CONFIRMED: Kevin Mirallas leaves Everton on a free transfer

Winger Kevin Mirallas has left Everton, joining Royal Antwerp in his native Belgium on a permanent basis.

Mirallas, 31, joined Everton from Olympiakos on August 2012 for £6 million, and scored 38 goals in 186 appearances for the Blues.

But since signing a surprise new contract at Goodison Park in May 2017, which would have expired next June, he has played only 15 times for the club; the last of which came the following December.

Mirallas returned to Olympiakos in the second half of the 2017-18 season on loan, but scored only twice in 16 games for the Greek club before Everton’s high asking price to buy him outright and his own lacklustre performances and disciplinary issues saw the deal terminated.

The Belgian was involved in a training ground argument with David Unsworth during the Under-23 manager’s temporary tenure in charge of the senior club which went a long way towards ruining any sort of goodwill he had with the fans.

Following the appointment of Marco Silva as Everton manager in May 2018, Mirallas was one of four players told by his new boss to stay away from first team training. He was again loaned out last season, this time to Fiorentina, where he netted just two strikes in 30 matches.

And despite again being involved in Everton’s pre-season programme this summer, Mirallas has yet to feature in a competitive match this term, and his departure will come as no great shock to Evertonians.

The soon-to-be 32-year-old leaves the Blues having featured in 186 games, with 36 goals, 34 assists and a general feeling of ‘what-could-have-been’.