of the most talented free kick takers and passers of the ball. His vision of the game to spot spaces to pass the ball through parallels the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Mesut Ozil.

He still has three years on his contract at Swansea though and if the Swans do avoid relegation then it would be hard to prise the clubs most valuable asset away.

If you doubt his free kick taking abilities just watch Swansea’s goal against Chelsea where Sigurdsson put an inch-perfect ball into Fernando Llorente from essentially the half-way line.

He makes an average of 2.2 key passes per game (as per Whoscored) and 2.2 crosses per game. But most of his goals and assists come from free kicks. The man is probably the best free kick taker in the Premier League.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has persisted in selecting Ross Barkley as there isn’t a lot of other options. He did drop Barkley earlier on in the season for a spell due to his lack of contribution in front of goal.

While Barkley is only 23-years-old and he still has potential but if Everton want to push for a Champions League spot next season then they need a quality passer to find striker Romelu Lukaku (assuming he stays). If Lukaku does leave, then it’s even more important that Everton sign Sigurddson.

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Barkley has produced four goals and made seven assists. which isn’t a bad return but with a striker like Lukaku in the team, the play making midfielder should really be getting more assists. Imagine if Sigurdsson were to join Everton with his immaculate crossing ability and his free kicks to find Lukaku in the air.

Sigurdsson is used to supplying passes to Fernando Llorente who’s an aerial threat so the signing makes sense.  If he joins Everton he would likely find it even easier to find Lukaku who is a top striker.

Sigurdsson would improve any team in the Premier League and it’s a surprise really that there haven’t really been many transfer rumors about him until now.

The 27-year-old joined Swansea on loan from Hoffenheim in 2012.

He then joined Tottenham for £8m but failed to make an impact and returned to Swansea on a permanent deal in 2014.

However, I have no doubt that Everton and manager Ronald Koeman would get the best out of him considering his scintillating form this season for Swansea.

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What this move would mean for Ross Barkley is unclear but it is clear that Koeman doesn’t rate the 23-year-old and he may be moved on in the summer.
Perhaps, even,  a swap deal could be involved with Barkley going to Swansea to play under English manager Paul Clement.