Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has pulled out of the club’s pre-season tour of the United States amid transfer speculation.
The player has been heavily linked with Everton and Leicester City, and both clubs have reportedly had a £40m bid turned down by Swansea, who are holding out for £50m.
Swansea confirmed that Sigurdsson won’t be joining the rest of the squad on the pre-season tour, admitting that he “did not feel in the right frame of mind” to travel.
The details
Reports on Thursday morning claim that Sigurdsson told the club that he wouldn’t jet off to America early in the morning, and will head back to South Wales for talks with Huw Jenkins, Swansea chairman.
Several outlets have now claimed that Swansea have rejected a £40m bid from Everton, are holding out for £50m but suspect that the two will meet in the middle.
This news comes a few days after news broke that Swansea had also turned down a £40m bid from Leicester.
While it’s also rumoured that Sigurdsson has said his goodbyes to his current teammates.
Sigurdsson did play in Wednesday’s pre-season loss against Barnet, and even captained the side in the second half, as he has done before in the Premier League.
The manager’s comments
Swansea manager Paul Clement previously said: "I've made it very clear I want him to stay here. The fans want that, the owners would like that but, ultimately, there's a business side to football as well.
"We had that situation with Jack Cork.” Clement claimed. “In the summer there was no thought of moving Jack on but it got to a point when another club came in with a really good offer.”
He went on to say: "That might end up being the case with Gylfi. We don't know yet."
While Swansea’s chairman has previously said that the club will try to keep hold of its prized assets, the general census is that Sigurdsson will complete a move to Everton once the clubs agree on a fee.