LONDON: Everton manager Ronald Koeman believes it won't be long before Swansea playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson is on his way to Goodison Park.
The Toffees have had two offers for Sigurdsson rejected, with Welsh club Swansea believed to be holding out for a fee of some 50 million pounds from their Premier League rivals.
Sigurdsson is set to miss Swansea's season-opening match away to Southampton as the impasse continues but Koeman said Thursday, "It's still close. That has not changed. I heard some rumours that talks had broken down but still we are in negotiations with Swansea. I heard the comments of Paul Clement, the manager of Swansea, and of course everybody would like to have news. That is better for us, better for them, but everybody knows the window is difficult. It is always a game between the buying club and the selling club but we are close and let's hope we get the agreement as soon as possible. We are not in a hurry but finally we hope to do the deal."
Earlier, Clement said, "We are at a critical stage of this situation and hope it's going to be resolved very quickly.
"The situation is our club have a valuation of the player, the other club have a valuation, and at the moment the two have to meet. The objective and the aim is that at some point the two clubs will meet. I think the way it's going I think there needs to be more than likely a compromise on both sides. That is very often how a deal is made."