Steven Naismith to leave Everton for Norwich for £8.5M

In a press conference Friday manager Roberto Martinez said that Steven Naismith controlled his own future. The team has accepted a transfer bid from Norwich City, but not yet received one from Swansea as rumored earlier. The team has been waiting for Naismith to return to full fitness after a knock on his ankle, but the player is reportedly at Norwich today completing a medical.

It's been rumored the deal is still in the same £8.5 million range we saw during the summer when Norwich first bid on Naismith, but could go up to £10 million should Norwich stay up in the Premier League. If that is the case that is great business for Everton. A player signed on a free after the financial issues of his former club Glasgow Rangers in 2012 to later turn around and make at least £8 million on is a solid move.

The other interesting part is if this turns around and solidifies the suspected £21 million bid for Andriy Yarmolenko that Everton has not submitted according to Dynamo Kiev. It has been rumored today that Borussia Dortmund has already filed a €30 million bid for him. That is around £22 million and a chance to play in Europa League. Moving Naismith soon to proceed with a bid now is looking important.

Naismith was a solid contributor to Everton for the past three and a half seasons, but never seemed to fit into the roles he was given. His best run of play seemed to come in David Moyes 4-4-1-1 formation as a secondary striker, but even then he was never a must start and Marouane Fellaini was too dominant to not start at that time in that position.