Kevin Mirallas spent the last season on loan at Fiorentina from Everton.
As a part of the agreement between the two clubs, the Serie A side had an option to make the 32-year-old’s temporary stay permanent after the end of the last campaign.
However, Fiorentina decided against signing the Belgian on a permanent transfer, which forced him to return to Goodison Park.
The Toffees terminated his contract in August, which allowed him to join Antwerp on a free transfer in the summer.
During an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, the player revealed he made a decision to leave Everton and return to his homeland well before the summer. He also admitted to have rejected lucrative offers from elsewhere to return to Belgium.
“After fifteen years it was time to return. My wife and son in particular had a harder time with it. Every time changing schools and starting from scratch started to weigh, Juan always asked about his nephews,” he said.
“I had offers from Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar in the summer…. I have earned enough money. I already told my agent in March that I wanted to return to Belgium.”
Mirallas’ dream was to return to Standard Liège, but they couldn’t complete his deal. In the end, he decided to join Antwerp, despite having offers from Club Brugge and Anderlecht.
“If I could choose one club, it was Standard, yes. It could have been, but they immediately made it clear that Mpoku or Carcela had to leave first, and that didn’t happen,” Mirallas explained.
“Especially a pity for my family, which is full of Standard fans. I myself chose the club that contacted me first, in April-May. Luciano D’Onofrio absolutely wanted me. “
“We had an agreement for ten days – nobody knew that – but it took time to finalize everything with Everton. Of course, after that defeat to AZ, I could have cancelled everything. When I arrived at the club, they were very happy.”
“Club Brugge also contacted my agent, that’s right. He said to me: ‘They want to meet you tomorrow and show the new facilities’. But in the morning, it turned out that there was still no agreement with Everton – that was 8 million early – and that we had to wait until the clubs were out.”
“Vincent Kompany has called me several times. But it was also impossible for Anderlecht to pay that price. Finally, I waited until I could have my contract dissolved and signed as a free player at Antwerp.”
