Mirallas reveals he nearly left Everton

Everton winger Kevin Mirallas has revealed that he nearly left the club but says that the clubs mentality of keeping their best players has convinced him to stay.

Mirallas looked certain to leave the club after running down his contract but had a change of heart after hearing their intent to keep players like James McCarthy and John Stones

He also says that his wife is now happy that he has a new contract!

“When I saw the team keep their best player, I said this was a change in mentality,”

“It’s possible last season, or the season before, that Stones goes to Chelsea, McCarthy goes to Tottenham, and I go to another team.

“But now it’s changed.

“It’s a strong club and a strong team, and when you see the chairman signing new deals for players, you think this season is the season.”

When asked about his new deal, he added: “I’m very happy because the last six months were very difficult for me. The papers talked about my future.

“I know I spoke two or three times with papers in Belgium saying I didn’t know about my future.

“Now everything is good and fine, and I’m happy to have signed a new deal with this club.”

“After January when two teams wanted me, I talked with my manager and chairman and asked what I do now,” added Mirallas.

“He told me to wait for a new contract and I waited, but it was not coming and I was a little bit angry.

“Now after the pre-season I played hard and worked hard and had a good talk with the manager, he said it was a good opportunity to sign a new deal, and I’m happy. So is my wife!

“I received a lot of messages from the fans and it’s good.”

He said: “When you play a lot of games, you’re not in every starting 11.

“The team which played last week played very well.

“When you see Naismith come off the bench and score three goals, it’s a very good mentality for him and the rest of the group.

“It’s important we play the same type of game as we did last week, and we’ll have good results for this season.”

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