Reports claim fee agreed for Funes Mori

He's got good size and seems to have a nose for the ball off of set pieces. Ready to get behind the player and happy to have some added depth (fingers crossed on Stones) and versatility for the squad.

He was a starter for a River Plate side that won the Copa Libertadores a couple of weeks ago. He's a regular for one of the top teams in Argentina and always goes the full 90, so that says something I guess. He also scores some goals out of the back, usually on set pieces. However, he hasn't been in the league squad in a month, and I haven't been able to find out why.

He has an identical twin brother named Rogelio who plays in Mexico for Monterrey, and my friend from Monterrey says Rogelio is much the better player of the two.

At ٣m, I think it's a risk worth taking. He's got the skill, build, height etc... apparently he needs to improve his concentration.

ps: I can't believe Spurs are letting Fazio go for just ٦m. He was superb with Seville but the merry-go-round at WHL didn't seem to suit him.

And of course the other thing that makes me nervous is that he should be an addition to the squad (replacing Alcaraz and Distin) but there's always a chance that he could be a replacement for an existing first teamer.

What's wrong with Van Dijk, Dragovic or the 6'- 5" beast, Koulibaly? What's wrong with Ben Gibson, the left sided England U21 partner of Stones? Very strong, very intelligent and a born leader.

We're asking sky-high money for a player but seek to replace him with a cheap Argentinian? Sorry, I find this very difficult to believe.

I'd also add that Tim Vickery is a tit. He's about as knowledgeable on South American football as the likes of Mark Lawrenson is here in England.

He just happens to be the only English correspondent weird enough to want to watch that shite all day.

COYB

Ste, that's what Green, and Earl, must threaten Bill, with, every time he asks for some money!

I think we have to trust the scouting team here but ٣m is a relatively small amount for a CB and at 24 he's got lots of time to learn from the likes of Jags.

He's coming as back up and will vie with Browning to be 3rd choice. With any luck, Jags and Stones will stay fit so we won't need him too much.

I'm not saying this disqualifies him but basically he's just like any one of us, ie, an amateur bullshitter.

Everyone would also prefer Van Dijk, Dragovic Koulibaly. But the problem is if he brings anyone of them in, then they should be starters, not back up. We have not got Europe to warrant rotation. So Mori suits what we need. If we buy any of the others, then this will worry me regarding Stones's future.

Browning must go out on loan in my opinion. The manager wont trust that he has the necessary experience to be the first choice back up until he has games under his belt and he won't get games under his belt until he is the first choice back up. What to do?

This Mori chap better be bloody brilliant.

I hope this Mori character is a good player, but I had never heard of him before he was mentioned in the transfer gossips.

Thinking about it, it may be a good bit of business. He's young, got potential maybe and £5m is not a lot of money these days and he's obviously signed as cover at the back rather than a regular starter. As a couple of others have indicated some of the players we have been linked to and that certain posters on here want to sign, would only sign if certain of regular starts. I'd rather go down this road and keep Stones.

I don't know much about him but, as many of you do, I have doubts about the South American aspect of this. Okay, he's an international but he's only got one cap and that was in a friendly against El Salvador where I'm sure the manager didn't want to risk his first choice. I'm not convinced-even for ٣m as if he doesn't work out that's still ٣m down the drain and we can't afford to do that.

A more domestic experienced player would have been preferred and I know lots of people wouldn't want him but Evans would fit the bill. If you're going to take a gamble then Van Dijk, Koulibaly and Dragovic are the choice and if not them then this fella could be considered. I'm sure he's not first choice target and fear he'll be another Alcaraz.

My preference, as always, is to stick with the youngsters as more game time = more experience = better development. Browning and Galloway for me as this bloke will need a long time to get used to the Premier League. Sorry but I have my doubts, no deal for me.

As I said on another thread, good South Americans rarely make it to the age of 24 in their own league. However, I have always believed that there can be late developers, Drogba is an excellent example, but that's more of a clutch at a straw than anything else.

Van Dijk is the man for me, but I'd rather have any of the other players Harold mentions earlier or that we've been linked with lately. Here's hoping I'm completely wrong.

We may get round the work permit issue if he's got an Italian passport but we shouldn't be signing players of this standard and blocking youngsters' development. We either need to sign an old pro who can help these youngsters come through or someone who's better than Jagielka.

This guy is very much coming to play back up and so it's a different thing we are looking at. If Dragovic is seen at Finch Farm then you an bet your bottom dollar that it's because Stones is on his way out so be careful what you wish for.....

What is the point of spending maga bucks on Van Dijk unless he is a replacement for John Stones; and as the club have said we aren't selling John Boy, then this lad looks a good addition to our squad.

I just hope it's true that we're going for Yarmalenko but we'll probably have to wait for the last day of the window to find out.

I thought the 'potential' argument for Work Permits could only really be used for players much younger. Still, the system is dodgey enough with so many South Americans having Spanish, Portuguese or Italian passports that miraculously appear when they're moving to Europe.

Dodgey Work Permit or not, if he can play then great. Good age too. Still not signed though...

Of course he scored only the one goal in his short time with the Rams. Turned out to be the winner. Can you guess against which team? Wonder if it'd been a CL chasing team whether they'd have replayed the match? Or if it was RS just gifted them the 3 points, and another 10 by way of apology...

At 21 and after the performance's he's been putting in, he should be first choice cover for Stones. He could be not to far away from Stones in ability if given the chance and that would be fantastic for the manager to have as backup or to take over in that position if Stones wanted to move on in a couple of years. He needs that experience now and not in another division.

He seems to be a great aerial threat and even hooked a great free kick in. That is at least something, more than most other central defenders that are available at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deGwhEV6sc0

Regarding Browning and Galloway, I think the sensible thing is to keep them as fullbacks for the time being until they get used to the team, the fans and the league. We did this with Stones and Lescott before him. They will both eventually be centre-backs but there is too much tactically going on there for us to expect them to play well or often over the course of a season.

Experienced cover for Jags and Stones is very limited although Galloway and Browning might do a job under the right circumstances.

I've only seen this guy play a couple of times but he didn't impress at all. I would rather give Browning a go personally. Martinez stated last season he was ready for first team football and he looked excellent in pre season.

I gather his international cap was recent, so it is not that he is a 'one cap wonder' but, rather, that his career is just beginning. I don't think you get to play for Argentina, even once, if you are a Championship level 'also-ran'.

ps: Has anyone thought of asking 'The Stracq' what he knows?!

If Stones goes, clearly a more established European league replacement would be needed.

However, I do believe we are in a position to adopt a transfer policy where by any new additions must improve the starting 11. This would mean Mori is a no go for us.

We football fans are most definitely fickle. Since Martinez signed on the dotted line we have been hoping for an influx of South American talent. Now that we may be getting one, many (inc myself) aren't over the moon about it.

By the way, I'm fairly sure Fuertes was Argentinian and was mentioned in the thing I read about Boselli earlier.

Harold, not sure if you are being sarcastic there or I am just reading too much into it after last nights debate with my Utd housemate who claims Smalling is great at defending (not on the ball) and therefore they wouldn't need somebody as (ahem) "over-rated" as Stones. Needless to say, I think he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Anyway, Andrew has found the answer and allayed those fears somewhat.

Additionally, I thought such signings HAD to be established internationals who had played in their country's last so many games. Although he's probably got Spanish antecedents -- the sort you can bribe any local government official to dig out for you!

I bet there are a dozen in the lower leagues here who are just as good.

He's done a good job on the left so far but with more experience and filling out a bit more (which I think he's done a bit lately from what I saw of him at the Southampton game) he will move into that position and allow the more natural left back in Garbutt to take his rightful place so long as Garbutt puts in the work. It could also be similar to the Lescott situation when Baines finally got his chance.

I'm on board with this even if only for the Goodfellas link.

Vickery made the point that he felt he wasn't quick or strong enough for the EPL. Only his opinion I know but he doesn't usually express such negativity. I do remember his assessment of Aguero when Man City were buying him, when he said he was the best striker to ever come out of South America and play in England. He was quite OTT, at least that's what I thought at the time... In hindsight, he was spot on.

You'd like to think Martinez had done some homework on this guy but, if Vickery is to be believed, perhaps not...

Regardless of where the ball is on the pitch, this scout looks only at the player he is scouting. He may pick up on whoever is marking him or whoever he is marking, but the focus, for the entire game is on that player. That way he takes in positional play off the ball, concentration levels and fitness levels. I tried to do it when watching a game and it is interesting but I only lasted about 10 mins and started watching the game.

I heard Vickery on TS yesterday and he was scathing about Fines Mori. The fact that he has no vested interest other than his reputation is a worry. Heads some worrying comparisons too with another failed chi bought by someone at Wigan.

One would think Martinez would be very wary of making such a mistake again and that we will only buy this lad if they have REALLY done their homework on him.

If and when we announce Mori and/or Yarmolenko, fans of other clubs will think we've pulled it off quickly, as they haven't followed the story for the previous week, fortnight or month.

All this when we've been linked with some top quality, or high potential European centre backs who we'd much rather buy. Also, at £5.5M he's not exactly a bargain is he? The golden rule of transfers is only sign players who are better than what you've got (or will be in the future), this guy doesn't seem to fit the bill, so it's a completely underwhelming transfer.

We all hope we're wrong by the way, but as I said earlier, if you back-up players, you end up with second rate players. Add to this that it seems he needs a work permit and doesn't qualify for one, and it's not exactly the signing to appease the unsettled fans.

Sam, Boselli did score for Wigan, but not in a league game.

Like the rest of us, I don't know anything about Mori, but if someone who watches him can be so uncomplimentary, then I would bet my bottom dollar, that he won't be ready for Everton's first team just yet.

Give him time to acclimatise and hopefully the fellas on the corner will make an absolute fortune with " MORI'S WIGS". Thanks John!

I'm hoping that we are waiting for Celtic to go out of the CL and then nip in and get Dick Van Dyke.

My prediction about FM6: He will struggle a little bit to adapt to a new defensive system and a different playing style but, sooner than later, he will be a starter. He's a fearless defender and he has all the qualities to be a solid Premier League player.

Cheers!

We have strikers to score the goals, and if these defenders are good at that, then why the heck are we playing them as defenders and not as a forward as they seem to be better at doing that job and better at it than the ones we have got.

When BBC or Sky eventually have Tony Hibbert as a pundit then I look forward to his stats on the screen Played 297 times for Everton - Tackles made 2,867. Shots saved on the line 45.

He is a defender, who gives anything about how many times he scored a goal, that is not what he is there to do.

I read Colin #25 say he's not a qualified Journalist, well I fail to see how 3 years at Uni and a stint working for the Sun would make him a better journalist than he is. I often read the discarded papers on a Monday and wonder which game these fools watched.

What marks Vickery out to me as a man to listen to is his analysis of the game and the players. In particular he often picks out players he's seen at the Under-17 World Cup, and other rising stars of Latin America. His greatest pleasure, he often says, is discovering a future great, long before we are aware of them. I read above about Aguero and echo this. Forlan is someone he's often gushed about, as well as Juan Seba Veron.

Now two of the most relevant analysis for me are Straq and Boselli. On Boselli Vickery said this, "I was contacted by a certain Premier League coach for advice. His agent was busy going around with DVD's cut to make him look like the great Gabriel Batistuta. I just told him to keep hold of his money." He went on to say that he is a front to goal type of striker with no real back to goal skills and so didn't think that he would make it in the Premier League. In other words, he needs the opposition defence to play high up the pitch and for a Veron to hit inch perfect passes over the top, and it proved right with his dismal time at Wigan.

On Straqualursi: "The first thing you think of when you assess a South American footballer's suitability for the Premier League is the physicality, and he is built for English football. That is not going to be a problem. He is also competent on the ground and he scores goals in the air. But you have to say there are other questions that he will need to answer and it is nothing to do with this particular player or this transfer. It is just historically there are challenges when you move directly from South America to England."

The other thing to note is that Vickery was critical of Mori well in advance of Everton's interest. In reporting on the Libatadores (The South America version of the Champions League), Vickery talked repeatedly about the 'cult of Mori' and how he'd got a far enhanced reputation than his skill set deserved. He also picked him out repeatedly as the weak link in the River side in the Semi Finals and then the Final itself.

Hopefully Roberto learned his lesson on South American players with Boselli and will do his due diligence this time around, but then again, ٣m is not a lot of money, Jags and Stones are not the most injury prone players, and there's no European football to worry about, so perhaps a good long period on the bench will give Mori an opportunity to adapt to the English game in the reserves / U21s.