Jelavic details how he didn’t know he was being sold to Everton in 2012
Former Everton forward Nikica Jelavic has spoken of how he was sold by Rangers without his knowledge when he moved to Goodison Park.
The Croatian joined the Toffees in 2012 after being surprisingly sold by the Gers on transfer deadline day.
Speaking to The Athletic, Jelavic also spoke about how he was surprised that he was only sold for £5 million as he thought his former side would ‘get a few million more’.
He said, “They just told me they accepted the offer from Everton. I don’t even remember who it was.
“To be honest I was surprised, as I thought they would at least get a few million more. I always wanted to play in the Premier League so it was a good opportunity for me and I don’t regret it, but it was a very low amount for the club so I don’t know why they accepted that amount.
“Once I was there, it (their financial woes) was all over the TV and in every newspaper. It was terrible for such a big club to have these problems.”
Jelavic enjoyed a relatively successful spell at Goodison Park, scoring 16 goals in 59 competitive games for the Toffees. He scored nine of those goals in his first 13 Premier League matches as it looked like Everton had pulled off a huge transfer coup.
But the goals didn’t come as regularly after that initial flurry and the Croatian found himself only scoring seven across the 37 top-flight appearances he made the following season.
He was sold to Hull City two years after he joined Everton where he had a similar goalscoring record, before joining West Ham where he only scored one competitive goal. He has spent the last few years in China playing for various clubs and now finds himself playing for NK Lokomotiva in his native Croatia.
In other Everton news, Joleon Lescott has claimed that David Moyes turned down the chance to sign a young Gareth Bale at Everton.