Everton midfielder Kevin Mirallas has hit out at the club for becoming more like a “business” rather than remaining as a family club, according to a report on the Liverpool Echo.
Mirallas is currently on loan from the Toffees to Serie A club Fiorentina as he looks to get his career back on track.
The winger has spent nine years with the Merseyside club and he claims that it was like a family when he first joined and that when he was about to leave, it felt as if they were merely a business.
When speaking to Foot Magazine, he said:
During Ronald Koeman’s first year, I wasn’t sure whether to renew my contract. Seeing my son happy at school, my wife’s joy and knowing how good I felt at the club eventually led me to sign for an extra three years.
The club had warned us, using Ross Barkley as an example, they’d sign new players only if we didn’t sign new contracts. Ross didn’t, I did. In the end, they signed Klaassen to replace him, then two weeks later Gylfi Sigurdsson, another number 10, and then 3-4 wingers.
We all looked at each other confused. The priority was to replace Romelu Lukaku, but that didn’t happen. The manager bought, bought and bought and we had six catastrophic months. They’re small details, but when I arrived, the club felt like a family. When I left, I felt like it became a business where they bought without really knowing what they were doing.
I took a lot on the chin without realising. I could have easily turned down the new deal and earned more money elsewhere, but I didn’t want to leave Everton like a thief after all they’d given me.
The winger was a fan favourite at Goodison Park but was told that he is not part of Marco Silva’s plans at the club this season, which is why he made the loan move to Italy.
