OPINION
Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s time at the club hasn’t gone well ever since he arrived and it continues to look like he is the odd piece in the puzzle for Marco Silva.
The 6ft 1in tall 29-year-old (Source: Transfermarkt) didn’t start against Manchester City on Wednesday and even though the Toffees lost 2-0, they looked an improved side without him on the pitch as they looked a more well-oiled machine.
Sigurdsson did get on the pitch to feature briefly for the Toffees against Man City, but it’s arguably that he made the same impact on the pitch as he did sat on the bench, as the game just kind of passed him by.
The only difference the attacking midfielder seem to make to Everton when featuring against Man City, was that his arrival into the game caused Tom Davies’ outstanding performance to dip slightly.
It’s been a similar case all season for Sigurdsson by many accounts as it’s a real struggle to remember any of the 29 appearances where you were truly convinced by his talents throughout a whole game.
While the midfielder has contributed 10 goals, that doesn’t mean he is needed at Goodison Park anymore as more often than not he is anonymous in games and his form seems to have a knock-on effect on others.
When you consider that Sigurdsson earns £120,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), which puts him among the highest earners at the club, surely he is heading for the exit door in the summer and should have his bags ready as that situation isn’t likely to change unless there is a dramatic turnaround in his form.
The Toffees will continue to look to improve by bringing in players in the summer and getting Sigurdsson’s chunky wage off the books, considering he doesn’t look worth that high salary, to help them do that seems likely.
This is especially the case as Silva no doubt noticed how his side looked a much more improved one without Sigurdsson on the pitch against Manchester City, and that implies the 29-year-old is set to for notable stint away from the manager’s starting line-ups.
So he’ll have no chance of turning his form around.