Everton New Boy Sigurdsson Reveals How Toffees Affinity Began 15 Years Before Club-Record Arrival

Gylfi Sigurdsson has revealed how he appeared in Everton Blue 15 years before his club-record £45m switch from Swansea City.

The Iceland international penned a five-year contract on Wednesday as he finally completed his protracted transfer to Goodison Park, and in the aftermath an image of Sigurdsson decked out in Everton clothes went viral on social media.

The image shows the 27-year-old - then just 12 years of age - standing beside the club's famous 'Dixie' Dean statue, and Sigurdsson explained to the club's official site how he came to be pictured alongside the Toffees' legendary striker following his move to the north west.

He said: “It’s been a long time and something I never would have dreamt of. I was here when I was about 12 years old. I was a ball boy for one of the Premier League games.

“I was here almost 15 years ago which is a long time but I’m back in blue now and I’m happy.

“All I remember about the game as a ball boy was that I chucked the ball to Paolo Di Canio and that’s something as a little kid that you remember for the rest of your life.

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“On the day, you had that feeling of being on the pitch for a Premier League game so it was definitely a dream come true.”

That match back in September 2001 proved to be a good omen for Sigurdsson and Everton as the Blues thrashed West Ham 5-0 - and likely made the attacking midfielder fall in love with the Toffees back then.

Sigurdsson was presented to the Goodison crowd ahead of Thursday's 2-0 Europa League play-off first leg tie against Hajduk Split, but is still some way off being 100% match fit after playing just one pre-season match for Swansea.

Toffees boss Ronald Koeman has, however, stated that he could allow Sigurdsson to play some part of Monday's Premier League clash against Manchester City - a game that the former Hoffenheim and Spurs star hopes to feature in.

He added: “It’s always a tough away ground to come to as a player so hopefully that will change now and become a good home ground for me as an Evertonian. Hopefully this season it will be a tough ground for other teams to come to.

“I can’t wait. It’s been a frustrating pre-season, a lot of training with no games so I can’t wait to get the first few sessions done and then get some game time.”