CONFIRMED: Everton sell Idrissa Gueye to Paris St Germain

We write this with a heavy heart. One of the most talismanic Everton players of the last three seasons has decided to leave the club and we can only wish him all the very best.

Idrissa Gueye has joined Paris St. Germain for a transfer fee of about £28.7 million (€32m). The 29-year-old has often spoken about this being his dream move and allows him to take part in the Champions League after he signed a four-year deal with the French champions.

The Senegalese international leaves big boots to fill at Goodison Park, having demolished all sorts of records during his time here in his usual soft-spoken, wrecking-ball way.

Just last season alone his tackling stats were pivotal to Marco Silva’s gameplan of winning the ball high up the pitch and quickly transitioning into attack (via BBC) - no player in the Premier League attempted more tackles than Gueye last season, winning 89 of his 142 tackles (Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi also attempted 142 tackles and won 99, but he played five more league games). Gana also completed 75 interceptions in 33 Premier League games, the sixth-highest in the Premier League.

The only knock on Gueye has been his inability to drive the team in the attacking half of the pitch, but during the second half of last season he ramped that up as well, putting aside his disappointment after the Blues refused to sell him to PSG during the January transfer window.

In the end, this is a move that works for all parties involved - Gueye gets his dream transfer, PSG and manager Thomas Tuchel get the player they have been craving for a couple of years now, and Everton get to replace Gana with a younger player who should still have his best years ahead of him. Silva’s next task is going to be finding exactly who that will be.

We wish Gueye all the very best in his career, and thank him profusely for his service to Everton and giving us a lot of joy over the last three years. Good luck Gana!