THIS IS MY TIME

Better-than-ever Sigurdsson ready for his latest shot at the big time

GYLFI SIGURDSSON is back for another shot at the big time – insisting he is far better equipped to reach the top now.

Everton’s £45million record signing breezed into their Finch Farm training ground yesterday with the message that he has no regrets about the way he left Swansea, given the real chance of glory he has with the Blues.

But there have been question marks raised over whether the Iceland midfielder is up to the task at a bigger club, after he struggled with high-profile moves to first Hoffenheim and then Tottenham earlier in his career.

The 27-year-old, though, is adamant that he is a different player to the young kid who failed to make the grade at Spurs, and he said: “What was I? 20, 21 maybe, so I’m far from being the same player now that I was back then.

“Maybe it was a combination of me not being ready then, and not getting a real opportunity – but I really did enjoy my time at Tottenham. It was a fantastic experience.

“Of course, I could have probably stayed on, but I wanted the chance to go back to Swansea and play football again. I wanted to use my time as a professional, because your career is really short. I wanted to go out and play every week and that worked out really well.”

Sigurdsson has applied the same mentality that took him back to Swansea to his tough decision to leave Paul Clement’s club once more.

He has suffered a summer of wrangling to get out of the Liberty Stadium, and there were times when he feared his dream move to Goodison Park would collapse around him.

But he knows he has given everything to the Swans and now with his career on an upward curve, Sigurdsson needs to give himself the chance to join Everton’s crusade to close the gap on the summit of English football.

Sigurdsson added: “I think I’ve got to be honest, of course there were some times and some days when you thought this eventually might not go through.

“It was difficult mentally to get this over the line. It was a difficult step as I had a close relationship not just with the team but with the manager at Swansea. I really respect him.

“But there was no doubt in my mind. Everton want to go places. They have spent a lot on players and the club will improve over the next few years, and I want to be part of that, because I still want to advance as a player.”

There was some fierce criticism when it was claimed by Swansea that Sigurdsson refused to go on a pre-season tour of the USA with the move in the balance, but he insisted he did nothing wrong.

He said: “We all just thought it was that close to being done.

“I think both clubs, myself and the manager and the team decided for me to stay back.

“I think the clubs were really close to agreeing something, so there was maybe no point in flying out there to the States just to fly back the day after.

“But then that was kind of the story of the summer. They were getting close – and then nothing happened.”