Everton to complete signing of Gylfi Sigurdsson soon

As we have mentioned previously about The Times football correspondent Paul Joyce, if there is anyone ‘in the know’ in the world of Everton football, it’s certainly him.

In a piece in the Sunday Times today, Joyce was writing about the arrival of Wayne Rooney at Goodison Park, and accompanied the piece with almost an afterthought about Gylfi Sigurdsson, who Everton have been chasing for a while now.

If The Mirror are to be believed (and we stress if), the Blues could be set to unveil both Rooney and Swansea City’s Sigurdsson in the same week.

While Everton fans have eagerly awaited the home-coming of former England skipper Rooney – a two-year deal should be confirmed over the next 24 hours – Koeman will land another significant target this week.

A deal is believed to have been struck at £30m with the Toffees prepared to offer the Icelandic international a £135,000-a-week contract to seal the deal.

Such a contract would make Sigurdsson Everton’s second highest paid player (behind Rooney), and the Icelandic international would become Everton’s seventh senior signing of the summer.

Ronald Koeman’s admiration of the player is well known, as is his desire for a creative midfielder to pair with Sandro Ramirez and potentially Olivier Giroud. How far negotiations are along is unclear - the Mirror are the only source we have here - but don’t be surprised if Walsh and Koeman get their man before the summer transfer window closes.

How Gylfi fits in the midfield is anyone’s guess, particularly given the presence of Davy Klaassen and (for now) Ross Barkley. That said, Sigurdsson is one of the Premier League’s most cerebral players, and would be yet another statement of intent out of USM Finch Farm.