The International Return of Gylfi Sigurdsson

Just another one of those completely unbelievable stories if they were fiction, but seem just part of the incredible burden our club has had to bear... even if this one remains mostly unspoken and now, with this strange Atheltic article you linked, brushed quietly under the carpet.

"His absence from the Everton line-up for the year before his contract expired in 2022… has never been publicly explained." Well... yes and no.

Based on the mitigation requested in the first PSR independent commission, "the FA suspended Player X from all football activity, making it impossible for him to perform his contractual duties."

Furthermore, "On 23 August 2021, Everton dismissed Player X. Everton sought advice on the possibility of suing Player X for breach of contract but elected not to do so."

"Everton had dismissed Player X, leaving available to it (it asserted) a claim against that player for losses of £10 million. However, it decided not to pursue that claim on grounds associated with [concerns for] the player's welfare."

It's tempting to assume that the police must have made representations to the club and the FA that were so strong at the time, his continuing employment by the club could not be contemplated.

The inordinate length of the investigation, and the incredible silence over what the case really involved, will be forever a question of intrigue.

So, if I’ve got this right, the FA made our asset useless, as we couldn’t play him, then used our £45 million loss on him to penalise us with PSR.

If the club had a backbone instead of a fucking worm running the place, they'd have stood by him.

Innocent until proven guilty, although that doesn't quite fit these days, with trial by social media and the realms of conspiracy.

Same happened to Dave Jones at Southampton. Another screwing by the FA.

Michael, you're correct, the whole saga feels like an embarrassment now and brushing it under the carpet as you say, is an apt description.

Tainted goods, rightly or wrongly we may never know, but I would say this: he is together again with his wife and family, perhaps the biggest indicator of reality in this nightmare, for no woman I know would want to be associated with someone destroyed with allegations of this nature. As you rightly observe, intrigue, or embarrassment.

Trial by innuendo and social media is no substitute for truth but the undue haste of his castigated departure has left a stain on the whole situation as, after two years, his name is officially cleared… but it isn't is it? At least not by the jury of social media who condemned his name and left his reputation a bit of intrigue on yesterday's chip paper wrapping.

Christine, good to hear about Gylfi and the fact that he is playing again.Yes investigations are protracted regarding such allegations, two year minimum.Also the Club has a duty of care regarding their own Safeguarding policies and are governed by them.At the end of two year period a found innocent party normally walks away, thoroughly sick of what they have gone through.Never seeking redress.They also are beyond what people think of them, since such allegations are 'incredibly sticky', to quote a top Barrister I know, even after being found innocent.

Hope you are on the way to recovery regarding COVID.I found waiting for a clear result difficult, especially since I had to put my wife Noreen in a Holiday let when she came back from a holiday in Switzerland to find that I had got COVID while she was away.It was hard getting her out of the Holiday let and back home.