Everton to give up on Sigurdsson? Toffees target La Liga ace instead
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Everton’s hopes of signing Gylfi Sigurdsson appear to be waning, with reports claiming the Toffees have started looking elsewhere.
The Goodison Park outfit are reluctant to match Sigurdsson’s wage demands, and time is running out to acquire the Iceland international from Swansea.
And according to Spanish outlet Marca, Toffees boss Ronald Koeman has moved on to Las Palmas ace Jonathan Vieira.
The 27-year-old is reportedly available due to a £26.5m release clause, and that’s what Everton are seeking to activate.
A versatile and creative midfielder, Vieira has become a star for the Gran Canaria outfit.
He produced seven goals and eight assists for his side in La Liga last year, figures not too dissimilar to Sigurdsson.
And things were just as impressive in 2015-16, with 10 goals and eight assists proving crucial to his side’s efforts.
Played largely on the left flank, the Spaniard is equally adept on the right or in the central attacking role behind the striker.
Las Palmas is Vieira’s hometown club, and he came through their youth ranks before making his senior bow in the 2010-11 campaign.
His performances in Liga 2 quickly alerted the attention of Spain’s heavyweights, and Valencia came calling with a £2m bid in 2012.
But things didn’t work out with Los Che, and after a loan spell with Rayo Vallecano left Valencia to join Standard Liege in Belgium in 2014.
Home was calling after just a few months however, and Vieira returned to Las Palmas and quickly picked up where he left of.
Indeed his mid-season arrival proved the catalyst for the Islanders’ promotion to La Liga, and five goals in the final seven games of the campaign propelled Las Palmas into the promotion play-offs, where they defeated Real Zaragoza to go up.
And his performances in the last two seasons (17 goals and 16 assists) show he’s more than held his own in the top-tier, scoring against both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Koeman is keen to offload Ross Barkley, and Vieira would appear a more than capable replacement now that things with Sigurdsson have gone quiet.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
