One report indicates Everton are preparing to make a move for the Swansea star
Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson
Everton have been linked with a £25 million move for Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Sigurdsson has been one of the first names on the team sheet at the Liberty Stadium ever since his return from Tottenham two years ago.
At the age of 26, his best years are still ahead of him and he can operate in a more orthodox central midfield position as well as off the front.
So, how does his performances for Swansea in the Premier League last season compare to other Everton midfielders who played a substantial amount of games last term.
| Position | Team | Passing Accuracy | Scoring V Shooting Accuracy | Big Chance Created | Total Scoring Att GAME | Goals | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James McCarthy | MF | Everton | 87% | 13% | 2 | 0.55 | 2 | 29 | 2,434 |
| Ross Barkley | MF | Everton | 86% | 8% | 10 | 2.5 | 8 | 38 | 3,085 |
| Tom Cleverley | MF | Everton | 83% | 8% | 4 | 1.09 | 2 | 22 | 1,613 |
| Kevin Mirallas | MF | Everton | 83% | 10% | 3 | 1.78 | 4 | 23 | 1,005 |
| Gareth Barry | MF | Everton | 82% | 0% | 3 | 0.45 | 0 | 33 | 2,835 |
| Aaron Lennon | MF | Everton | 81% | 28% | 1 | 0.72 | 5 | 25 | 1,539 |
| Gylfi Sigurdsson | MF | Swansea | 79% | 13% | 7 | 2.44 | 11 | 36 | 2,917 |
As you will recognise from the names in the table there are players that play in a deeper role and in wide areas. One thing that sticks out instantly is the number of goals as Sigurdsson is the only player that has managed to get into double figures last season – none of Everton’s midfielders managed that.
Statistically, across the board he is pretty close to Ross Barkley who can operate in a similar role but they probably offer a different dynamic to each other. Barkley created more big chances across the campaign than the Iceland international while their scoring attempts per game is pretty similar – with the statistics suggesting that Sigurdsson is the more clinical of those two players.
Ross Barkley – Everton
One interesting factor compared with the rest of the players is the passing accuracy of Sigurdsson is lower than the rest of Everton’s midfielders. When that is the case, it suggests that he may be a little more direct as a player.
With Everton towards the end of last season there was a lot of passing but sometimes they struggled to open sides up, and maybe that’s what Ronald Koeman wants – any fresh blood to be that bit more direct to open up sides. It might be what he wants from his existing players as well.
Ronald Koeman during the press conference
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