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Everton paid a club-record initial fee of around £40 million to prise Gylfi Sigurdsson away from Swansea City in August 2016. However, the attacking-midfielder’s first season on Merseyside did little to justify the 62-cap Iceland international’s hefty price tag.

The Toffee’s No. 10 was not terrible in his first campaign at Goodison Park, but rather merely functional. He suffered greatly from being consistently deployed out of position in order to accommodate the abundance of players in the Everton squad who operated in the same role as the 29-year-old. 

This time around, however, under new Everton boss Marco Silva, Sigurdsson has appeared unshackled and has been handed his favoured central berth. The results have been instant, emphatic and very positive. The upturn in Sigurdsson’s form so far this season is reflected in his stats when his numbers are compared with those he racked up last time around. 

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The obvious figures that immediately jump out are Sigurdsson’s goals and assists tallies. In 27 Premier League outings last season, Sigurdsson could only find the back of the net on four occasions and provided just three assists for his teammates. Already in the new campaign, Sigurdsson has four strikes to his name and an assist under his belt. Digging a little deeper into the data and it is clear that this early purple patch is down to more than good luck; Sigurdsson’s all round performances have improved across several key areas.

Now playing more centrally than he was before, Sigurdsson is finding himself on the ball in more dangerous areas than when he was shunted out to the flanks. This is reflected in the number of chances he is now carving out for his teammates. Last season, Sigurdsson produced 1.4 key passes per match on average. This time around, that figure has more than doubled, with the former Swansea man now producing 2.9 key passes per game.

When he is not setting up those around him, Sigurdsson has been taking a direct route to goal himself. So far during this campaign, he has been averaging 2.3 shots per game, whereas last season he was only mustering 1.4 efforts per match. This is the simple reason that Sigurdsson is scoring goals at a much faster rate this time around, as he is taking an extra 0.9 shots per 90 minutes. In fact, Everton’s playmaker is currently scoring 0.5 goals per match, in contrast to 0.1 last season – that’s an upswing of 0.4 goals per game.

Sigurdsson is currently playing with confidence and is constantly looking to make things happen when he gets on the ball. This attacking intent is encapsulated by the fact that the 6’1” man is now running with the ball and taking on his opponents with greater regularity than he was before. This season, he is averaging 1.1 dribbles per game, compared with 0.7 in the previous term. 

One of the few areas of Sigurdsson’s game in which he has been less proficient this season is in the air. His physical presence and stature make Sigurdsson a genuine threat with head. This season, he is only winning 0.3 areal duels per match though. Last season, Sigurdsson was coming out on top in 0.7 aerial duels per game. This drop off is partly due to his shift in position, but as his delightful headed goal against West Ham this season demonstrated, he can still be very effective when he endeavours to compete in the air.

What is certainly clear is that if Sigurdsson can keep up his current form throughout this season, then the £40 million that Everton paid to secure his service two years ago will belatedly have to be considered and excellent bit of business. 

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