Linked-away £45m man wasn’t sure if Ancelotti was joking about new Everton position

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Everton playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson could leave this summer.

Everton playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson has told the club’s official website that he wasn’t sure if Carlo Ancelotti was joking about his new position.

The Toffees splashed a huge £45million to sign Sigurdsson from Swansea City, where he had been one of the Premier League’s top playmakers as a number 10.

The Icelandic ace was deployed on the left flank at times under Ronald Koeman, but since his exit, he has mostly been played as a number 10.

However, Ancelotti had different plans, switching to a 4-4-2 system which has sometimes seen Sigurdsson play as a central midfielder in a two.

Sigurdsson hasn’t exactly impressed this season, registering just one goal and two assists, and his time in central midfield hasn’t been too great.

The Sun even reported in January that Ancelotti is prepared to axe Sigurdsson this summer, though whether any other clubs are interested is another matter.

Now, Sigurdsson has admitted that he ‘didn’t know if he was joking’ when Ancelotti told him to play in central midfield, believing there were many things he had never really thought about before as a midfielder.

Sigurdsson added an important note, that he and Ancelotti have a ‘good relationship’, and he is happy playing for the Italian despite the rumours of a possible exit.

“I didn’t know if he was joking,” said Sigurdsson. “There are a lot of things I have to think about in games I’ve never thought about before; if we are attacking I have to sit back and make sure we are set up defensively if we lose the ball. The things I love are scoring goals and getting in the box, getting on the end of crosses and taking up positions where the ball might fall to you. It has always been my target to attack and score goals.”

“It took a couple of games to get used to something different but I have started to enjoy that position. If it had happened five or six years ago, I wouldn’t have been too happy. But as you mature and gain more experience it is a good challenge to play a new position and think about completely different things. Carlo is a very experienced and successful manager and we have a good relationship. It is nice to be in his team and if you are playing, you are happy,” he added.