• Swansea value midfielder at £50m and deal should be struck before next week • Wayne Rooney scores for Everton in first game since return to club

Everton are closing in on signing Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has returned to Wales after pulling out of Swansea City’s tour of the United States less than an hour before the players were due to leave their hotel in London on Thursday.

Sigurdsson’s decision took Swansea by surprise and has brought matters to a head, with Everton set to press ahead to try to complete a transfer in time for the midfielder to join them in the Netherlands next week.

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Swansea have rejected an offer in the region of £40m and value the Icelander at £50m but a compromise is expected to be reached now Sigurdsson has made it clear he wants to move to Goodison Park. “Gylfi did not feel in the right frame of mind to travel due to the uncertainty over his future,” Swansea said on Thursday morning on their Twitter feed.

Sigurdsson, 27, had played for Swansea on Wednesday night, in their friendly at Barnet, where he wore the captain’s armband in the second half of a 1-0 defeat against the League Two club. Paul Clement, the Swansea manager, spoke afterwards about Sigurdsson’s situation, explaining how he wanted the player to stay but highlighting how “there’s a business side to football as well”.

Although Swansea knew the speculation about Sigurdsson would not go away, the club expected their most influential player to travel with the squad. However, it is understood that at 8.30am, around 45 minutes before the team were due to head for the airport, Sigurdsson informed the club he did not wish to make the trip.

His actions have gone down badly with many Swansea supporters and also jar with Sigurdsson’s reputation for being a model professional but the situation is not entirely surprising and it would be naive to think it was all of his own doing.

The bottom line is that Everton have been tracking Sigurdsson for a long time and they were never going to be discouraged by Swansea’s £50m valuation. That is not to say Everton believe Sigurdsson is worth that sum – they had hoped that a deal could be struck for less than £40m – but are fiercely determined to do what it takes to sign a player directly involved in 22 Premier League goals last season.

From Swansea’s point of view, there is an acceptance it is now about getting the best possible deal and trying to use a sizeable chunk of the money to identify a replacement. The latter will be easier said than done given Sigurdsson’s immense contribution over the past few seasons.

Rooney scores on Everton return

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wayne Rooney scores for Everton against Gor Mahia in Tanzania on Thursday. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Wayne Rooney’s fairytale return to Everton continued as he marked his first appearance since rejoining with a goal.

The 31-year-old’s arcing 30-yard right-foot strike to beat the Gor Mahia goalkeeper in his top right corner had echoes of Rooney’s maiden goal for the club against Arsenal in 2002 – five days short of his 17th birthday.

Collecting the ball 40 yards out in the inside-left position he took one touch with his left foot and advanced the ball a few yards with his right before lashing home.

It marked the perfect way for Rooney, playing up front, to announce his return after 13 years at Manchester United.

Having put his side ahead in the 35th minute against Kenyan opponents in Tanzania in the club’s first pre-season friendly, he raised his arms to the sky in celebration. Jacques Tuyisenge equalised with a near-post header a couple of minutes later.

Rooney departed at half-time as Ronald Koeman made 11 changes, having given another new signing, Davy Klaassen, 45 minutes. Aaron Lennon made his first appearance since 11 February after receiving treatment for a stress-related illness.

Another new signing, Michael Keane, played in the second half after his arrival from Burnley. Kieran Dowell hit the crossbar before, nine minutes from time, scoring from 25 yards to secure a 2-1 Everton win. PA