Utility player keen to try out a new league next season.
Everton midfield player John Heitinga wants to quit the Merseyside giants and join Turkish outfit Fenerbahce when the transfer window opens later this summer, according to reports in the Sun.
The experienced Netherlands international has been at Goodison Park since 2009, having signed for the Toffees from Atletico de Madrid for £6.2 million on a five-year deal in September of that year.
And in the intervening four-year period, the midfield player cum defender has become a firm favourite with the Everton fans, who even voted Heitinga as their player of the year in 2012.
However, last season was a disappointing one for the player as he spent large parts of the campaign warming the substitutes’ bench, although the 29-year-old did still manage to feature in 26 Premier League matches for the club, and in 30 contests overall in all competitions, managing to score one goal in the process.
And now Heitinga says that he wants to try a new challenge in his career by move to Istanbul: “I’ve had my worst season since I joined.
“I don’t want to extend my contract because it would mean they’d be my final club outside Holland.
“I have played in Spain and England, so maybe it’s time for somewhere else.
“If Fenerbahce come in again, they’re an option.
“I was close to joining them last summer.
“Everton seemed ready to let me go — but then the chairman told me ‘you’re staying’.
“I had been voted player of the season but David Moyes left me on the bench.”
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