As well as decent signings, I hope the board gives massive pay-rises to the likes of Alli, Kane, Erikson, Dier, Alderwiereld, etc. Especially Alli and Kane. There is little point in having arguably the two most expensive players in the World if we are going to pay them a quarter of what they could earn at the best clubs in the World.
Me too. But looking at it from everton's point of view, if we demand top dollar for our outgoings, it's no wonder huge prices are placed on our targets when they know we've got the money, and would subsequently demand it when it's the other way round, as we've just witnessed with Walker. We can't expect to get bargain prices when we ask for the opposite. I think our transfers will be a long drawn out process as a result.
Everton slapped a £50m price tag on Mr Average long before City even began talks with Walker. The longer we held out without blinking, the likelier it became that they would panic and lower their asking price. Now that they know we have money in the piggy bank, that is far less likely to happen and I can now see the Barkley saga going one of two ways: 1) we sign him on deadline day for a reduced price 2) we meet the asking price Both scenarios are insane and typical of us shooting ourselves in both feet every single summer.
Barkley has been average last year and I think only has a year left on his contract. I would be astonished if Levy spunked the same fee Walker went for - the best player in his position in the league on a long term contract - on Barkley, especially considering he plays in the position we are probably best stocked in.
I'm by no means Barkley's biggest fan but he probably had his most productive season last year, got a good number of assists and laid on loads more chances. Ever since his debut he's pretty much stagnated but on last season's showing he may (and I highlight the use of 'may') be finally beginning to realise his potential. If we can get him for £30m or less (which let's face it, is the going rate for a half decent player now) and Poch can work his magic like he has on many other English lads then he could turn out to be a really good buy, especially with the concerns over Dembele's fitness issues. FWIW Seri would be my preferred choice, though I don't think we have a chance of getting him.
When you consider all of the transfer window possibilities for a club like us, it's really bloody hard to get it right. We cannot pay top fees or wages. Some realistic targets (prem or abroad) have massively over inflated fees - especially the English ones Players from foreign leagues within our reach in terms of Fee and wages are certainly not the top "proven" ones, and therefore carry some risk as to whether they'll meet expectations. Players from lower leagues like Dele are very very rare. Having faith in academy players is great, but is risky if it doesn't work out. With the club knowing it's position regarding transfers, and having months and months to plan how it'll achieve getting its targets, it does baffle me how the summer always seems to chaotic and we often play deadline day poker. I may well be wrong, but it comes across like there's never a concrete plan for incomings, but our outgoings seem much more slick in comparison.
I agree. I think £25-30m is perfectly reasonable in the current market. He's not set the world alight, but there's a player in there and he's English. And as you say £30m is the average going rate these days. However, he wouldn't be a player I would choose and we need to be looking at other positions first IMO. Personally I think we need some pace and dynamic skill in the squad, as a priority.
Word on the street is that we were priced out of a move for Lemar weeks ago and, without any alternatives that have caught our fancy, N'koudou will be given another season running the club's social media accounts. Adding Itchy would at least introduce some pace into our group of attacking players. My personal feeling this window is: Pereira, Itchy, Barkley IN Walker, Njie, Sissoko, Bentaleb OUT If that happens, I'll be relatively happy with our business. But it won't.
Possibly the worst kept secret in Ligue 1, which is why it's so baffling that it took so long to confirm. Depending on who you ask, Juan Foyth is either... * On the verge of signing * Has pulled out of a move * Never entered into negotiations in the first place In a break from being linked to every Portuguese right back, we're now being linked with Hertha Berlin right back Mitchell Weiser - who appears to be 23% teeth please log in to view this image And in more news, I can guarantee we won't be hearing about Cengiz Under for at least another nine months...
Where's the Iheanacho rumours? I've literally seen nothing other than fans demanding he be included in the Walker deal. I don't see that happening at all. Giving N'koudou another season makes sense, he barely had a chance. Even with that in mind, I still think we need to add more in terms of pace and skill. We needed more speed in our squad, and that was before losing Walker.
Sky now saying that the deal for Foyth is close. http://www.skysports.com/transfer/n...ose-in-on-young-argentina-defender-juan-foyth
A number of tabloids were running with a 'Spurs hijack Ineahacho move' towards the end of last week when it became apparent that A) Walker was moving to City B) Someone woke up and realised that, over a week after supposedly agreeing a transfer, the lad still wasn't a Leicester player. These are two of the more logical dots to join I've seen, and would love it to be true.
Manchester City are stepping up their efforts to sign Monaco left-back Benjamin Mendy, 22, for £50m after Tottenham told them they could not have Danny Rose, 27. (Sunday Express) Isn't Rose still injured?
There's been rumours that the walker deal took longer than expected because we were trying to include one of their star youngsters as part of the deal, but it never came to fruition. If that's the case, I imagine that ineahacho isn't of interest to us, or perhaps they'd have sweetened the deal slightly offering him in return.
So the weird part is that the same tabloids were insistent that City weren't interested in a player + cash deal. The most they were willing to offer us was first refusal on Itchy. No idea why. Still doesn't explain why he still isn't a Leicester player. You have to admit that is a bit strange.
I read somewhere that he's basically already a Leicester player, but there's some argument with his previous agent. It hasn't been made official yet because that needs to be sorted out first. No idea if it's true, of course.
That's the one. I reckon we'll see movement this week. We're always shipping out before we see incomings. We'be got pretty good at getting rid of dead wood recently, and in a timely fashion. Hopefully in this window we can act as fast to secure the players we want for next season. I can't bear the Jim White deadline day ****fest.
Clinton N'Jie's gone to Marseille. The clear out continues. So this means either: a) a major marquee signing is coming soon b) the stadium piggy bank is filling up nicely Guess which one I think is most likely!
