Toffees land their No. 1 target in $79m Sigurdsson

Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson will be signing for Everton in what will be a club-record $79 million deal. He has been the Toffees' primary target in the summer, with Ronald Koeman keen to make him the fulcrum of their attack.
Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson will be signing for Everton in what will be a club-record $79 million deal. He has been the Toffees' primary target in the summer, with Ronald Koeman keen to make him the fulcrum of their attack. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON • Everton have reached an agreement with Swansea City to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson, who will move to Goodison Park for a club-record fee of £45 million (S$79 million).

At a press conference yesterday, manager Ronald Koeman confirmed that the Iceland midfielder had passed his medical.

The breakthrough will come as a relief to both English Premier League football clubs after protracted talks and negotiations that have lasted for more than a month.

Swansea had rejected several offers from Everton, with the Welsh club valuing the 27-year-old at £50 million, but a compromise was eventually reached on Tuesday for a player who was directly involved in 22 league goals last season.

Sigurdsson will become Everton's 10th signing of the summer and the most expensive buy in the club's history, topping the £30 million deal for goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from Sunderland in June.

Farhad Moshiri, Everton's majority shareholder, has spent more than £90 million on new players in the transfer window.

Michael Keane, Wayne Rooney, Davy Klaassen, Pickford, Sandro Ramirez, Nathangelo Markelo, Henry Onyekuru, Josh Bowler and Lewis Gibson have been added to Koeman's squad to mount a challenge for a place in next season's Champions League.

The club's recruitment drive has been part-funded by the sale of Romelu Lukaku, the Belgium striker, who joined Manchester United in a deal worth up to £90 million last month.

Ross Barkley's exit from Goodison Park is likely to hasten after Sigurdsson's arrival. Tottenham are keen on signing the midfielder, who is refusing to sign a contract extension, which end in 12 months.

Swansea will now press ahead with reinvesting the Sigurdsson money by making a couple of signings of their own, starting with Wilfried Bony, who is expected to rejoin from Manchester City.

The Ivorian striker had a hugely successful spell at Swansea before moving to City and a deal in principle is believed to be in place to bring him back.

Nacer Chadli has also been targeted as a direct replacement for Sigurdsson, with the Belgium international keen to leave West Brom after less than a year at the club.

Stoke's Joe Allen, another former player, is also of interest to Swansea.

THE GUARDIAN, THE TIMES, LONDON

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 17, 2017, with the headline Toffees land their No. 1 target in $79m Sigurdsson. Subscribe