UK Edition
Gylfi Sigurdsson joins Everton in £45m deal
Everton have signed Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea for a club-record fee, further strengthening the team's attacking options to compensate for the departure of striker Romelu Lukaku.
One of the Premier League's most drawn-out transfers this summer was completed on Wednesday, with the 27-year-old Sigurdsson signing a five-year deal for a transfer fee that Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed to be £45 million pounds.
Everton did not reveal the transfer details, saying only that it was a club record. Their previous highest fee was £31.8m, spent on Lukaku in 2014.
"Hopefully I will continue to create goals and score goals for the team and contribute to the kind of success we're seeking at the club," Sigurdsson told Everton's website.
"This is an ambitious club and it is clear we are moving in a really good direction. The most important thing is that this team keeps winning games and climbing the table - and does that throughout the season."
Sigurdsson said the prospect of working with Everton boss Ronald Koeman was one of the main reasons for switching to Goodison Park.
"He was a great player, one of the top players of his time," Sigurdsson added.
"Now he is a really good manager and his vision for Everton is clear. He has built up a really good squad here, with strong players, both young and experienced.
"This was a key factor for me. Ultimately, that is a dream of mine and everyone at this club. I know the supporters and players would agree with that."
Wayne Rooney, Sandro Ramirez and Davy Klaassen are other attacking players to have joined Everton since the end of last season, as part of an outlay of around £135m on new players. The club recouped £75m in selling Lukaku to Manchester United.
"We lost with Lukaku 25 goals and we need more players than one to get that number of goals," Everton manager Ronaldo Koeman said. "He (Sigurdsson) is that type of player. He knows the Premier League. He had really good seasons in Swansea, and he is in my opinion in his position one of the best in the Premier League."
Koeman said Sigurdsson could feature for Everton in the game at Manchester City on Monday.
Since 2012, when he first moved to the Premier League, no player has scored more goals from direct free kicks than Sigurdsson (seven). He scored nine Premier League goals, and set up 13 more, for Swansea last season and scored a total of 30 in three seasons since returning to the Welsh club in 2014.
He was on loan at Swansea for the second half of the 2011-12 season before playing for Tottenham from 2012-14.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and defender Michael Keane have also moved to Everton this summer as the club looks to improve on its seventh-place finish last season.