10 dumbest signings of the summer

Gylfi Sigurdsson – Everton

Gylfi Sigurdsson is a good player. He’s a danger to score or assist on all set-pieces and can hit a long range shot with the best in the Premier League. He’s also not worth £45 million, even in this bloated market.

Sigurdsson is absurdly the most expensive midfielder of the 2017 transfer window. His fee is  resoundingly higher than better players like Nemanja Matic, Hakan Calhanoglu and Blaise Matuidi and more promising talents such as Youri Tielemans, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Corentin Tolisso. Only in the Premier League could an above average 27-year-old midfielder from a relegation fodder side who failed at a big club in the past cost £45 million.

There’s also the key question of where he fits in the side. Obviously, for the amount of money he cost, he will be starting most matches for Everton. But the Toffees also bought central midfielder Davy Klaassen over the summer for £24 million. They both play the same attacking midfield position, and in the 3-4-2-1 system Ronald Koeman primarily uses, with Wayne Rooney back in the side, at least one of the three new signings will be sitting on the bench. Unless, of course, Rooney is used as a center forward, which hasn’t worked well in the past few years. Who knows where Ross Barkley fits anymore?

Swansea and Everton play similar styles of soccer, so his fit in Koeman’s system shouldn’t be a problem. But Sigurdsson will have to have a season as good or better than his last with the Swans where he recorded nine goals and 13 assists. With the attacking talent Everton have in the side, it’s unlikely. The money certainly would have been better spent on a true striker, which the Toffees desperately need after the big Romelu Lukaku move.