Summer Transfer Window 2017

[Real_madras]

The middle off the park has improved greatly from a year ago. No it's not going to win us the league. But it's a stepping stone. City didn't instantly get to the top when they got money. It took a few years and they used a scatter gun approach. Just paying over the odds for every one.

We seem to be building more carefully. Also buying for the future at the same time. I actually think the club is doing this right.

 

[orly]

Tom should be in and out of the side at this point in his career

Idrissa the half season wonder is my main concern but yes, that's true too Neil

 

[Kenshin]

Arsenal seem to want to do that with Mbiappe.

United did it with Rooney.

Not saying Davies and Ross are the same level of player, but the point stands.

It doesn't really when we have he last midfielder to come through having a contract stand off and generally still play like an 18 year old rather than actually develop over the years .


The difference is Rooney and the like are miles ahead of their peers. Davies has grabbed his chance well and earned a place in the team. But let's not forget about all the other over hyped young blues piling their trade in the lower leagues.

If we started next season with dav8es genuinely as our first choice midfielder and Barry his back up then we are going nowhere. Replace barry and make Davies outperform that replacement to keep him improving rather than hand an 18 year old a place in the team like we did Ross and watch him piss away his potential

 

[a bell maul]

If you are already playing in a 'foreign' league as he is (i.e. in Belgium), then I don't think a move to England would induce homesickness.
Anyway, it's all decidedly moot at this juncture since there has been no corroborating we've even got interest.
Btw, is it 3 years of a 5 year contract that Lukaku has satisfied?
I guess his book value is somewhere around 11mio. Suggests Everton will pay tax this fin year??

 

[whiteshadow]

It doesn't really when we have he last midfielder to come through having a contract stand off and generally still play like an 18 year old rather than actually develop over the years .


The difference is Rooney and the like are miles ahead of their peers. Davies has grabbed his chance well and earned a place in the team. But let's not forget about all the other over hyped young blues piling their trade in the lower leagues.

If we started next season with dav8es genuinely as our first choice midfielder and Barry his back up then we are going nowhere. Replace barry and make Davies outperform that replacement to keep him improving rather than hand an 18 year old a place in the team like we did Ross and watch him piss away his potential

I think competition is good for them and we should aim for that but I don't get your point about Ross. He's got a lot of ability and how would anyone have known when he was 18 wether he was good enough to become top drawer or not? I think we'd have been foolish not to let him develop his game. Whatever you think of him, he's defo not been a failure for us. He may not have kicked on as much as we all hoped but we'll still make good money on him even if he leaves and he may step up his game at some point. Lampard didn't really go to the next level until a similar age, so who knows.

 

[big bobs beard]

"We won't sell our best players"

12 months later bye Rom, Bye Barkley, Bye Stones.

And Delofeu. Remember the Fab Four? Building a team for the future? Going to end up like West Ham and Stoke paying mad wages for washed up has beens and dodgy foreigners.

 

[Efcjake]

If you think that any of our players. In fact any of anyone's players, would put the success of their club before their own ambitions/bank balances/general happiness, you are deluding yourself to a quite remarkable extent.

Nah mate, they're out there still. Leicester did something right to be able to hold on to their players after winning the league. They did very well to only lose Kante.

There's plenty of other examples were players and clubs have a mutually beneficial relationship that doesn't involve the player lipping off to the press every opportunity he gets about wanting to move to a bigger club and play with better teammates.

I'm not expecting that they only have eyes for Everton but asking that while they play for Everton that they focus on what they can do for Everton and only Everton. It was nice when we had players like Howard and Cahill who appreciated their lot and valued it. The game has changed but I don't think that means we need to accept players looking to constantly to move on.

 

[arminisgod]

Arsenal seem to want to do that with Mbiappe.

United did it with Rooney.

Not saying Davies and Ross are the same level of player, but the point stands.

M'Bappe is miles better than Davies

 

[Hogwild]

I did this a while back and in no way am i saying that the club has had any discussions with these players or their representatives, but for those who like a running tally of folks we get mentioned with in various rags here goes (list is getting long....)

ST: Willian Jose, Kasper Dolberg, Sandro Ramirez, Mischy Batsuayi, Diego Falcinelli, Bas Dost, Kelichi Iheanacho, Jamie Vardy, Giovanni Simeone
AM: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Rooney, Manuel Lanzini,
CM: Davy Klaassen, Leander Dendoncker, Marten de Roon
W: Keita Balde, Richard Ghezzal, Theo Walcott, Thorgan Hazard, Riyad Mahrez, Jonathan Cafu, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly, Virgil Van Dijk, Stefan De Vrij, Mauricio Lemos, Daley Blind, Michael Keane, Calum Chambers, Harry Maguire, Diego Llorente, Chris Smalling, Jeison Murillo
FB: Charlie Taylor, Cuco Martina, Kieren Gibbs, Santiago Arias
GK: Jordan Pickford, Lovre Kalinic, Frazer Forster, Kasper Schmeichel

I am sure I missed some. Some points to be taken:
1) most of this is trash - clickbait
2) there are many, many fish in the sea
3) by July 1st this list could easily double
4) most of our actual signings are likely not included in the names above

There are plenty of players out there that can strengthen and improve our squad. We have all of June to get some deals done with at least a few before any competitive activity.

Would like to see the sagas of the three "R's" (Ross/Rom/Rooney) settled by 06/15 and at least 3 signings of starting quality by 07/01.

 

[Blue83]

Here is the thing.

the same hype you give to Davies and importance you give to his role in the first team now is the same hype you gave Barkley 4 years ago. Look how that turned out.

Just a suggestion for us blues, stop hyping and building teams around teenagers and sign some players instead yeah? Makes davies be in the team on merit, not because he is the new wonderkid at the club.

Jesus does any club above us get a 18 year old and then immediately want to build a team around them? No they sign actually experienced players who can come in and be successful for them now.

Never hyped Barkley though always thought he lacked the footballing intelligence in his position, he had the skill but not ability to use that skill properly which is why he's always taking forever on the ball when he has it and trying to be too smart instead of just playing a natural game.

Davies has both skill and intelligence but I'm not hyping him, he is however good enough along with Morgan and Idrissa to build a team around.

Realistically what other options do we have for building a team ? We've an ageing defence, no top class strikers after Rom leaves, bang average keepers.

Our central midfield is the only thing that is remotely decent. We've got Lookman who will probably turn ace but he's only had half a season with us and DCL will only likely be an average winger for us, good enough for adding to team depth but not really as a constant first team choice

 

[bluejim95]

Having read all this FIFA 17 stuff and seeing the names we were being linked with, I decided to get me some of the action. Snapped up an Xbox one S and away I went.

Shaky start, drew 1-1 with the RS. Somehow managed to get Baines to kick a penalty in the style of Funes Mori (still one of my favourite quotes, not sure who said it about Mori but "kicks like an amputee" has never left me).

But now, it's all good. Found the Easy setting, bought Klassen and Dolberg (Sandro said no). Now I'm spanking the RS every time.

Not as satisfying as the real thing but hey, clearly it was the only option other than bleech.

 

[Efcjake]

Idrissa the half season wonder is my main concern but yes, that's true too Neil

I really hope he doesn't go the way of McCarthy.

Was Gueye really that good or are we just impressed when someone does all the running Barry doesn't?

Personally, I think he's great, but I also though McCarthy was great in his first season too before he was shown up as distinctly average and outshined by the 35 year old Gareth Barry.

That said, I am sick to death of seeing two defensive mids in the team every week and hope we sign someone who plays center mid and wants to get on the ball and make us tick rather than simply winning it and using it wisely.

 

[Kenshin]

I think competition is good for them and we should aim for that but I don't get your point about Ross. He's got a lot of ability and how would anyone have known when he was 18 wether he was good enough to become top drawer or not? I think we'd have been foolish not to let him develop his game. Whatever you think of him, he's defo not been a failure for us. He may not have kicked on as much as we all hoped but we'll still make good money on him even if he leaves and he may step up his game at some point. Lampard didn't really go to the next level until a similar age, so who knows.

The point about Ross is that for 4 years essentially he was given a place in the team and had zero pressure to actually fight for it. The player you see now is one I believe of lethargy. He knew he was picked every week so had no real desire to earn It, one of the main reasons I think he has never kicked on as a player is because he never needed to. Now he has a manager who basically won't do that he is having a stand off with the club because he believes it could be better elsewhere.

I don't want to see that happen again, Ross should not be picked on name but because he has earned it. Davies 100% earned his place in the team this season and come the summer he needs to earn it back again. The minute any young player doesn't need to work harder they stagnate, that is why the best young players go to the places where they can be pushed.

 

[Lanolin]

Nah mate, they're out there still. Leicester did something right to be able to hold on to their players after winning the league. They did very well to only lose Kante.

There's plenty of other examples were players and clubs have a mutually beneficial relationship that doesn't involve the player lipping off to the press every opportunity he gets about wanting to move to a bigger club and play with better teammates.

I'm not expecting that they only have eyes for Everton but asking that while they play for Everton that they focus on what they can do for Everton and only Everton. It was nice when we had players like Howard and Cahill who appreciated their lot and valued it. The game has changed but I don't think that means we need to accept players looking to constantly to move on.

But most of the current players fall into the same bracket as Howard and Cahill - they appreciate their lot because they know it's as good as it's going to get for a player of their level. I think if Chelsea had come knocking for Howard and City had moved for Cahill you might have found that they too started to think the grass could be greener elsewhere. It just never happened.

That's all that's happening here, the players who are coveted by better sides are having their heads turned. They're not bad people, and it doesn't disrupt squad harmony because all of them realise they'd be the same if it was them. Look at how Moyes and Lescott ended up reuniting - Moyes played the 'I'm so angry' card at the time because that's the done thing, but he didn't actually hold a grudge, because he knows how football works.

Leicester is a really bizarre example to use to be honest with you. Just a couple of months after achieving something most of the squad would never even have dreamed of, half of them downed tools and got the manager who'd taken them there the sack. They've lost Kante and Mahrez has said he wants to leave, so there's only really Vardy and possibly Schmeichel left that may have better options available to them. The others fall into the same category as those mentioned earlier.

Chelsea have just won the league and yet within 2 weeks both Costa and Hazard have mentioned the possibility of moving on. It's the way of the world I'm afraid, and if we really want to be the best we have to accept that having a load of try hards who are happy with their lot needs to knocked on the head and replaced with a team of ruthless, ambitious individuals.

 

[Kenshin]

Never hyped Barkley though always thought he lacked the footballing intelligence in his position, he had the skill but not ability to use that skill properly which is why he's always taking forever on the ball when he has it and trying to be too smart instead of just playing a natural game.

Davies has both skill and intelligence but I'm not hyping him, he is however good enough along with Morgan and Idrissa to build a team around.

Realistically what other options do we have for building a team ? We've an ageing defence, no top class strikers after Rom leaves, bang average keepers.

Our central midfield is the only thing that is remotely decent. We've got Lookman who will probably turn ace but he's only had half a season with us and DCL will only likely be an average winger for us, good enough for adding to team depth but not really as a constant first team choice

What other option? Well there is a period of about 2 months where we can actually sign new players (queue kenwright waking up in a cold sweat about spending money) and we have a huge windfall coming to us it seems.

Ross when he came through did have a footballing brain I thought. Moments were amazing to watch that he could do things without thinking about them, pick a pass without having to check first. I can't offer am answer as to why that has gone other than opinions.

As for Davies, he really impressed me this season. I am not trying to say I don't want him in the team because I do, but I want him there on merit not automatically. As I said to your man above, the minute a young player doesn't need to fight and work hard they stop, they need pushing and most importantly get their make on that sheet as a reward not as an expectation.