Everton are facing an important transfer window under Carlo Ancelotti.
The legendary Italian manager has an opportunity to shape the Toffees squad to his will, and that may also depend on outgoings as well as incomings.
With that in mind, we’ve put together three reasons why experienced Iceland international Gylfi Sigurdsson should depart this summer…
He doesn’t suit 4-4-2
Ancelotti has preferred a 4-4-2 system – just like interim boss Duncan Ferguson did – and that puts a different onus on the central midfielders.
They need to be able to do a bit of everything and they certainly need to be able to protect their back four more capably than Sigurdsson can.
He’s a number ten who needs to have a team’s attack flow through him; an up and down role in a 4-4-2 system doesn’t suit him.
The best teams don’t have players floating around who don’t fit into their system and that’s the category Sigurdsson is in at Everton now.
High earner, wrong age
According to Spotrac, Sigurdsson earns £100,000 a week at Everton.
He’s now 30 and that’s a lot of money to be paying a player who doesn’t have too many years left at the top level.
Everton must switch their focus to younger, hungrier, more energetic players who can deliver Ancelotti’s ideas.
Sigurdsson’s high wages now represent a drain which could be better spent elsewhere, in a financial climate where Premier League sides cannot afford to be wasteful.
Not offering enough
At his best, Sigurdsson offered goals and assists aplenty. He was as good a playmaker as could be found outside the Premier League’s top six.
In 2019/20, he scored two goals and got three assists from 35 Premier League appearances, as per Transfermarkt.
That’s not good enough for a player in his position, and the stats don’t quantify the games he has struggled so badly to impact from midfield.
Matches seem to pass him by regularly, especially away from home, and Everton need far more in the centre of the park.
That’s why Ancelotti needs to find a buyer for Sigurdsson.
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