Idrissa Gueye has left Everton following the conclusion of his contract after talks over a new deal ended without agreement.

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, the 36-year-old Senegal international is likely to take a more lucrative offer elsewhere.

The Athletic revealed in May that the former Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder had not made the requisite number of Premier League starts, 28, to trigger a club option for an additional 12 months.

Talks over an extension were put on standby during this summer’s World Cup but resumed following Senegal’s elimination in the round of 32.

Gueye made 236 appearances for Everton across two stints, including 25 last season. He has been a big part of the side since returning from PSG in the summer of 2022, helping them stave off relegation and push into mid-table.

Everton are exploring alternatives, with the purchase of a new central midfielder considered likely. Hayden Hackney has already joined from Middlesbrough for an initial £16.5million plus bonuses earlier in the window, while Merlin Rohl’s obligation to buy — worth around £17m — has also been triggered.

The focus is expected to be on a physically robust player who can complement their existing options. Right-back remains another priority, with club captain Seamus Coleman having left as a free agent and Nathan Patterson attracting interest from a host of European clubs.

Everton, who start the season at home to Crystal Palace on August 22, face Bolton Wanderers at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Saturday and Stoke City on Tuesday evening.

What does this mean for Everton?

It will be intriguing to see how Everton move on from Gueye.

They struggled to cope without him after his 2019 move to PSG, lurching from one ill-fitting solution to the next, and ended up having to bring him back three years later to help save them from relegation.

Gueye was a standout in the 2024-25 campaign, winning the club’s player of the season, and remained a mainstay of manager David Moyes’ midfield last time out.

There has long been a sense, though, that Gueye’s influence was starting to diminish. He showed more signs of wear last season than in previous campaigns, while he was also notably sent off for slapping team-mate Michael Keane against Manchester United last November. He will be 37 in September.

Everton were open to retaining the Senegalese on the right terms but were relaxed about his situation. Had he remained, it would almost certainly have been in a reduced role. The sense at various points this summer, as previously outlined by The Athletic, was that a deal was unlikely to be reached; that a compromise that suited all parties would prove too tricky. To the surprise of very few at the Merseyside club, that has proven to be the case.

Everton are now exploring the market for a defensive-minded replacement, ideally one who can compete physically and complement the likes of James Garner and new signing Hackney. With Gueye’s wages of around £100,000 a week already off the books, there is a belief that they can strengthen the squad in this area and push forward.

Should they succeed in signing a more dominant midfielder, that may also change the calculus elsewhere. Moyes’ preference up to now has been for a taller, aerially dominant right-back, in part due to perceived deficiencies in other parts of the pitch like midfield. A new, robust central midfielder, though, may now allow them to pursue a different kind of profile on the right side, opening more options in another position of real need.