Everton January 2022 Transfer Thread

[JimmyK]

But nobody thinks that Wood was worth that, including the people who paid it for him. It was done with the not-so-subtle intention of damaging their biggest rivals for survival, and if you have seen the reports around that apparently Dyche is going apoplectic at the deal then it appears to have worked. If Newcastle survive this season at Burnley's expense then their devious little plan will pay back ten-fold. You can't hold that deal parallel to others and claim it is indicative to the market because it isn't.

At the end of the day somebody is only worth what someone else is prepared to pay. No club dramatically better than Everton wanted Digne permanently, so the types of clubs that were lining up for him weren't particularly enticing which will affect the players price somewhat, as clubs who do not have Champions League ambitions (which Villa don't in the short term) are unlikely to pay the kind of money that bona-fide CL sides pay out, especially on a left back no less (Transfermarkt apparently claim it is the sixth highest fee ever paid out for a left back, which doesn't seem so bad).

If thats really Newcastles thinking then they're taking a massive risk. They haven't just taken Wood from Burnley they've swapped him for £20m so if Burnley use that £20m on someone who gives them more than the 3 goals in 17 games Wood has managed then they haven't weakened them they've strengthened them!

 

[blueblue]

I don't think it's unreasonable for people to expect us to try to sign him again. Until he signs a contract extension at Newcastle, it looks like he has no real future there. It's not a particularly unlikely rumour is it? That we would be trying to sign a player in the last few months of their current deal?

Managers very often like to work with players they know and trust.
RB Longstaff have worked together previously and it seems Longstaff was at his best under Benitez.
It is not a huge leap to think they might want to work together again. I think the only question is if it is now or the summer.

I hope we have learned not to pre judge players before they even arrive at the club.

 

[bullybeef]

We after a number 10 to replace Siggy (where the hell is he?)

Is Longstaff a number 10 per chance?

 

[blueblue]

The manager talked about balancing the team but also balancing the books.
Unless there are more sales I don't think there will be more purchases.

 

[Sagar]

Any substantial news regarding golovin? That player seems class.

 

[toffee-L]

Sorry mate, I just see that minimisation of what is a poor deal. A lot of that is speculation and conspiracy theory. You can’t isolate teams doing business in the market especially when that team was also interested in the player and call it not reflective, we all deal in the same system. It’s absolutely similar in terms of market value and I do t care what you say, Wood is a lesser quality player than Digne, but Burnley got a better deal than we for Digne.

It’s also speculative to say no one was interested, I don’t think that was the case, we know Newcastle and Villa were others too - CL or not. I mean he went in the first few days of the window - demand. Why not hold him till end flush out interest, bidding wars etc or hold till the summer. I’ll tell you why we didn’t because the manager threw him under a bus in the media, while every club knew we needed the money, we even telegraphed by getting anew left back in, leaving us with zero leverage to maximise the deal.

All leading to you guessed it a poor deal, one of our best players lost for the equivalent of 30 year old Burnley striker. How anyone can say we did well out the deal is just fooling themselves to be honest.

We’re weaker for it.

I'm not sure how what I said about Wood to Newcastle is conspiratorial? Dyche is reportedly very angry about it and Burnley are far weaker for it, facts Newcastle would have known before making the purchase. Ask yourself, would any other club have made that deal? Would any club have sat there and decided to pay £20+m for a 30 year striker who's only scored 3 goals this season? The answer to my mind is a resounding no, meaning that deal isn't representative of the market but was pursued for the reasons I've stated. You certainly can isolate single transfers and call them not reflective of the wider market, do you think any club uses our purchase of Iwobi for example to try and justify transfer decisions? Transfers are nearly always circumstantial, the buying club and selling clubs will have certain needs that the other will look to leverage.

And it's not speculative to say no one was interested in Digne. We are very aware of which clubs were interested because the transfer was so publicised. The clubs that exceeded our station wanted him on loan, because they either weren't prepared to pay what we wanted (Inter) or they only wanted Digne on loan whilst their infinitely better left back recovered from injury (Chelsea). We couldn't hold onto him until the end of the window in case he somehow ended up staying if no team called our bluff as we'd already spent the proceeds from his expected sale. Digne being here on February 1st would have been an absolute financial apocalypse scenario.

Time will tell whether we will be weaker. Mykolenko may not reach Digne's standards immediately but I reckon Patterson will be a huge upgrade on Coleman so I wouldn't be surprised if we're exactly the same or even slightly better. Let's also not forget that Digne's performances this season were absolutely crap so I hope people will use those efforts to judge Mykolenko against rather than 2018-19 Digne.

 

[ZissouBlue]

The comments from Benitez about needing a link player are interesting:

"If you play a 4-2-3-1 this player behind the striker is the one who can link. In this case, we have been using this position was Richarlison, we've used Gray and Iwobi in this position. We're looking to find this player to link with others."

"In terms of wingers, we're replacing that number 10 with quality from out wide. Maybe we don't need this number 10 because Richarlison and Dominic are doing well as the strikers."

Very curious to know the profile he is looking for in that role. It seems from that comment that he wants to play either a 442 with two strikers and two wingers, or a 4231/4411 like we have seen on several occasions. If there was a new "link" player behind the striker, would that mean Richy and Gray as the wide players? That would be shockingly attacking for Benitez. Unless that player is more of a midfielder playmaker.

 

[toffee-L]

If thats really Newcastles thinking then they're taking a massive risk. They haven't just taken Wood from Burnley they've swapped him for £20m so if Burnley use that £20m on someone who gives them more than the 3 goals in 17 games Wood has managed then they haven't weakened them they've strengthened them!

Burnley are owned by a bunch of parasitic Americans who bought the club using a leveraged purchase and heaped the club with debt. They are exactly the type of people to take this money and run. There's reports already suggesting that Andy Carroll is being lined up by Burnley to replace Wood.

Newcastle knew exactly what they were doing here. In their minds it's short term pain for long term gain.

 

[Curtis]

Managers very often like to work with players they know and trust.
RB Longstaff have worked together previously and it seems Longstaff was at his best under Benitez.
It is not a huge leap to think they might want to work together again. I think the only question is if it is now or the summer.

I hope we have learned not to pre judge players before they even arrive at the club.

I'd be happier if they made their reunion when Benitez is back coaching in china

 

[TheBigIguana]

Managers very often like to work with players they know and trust.
RB Longstaff have worked together previously and it seems Longstaff was at his best under Benitez.
It is not a huge leap to think they might want to work together again. I think the only question is if it is now or the summer.

I hope we have learned not to pre judge players before they even arrive at the club.

This attitude is fine if you're bringing in real quality. Often managers bring in crap. There's a whole world of players.

 

[JimmyK]

Burnley are owned by a bunch of parasitic Americans who bought the club using a leveraged purchase and heaped the club with debt. They are exactly the type of people to take this money and run. There's reports already suggesting that Andy Carroll is being lined up by Burnley to replace Wood.

Newcastle knew exactly what they were doing here. In their minds it's short term pain for long term gain.

Personally i think they were just looking for a decent striker who would realistically come in their position and the fact it possibly harms Burnley is a happy coincidence but if not then I think its a very risky move on their part.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Managers very often like to work with players they know and trust.
RB Longstaff have worked together previously and it seems Longstaff was at his best under Benitez.
It is not a huge leap to think they might want to work together again. I think the only question is if it is now or the summer.

I hope we have learned not to pre judge players before they even arrive at the club.

That's fine, but the players have to be good enough rather than just players they like to have around. I'm not convinced Longstaff actually moves us forward.

 

[Noisy noise annoys]

We after a number 10 to replace Siggy (where the hell is he?)

Is Longstaff a number 10 per chance?

Golovin appears to be gathering pace

 

[Rooney_Tunes]

The comments from Benitez about needing a link player are interesting:

"If you play a 4-2-3-1 this player behind the striker is the one who can link. In this case, we have been using this position was Richarlison, we've used Gray and Iwobi in this position. We're looking to find this player to link with others."

"In terms of wingers, we're replacing that number 10 with quality from out wide. Maybe we don't need this number 10 because Richarlison and Dominic are doing well as the strikers."

Very curious to know the profile he is looking for in that role. It seems from that comment that he wants to play either a 442 with two strikers and two wingers, or a 4231/4411 like we have seen on several occasions. If there was a new "link" player behind the striker, would that mean Richy and Gray as the wide players? That would be shockingly attacking for Benitez. Unless that player is more of a midfielder playmaker.

Doesn't really matter what formation he plays if we keep conceding goals from corners and free kicks.

 

[Rooney_Tunes]

Golovin appears to be gathering pace

In your head or from an actual sauce?