Aiden McGeady has spoken about his departure from Everton in the summer of 2017 saying: "They wanted me gone".
The Blues sold the winger to Sunderland for a small fee as Ronald Koeman looked to make space in the squad for new arrivals.
McGeady, speaking to the Sunderland Echo, says he was close to signing for Preston North End after a successful season on loan at Deepdale and Peter Ridsdale, a club advisor, had talked to Everton about cutting a deal.
The Blues, McGeady said, were happy to negotiate and sell a player who had 12 months left on his contract.
"With Everton I had one year left on my contract and I think Everton wanted not a massive amount of money but they wanted me gone," he told the Echo.
"I think Peter Risdale went to Everton, quite early on in the window, quite early on in the summer, before the end of the season and he was like “look, we want to take him” and things like that.
"I was like “listen, I will 100% sign here”, even if a better offer came in on more money, it didn’t really bother me.
"I didn’t want to lose what I had at Preston but ultimately, financially, I don’t think Preston could do it."
