Swansea City have hit back at Everton's pursuit over star man Gylfi Sigurdsson with club chiefs refusing to be bullied into letting go of the Iceland ace – and slapping a new £50m price tag on his head.

And despite suggestions that Sigurdsson has now indicated he would now be keen to join Ronald Koeman's side, it is understood Swansea are ready to make it known that they will not stand aside and allow a deal on the cheap having already knocked back one record bid from Leicester.

Everton are attempting to add the 27-year-old to their growing list of expensive summer recruits having long made obvious their eagerness to sign the No.10.

While no formal bid has been lodged, the Toffees are trying to turn Sigurdsson's head with their interest – but are unwilling to match Swansea's valuation of their twice-running player of the year.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

It is thought the club have already rejected a £40m-plus offer from former champions Leicester, another club who have had long-term interest in Sigurdsson.

And sources close to Swansea have made it clear that they are not prepared to undervalue a player whose worth to the side was made clear once again last term during his key role in the team's survival under Paul Clement.

While there was always an acceptance that a bid from a Champions League club could mean the club could struggle to say no to the player, they are not accepting what they see as being pushed around by a club who – despite their summer spending – finished seventh last term.

Indeed, Swansea's majority shareholders – Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien – are said to be comfortable in knocking back further bids despite those suggestions that Sigurdsson would be ready to join Wayne Rooney, Michael Keane, Sandro Ramirez, Davy Klaassen and Jordan Pickford in moving to Goodison so far this summer.

And it is thought they would be ready to wait until Everton offer as much as £50m – almost double the record fee received by Swansea for striker Wilfried Bony in 2015 – before taking seriously their efforts to lure Sigurdsson away.

Everton have been linked with a number of bids for Sigurdsson, with £20m-plus interest swatted away both last summer and in the January transfer window.

More recently, the Toffees have been linked with a deal worth around £30m for the 50-cap Euro 2016 star.

But club chiefs believe that is undervaluing a player who had both more goals and assists than current Everton stars Ross Barkley, Kevin Mirallas and Tom Davies. Swansea's stance has been further hardened with Everton reportedly valuing Tottenham-target Barkley at £50m.

And with Sigurdsson topping statistics for scoring from free-kicks – with his conversion rate the highest in the Premier League at 10%, well above next best Christian Eriksen – as well as being only behind Kevin de Bruyne and Eriksen in goals and assists last season, despite being in a relegation fight, Swansea believe they are well within their rights to hold their ground.

American businessman Kaplan made clear his intentions over fighting off interest in Sigurdsson at the end of last season, saying they understood the player's importance to the side and there was no appetite to sell.

And though there has been a growing resignation from supporters over a Sigurdsson exit this summer – now heightened with the player said to have made it known he would like to consider a move – Swansea are refusing to accept their fate unless the money involved starts matching what they see as a realistic value of one of the division's most creative players.