Swansea’s American owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien have confirmed that they “will not be bullied” into selling Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solkehol claimed on his official Twitter account on Thursday that the Swans had rejected a £40million bid from Everton for the 27-year-old attacking midfielder.
The Leicester Mercury has also reported that Swansea are looking to receive £50million for Sigurdsson, after Leicester also had a bid of £40million turned down by the stubborn Welsh side.
The increased speculation around Sigurdsson’s future at the Liberty Stadium has led to him staying at home while Paul Clement’s squad travel to the USA for a pre-season tour.
It has also sparked a response from Kaplan and Levien, who have released a joint statement on the matter where they have warned the ruthless Toffees about tapping up the player.
“At this time we have not received an offer from any club which represents a fair valuation of Gylfi given his importance to our club,” said the Swansea owners, as quoted by WalesOnline.
“As we have stated, we will not be bullied or forced into a decision until a club meets our valuation of the player, no matter whether they believe they have an agreement with the player. Any such agreement would obviously be in contravention of Premier League legislation.
“We have the ultimate respect for Gylfi as a person and a player and we are optimistic that he will reconsider his decision and join his teammates.”
Ronald Koeman hasn’t been afraid to make significant improvements to his Everton squad ahead of next season and has already broken the club’s transfer record this summer with the £30million purchase of Jordan Pickford from Sunderland.
Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramirez, Michael Keane and Wayne Rooney have also joined Pickford in penning deals at Goodison Park in recent months.