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Trevor Lynes
1 Posted 10/11/2015 at 09:29:21
I reckon Roberto is making a 'tongue in cheek' reply to journalists who are always asking the same questions over and over again.

If we do not need to sell then why would we ?If we look at where we are after 30 games it may well alter things but certainly not by January.If we add that elusive number 10 playmaker to our squad I am sure that no striker will be looking elsewhere.

If we have a disappointing run then I can see more uncertainty creeping in. I am looking at a points haul of plus 30 by the 20th game and that will keep us in touch as no side is really running away at the present stage of the season.We need to hang on to our best players and let the fringe players leave. A young goalkeeper and a decent ball playing play maker are our major requirements.

Paul Mackie
2 Posted 10/11/2015 at 12:33:09
Yet if you listen to some of the armchair experts on ToffeeWeb he's a lazy arse and we were robbed by Chelsea.

How good Lukaku can be depends entirely on Martinez. Play to his strengths by giving him the ball with his face towards goal and he'll score 20+ goals this season. For evidence of this see the 2 wonderful balls so far this season from Deulofeu which have resulted in him running at the keeper and slotting home effortlessly. Play him as a lone striker however and he's far less effective as sometimes he plays like he couldn't trap a bag of cement.

Patrick Murphy
3 Posted 10/11/2015 at 13:47:11
Paul (#2),

For long periods of his Everton career he was a lazy arse and looked as far removed from a professional footballer as I do and therefore it did look like Everton had been shafted in relation to the size of the fee. The fact that he is now showing some ability on a semi-regular basis is great for him and the team and those armchair experts who want to see Everton score goals and win games.

My only concern is his sudden return to form is because he spies a move in January 2016; I hope he stays and continues to find the net on a regular basis in a royal blue shirt.

John Raftery
4 Posted 10/11/2015 at 13:59:42
Romelu is our main man and has been since he arrived. We were lucky to get him and fitness permitting he will score over 20 goals this season and with a bit if luck win us the League Cup. He is easily worth £55m in the current market but there is no way he will be going for any price in January.
William Cartwright
5 Posted 10/11/2015 at 15:19:08
Lucky to get him? I think Roberto plotted his acquisition down to the last detail. Luck never came into it.

He's in a very good place at the moment and he appreciates it. Yes, he is ambitious and good for him. It might just be that the Club match his ambitions... or not. In either case, in a year or two, Rom will be established as one of the very top strikers of his generation. He deserves to be.

He is intelligently using Everton as a platform or stepping stone to greatness. The world is his oyster so let him enjoy it and Evertonians enjoy him while he is here. Life goes on, and on and on.

If he moves to improve his experience then we will get big bucks for him. If he stays to share an improved experience with us then great for all concerned.

Lucky – OK... But remember to thank Roberto for making it happen.

Paul Ellam
6 Posted 10/11/2015 at 16:09:32
In my opinion he is the best striker we have had at this club since Tony Cottee. Yakubu was good too but didn't hang around long enough (injuries, form etc) and neither did Beardsley, so Lukaku gets my vote.

I think we should do everything possible to keep him (and others) at this club because it will be really hard to replace him and his goals. Definitely worth around the 㿞m mark and maybe higher!
Harold Matthews
7 Posted 10/11/2015 at 16:40:48
Not surprised when Lukaku said we need to get the final pass right. Kone should have put him through for a second but decided to have a go himself and blasted miles wide.

"An animal" according to Deulofeu who loves playing with the big fella and Barkley because "they are great players". Lukaku puts the ball in the net and this makes him very valuable. How valuable is anyone's guess. Martinez says 㿞m. Seems a bit high but who knows?

James Marshall
8 Posted 10/11/2015 at 17:00:17
I just saw an alternative league table based on goals per shot, and we're second to Man Utd with 19.05%.

Guess who's bottom with only 10.48%? You guessed it, our friends over the road!

I'd be gutted if we sold Rom. The kids a beast and he knows where the goal is. People having a pop at him need only look at the stats, and comments from players who play with him and against him.

Julian Wait
9 Posted 10/11/2015 at 18:33:44
If he keeps playing the way the is, and improving with age, he will be easily worth £55M. But we don't want to sell and we want to win a cup or two don't we?

Hopefully we can keep Mirallas as well, as long as he keeps his seemingly improved attitude and game approach.

COYB

Dave Abrahams
10 Posted 10/11/2015 at 21:35:40
I hope he can keep his present good spell up but I think he will continue to please us and frustrate us in equal measure, I'll be delighted if he makes a fool out of me.

Deulofeu was telling him where to run two years ago, he is now taking notice of the young Spaniard, and he has stopped looking at the heavens when a move breaks down and blaming other players for his own mistakes; maybe he is growing up as a player. Just keep it up and keep working hard, that will shut people, like me, up.

Richard Reeves
11 Posted 10/11/2015 at 23:19:24
People buy into the hype far too easily; no way is he worth £45 to 55 mill.

If Martinez gets those kind of offers and is able to keep hold of him, I'd be surprised but it would also be amateurish to keep hold of a player and not dare to bring in another decent striker to challenge from fear of loosing him.

It would just serve as a promotional vehicle for Lukaku and a money-making scheme for the club but the team would not push forward and develop as they would with serious competition up front.

It's obvious we need at least another striker of the same or better ability (maybe two) and no benchwarmers.

Ciaran Duff
12 Posted 11/11/2015 at 05:25:33
Personally, I think that Rom is a much improved player this season. He has always been strong as a poacher and running at players ("facing the goal") but it is noticeable how much he has improved with his back to goal. Still has a way to go but as noted above he is still only 22!

A lot of credit has to go to RM for not just getting him but in showing patience and (continuing to) develop him. I do agree that we are very dependent on Rom – if he got injured then we'd have to make do with "make shift" strikers and our results would suffer.

William Cartwright
13 Posted 11/11/2015 at 14:26:21
Rom's agent states he will be sold by Everton if the right offer comes along. Denial all round followed by the £55 million statement. Who's pulling whose chain on this one, I wonder? I'd be very sorry to see him leave, at any price, but would wish him all the best.
Liam Reilly
14 Posted 11/11/2015 at 17:25:16
Richard (#1): "No way is he worth £45-55M"

Sterling £49M
DeBruyne £54M
Luiz £50M
Proven Premier League Goalscorer ??M

No footballer is worth £50M or even close to it; but then what's £50M to the Man City or PSG Sheikhs?


Darryl Ritchie
15 Posted 11/11/2015 at 21:08:05
When we got him from Chelsea, he was worth £28 million. If someone wants pay £55 million, he'll be worth £55 million. Players, or anything else for that matter, are worth whatever somebody pays for them. Not a penny more. Not a penny less.

Hope he sticks around a while, though.

Harold Matthews
16 Posted 12/11/2015 at 15:13:21
So true Darryl. A footballer, like anything else, is only worth what someone is willing to pay.
Richard Reeves
17 Posted 12/11/2015 at 19:25:57
Liam (#14), I get it, but taking the cost of players as a whole with their abilities and not what the mega rich clubs are willing to pay... he's ridiculously overpriced but that's not to say someone won't put in the offer.

I also should say I'm glad he is overpriced because I do want him to stay and hopefully it might put off the prospective buyers. If it didn't, then the manager could have enough money to buy two top-quality strikers and maybe a decent playmaker. If people think his overall gameplay and goalscoring record is worth that kind of money, then good luck to them, but I don't think he has improved that much since we bought him (which most people on here would say was for too much at the time); he's still young, but I don't think he is going to improve much more.

Although inconsistent in how he plays – which sometimes does my head in with his lazy slouched walking, first touch and not being able to outjump other players and head the ball from long kicks downfield – the one thing that he is consistent in is his goalscoring over the longer period of time. This is why I think he will remain the same throughout his career and one of the reasons why I want us to hold onto him, because he is a goalscorer and manages to score when you least expect it.

As I've said above we need to add serious competition in that department if we want to get somewhere; if Martinez can't see that then he's weak and worried about loosing him. Van Gal would be strong enough to have Lukaku and Marcial in the same matchday squad; Martinez needs to have the balls to do the same kind of thing by bringing in players of that quality and managing their egos. We need competition up front for when he's having one of those shit days.

Ste Traverse
18 Posted 13/11/2015 at 12:36:38
Big Rom is total quality and easily the best goalscorer we've seen in a Blue shirt since Gary Lineker.

I'm sick of hearing all this shite that he's lazy etc. When it comes to doing the business in front of goal, the guy is up there with the best in English football and will only get better and better.

John Voigt
19 Posted 16/11/2015 at 22:30:16
Strikers are paid to score GOALS!!! Lukaku is doing his job. His 4 assists are also a reason his value in the marketplace is rising.

A £50+ million offer can only come from a couple, three teams, but hey you never know what the PSG crowd or Man City Execs are thinking.

It will take a mega offer for Everton to sell. If a sale goes through, Everton will have plenty of funds to upgrade the squad. I'm not worried either way.

Cheers.

Anthony Dwyer
20 Posted 19/11/2015 at 01:11:37
I'd put a ridiculous fee on Rom's head if clubs came calling, because we paid a very high fee for him when no-one else was willing to. Also, top strikers are currently few and far between. Look around: Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd etc are all looking for strikers to come in and do the business but can't seem to find the answer.

Rom is any team's answer to goals, and he's still very young. For me the only clubs who should be able to take Rom are the massive super powers and if they want him, they will pay whatever we tell them too.

Man Utd bought Martial for crazy money after scoring around a dozen goals in France, while Man City paid 㿌m for Bony who was already at the peak of his powers and still not in Rom's class.

PSG have the aging Ibra and Cavani, while Madrid only have one striker in Benzema.

Arsenal can pay big but yet can't seem to find better than Giroud, and Chelsea have a good forward in Costa but no real back up for a man who's often injured or suspended.

Rom already has in excess of 100 league goals, most of which are in one of the world's toughest league to score in, when you have a player with stats like that behind him you don't let him go unless a ridiculous offer comes your way.


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