Everton considering new contract for ageing lynchpin

Despite being the direct object of the ire of many an Everton fan pretty much since the day he signed for the Blues, it appears Gylfi Sigurðsson is in line for a new contract that will keep him well past the 2022 date when his current deal expires.

If the Daily Mail is to be believed, the club is looking to extend the 31-year-old's current deal which expires at the end of next season after he has impressed in a couple of games recently during Everton's four-game winning streak.

The record signing at £40m from Swansea City in the summer of 2017 has often flattered to deceive, but has mostly been flat-out too slow for the game since his arrival at the Blues, almost as if that giant transfer fee has been a giant millstone around his neck weighing him down since he became a Toffee.

One of the #10s signed during that free-spending summer of the Ronald Koeman era, Sigurdsson had made 131 appearances in all competitions for the Blues since then, scoring 26 times and picking up 19 assists.

Desperate for midfielders after an injury crisis last season, Carlo Ancelotti relied on the Icelander to play a number of midfield roles last season, and has used him again this season in similar ways.

Considering Director of Football Marcel Brands is looking to lower both the average age and wage bill of the Everton squad, this news makes little sense. Sigurdsson is reportedly one of the highest paid players in the team at £100,000 per week, and will be 33 at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, a new deal, especially now, seems to make little sense.

Sigurdsson has made 19 appearances already this season, scoring three times with four assists, as Ancelotti has rotated him in various midfield positions in the 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 formations. However, it's his dead-ball delivery that has always been his biggest draw and that doesn't seem to have changed in his time at Everton.

His defensive workrate is good, especially when pressing high up the pitch alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but in games where Everton have controlled possession and he has been expected to direct affairs on the pitch, he's been as ineffective as most of his teammates in terms of making runs and finding passes to unlock packed defences.

We'll likely understand more about the club's overall transfer direction as this January transfer window progresses, but for now this does seem like odd news indeed.