Our hopes to see the back of Kevin Mirallas on more than a loan deal may need some backing by the club, as the Belgian has told Tuttosport, via Sport Witness, that he is ready to plead with the Toffees to sanction his exit.
The winger is on a loan to buy deal with Fiorentina, but has so far not done enough to convince the Serie A side to trigger the clause, said to be set at £7million.
La Viola are not disappointed with the 31-year-old’s efforts overall, but are not thrilled with them either, leaving Mirallas facing a final run of the season with his future at the club very much on the line – a decision will be made by May 26.
If he is unable to put together a convincing enough case in the minimum eleven games remaining in Italy – including the Coppa Italia – then we will likely see the 60-cap former international return to Merseyside unless the board agree to meet his potential demands.
In his interview with Tuttosport, Mirallas was asked whether or not he would be willing to ask Marcel Brands to lower the price tag on his head in order to secure a permanent move to the Artemio Franchi Stadium, to which he said: “Why not! We’ll see. Either way, I’m calm about it all.”
Mirallas, who scored 38 goals in 186 Everton appearances before leaving on loan, also added: “I hope my future will be with Fiorentina. I feel good here and I would like to stay.
“I like this club, this group and manager. I like the fans, who are always supporting and never give off negative pressures. I like Florence where I’m happy with my family. There’s still two months left until the end of the season after which we’ll talk.”
If we were to lower our price tag for the Standard Liege and LOSC Lille product to his TransferMarkt valuation, we would still be set to bank £5.85million, while taking his £70,000 a week contract off the books once and for all.