Kevin Mirallas linked with loan move to Turkish giants

Kevin Mirallas has been in a full blown hissy fit for much of the last several weeks and it’s hard to figure out exactly why. He figured to be an important rotational piece for Ronald Koeman’s side, especially until Yannick Bolasie returns from injury, and yet he has decided that he needs to agitate for a move no matter the cost.

This has persisted despite the English transfer window coming to a close, with Mirallas wearing an Olympiakos badge on his shin guards as Belgium played Greece during the international break. In the latest twist, Turkish paper AmkSpor has announced that Fenerbahçe is in the running for the unsettled winger.

I’m not buying it, for several reasons. First of all, Everton has explicitly said they are only interested in Mirallas leaving on a permanent deal, and this is reported to be a loan with a fee of £1m. Such a deal would bring Everton virtually no benefit and only cost them a potential role player.

Second, Greece and Turkey have beef that’s over one thousand years old. This is not an exaggeration, if anything it’s underselling it. If you go to Greece or Turkey today you won’t have to travel far to find people bad-mouthing the other in the harshest of terms. So with Kevin so recently showing love for a Greek club, this is bound to rub some Turkish fans the wrong way.

Third, there’s really no negotiation to be had here. The valuation that Everton are going to place on Mirallas is close to Fenerbahçe’s transfer record, which, by the way, they haven’t come close to in about three years. The last two years in particular have been a negative net spend for the club, recent spending trends suggest they just do not have the funding right now for the kind of permanent move that Mirallas would represent, especially with the Turkish club out of Europe.

The most likely result here is that Kevin Mirallas stays at Everton and perks up his attitude so that Koeman will play him in a World Cup year. The player’s childish sulking isn’t going to get him what he wants, and he’ll actually have to act like a professional, which is just about the hardest thing we could actually ask him to do.