From The Athletic
Tuesday multiple sources confirmed the club’s interest in Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. Those sources said that United has had discussions with the player’s representatives about an eventual move to MLS. The Icelandic midfielder remains under contract at his current club through 2022.
One source said that Sigurdsson seems likely to play out the remainder of his contract with Everton, as his current deal is reportedly paying him in excess of $100,000 per week, making the soon-to-be 31-year-old one of the club’s highest paid players. It’s unlikely that his salary at D.C. United — or any other MLS club — would come close to that. That number, though, could also prove a motivating factor, an incentive for Everton to move him along.
Sigurdsson is already connected to United, albeit in a roundabout way — he made 131 appearances for Swansea City, a team part-owned by several members of D.C. United’s ownership group. The club has also remained in contact with representatives for Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, though signing the former German international anytime soon remains a relative longshot.
United has generally skewed younger in recent years, paying a club-record $5 million transfer fee for Peruvian international Edison Flores last year. There have been exceptions to that rule — most notably Wayne Rooney — but at this point, any older, higher-profile player the club would consider bringing on would have to be “a perfect fit,” a club source said on Tuesday.
