Profit over promise for Everton as Stones gets his move

Due to the Pogba deal, this will go under the radar somewhat but it will be the deal of this summer and will be seen as a snip of a price in the future.

A sad day.

Sure Koeman and Walsh needed time to look at the squad, which I buy into. But a blind squirrel could see what we needed BEFORE letting any of our players leave, and certainly after a session or two of training we should have been buying targets. But there is the problem, we simply don't have the money to buy until we sell.

We sell Stones, we buy Williams, maybe Kone and maybe Bolaise. Nothing seems to have changed.

Maybe Moshiri is putting all his money into the stadium. Maybe he's not even doing that. Who knows. I certainly don't. But I have certainly not been too impressed to date after all the hope of early summer and the 'new era' bollocks that I for one previously believed.

It is possible that Everton are looking at every player as a potential business opportunity and everybody has a price. They may well have seen that he is never going to be a 㿞M+ player and they may also be looking for exception deals that will help finance the ground move.

How did we let Shkodran Mustafi leave when he may fetch a similar price to Stones to move to Arsenal.

I see the Stone's sale though as a massive backward step by Everton. I hope that Koeman and Walsh show me to be just a typical TWebber though.

There are clues of course, our new DOF for a start. This man was "purchased" to select players who have the potential to be sold at a profit. We can only hope that this strategy may bring us silverware, if not players remaining for the long haul. The only realistic chance of turning this club into a spend first, sell second enterprise is by moving to a new stadium and we know how long we've been contemplating that!

Dont mean to sound gloomy, in fact, I'm confident we'll have an infinitely better season than the last one. COYB.

Whilst our club may have cashed in on Stones PROMISE, if it takes as long as Barkley's has to be fulfilled, we could well have found the team at the wrong end of the table rather than midway.

Unlike his predecessor, Koeman strikes me as a pragmatist and the signing of a warrior such as Williams should make for a much safer defence in the quest to get us back to the top third of the Premier.

He was under contract but thats worth nothing these days especially if Stones was going to carry on going through the motions instead of defending as if his life depended on it.

Williams is twice the player right now and a proper leader. Just what we need.

You heard Baines go on about the lack of chemistry this is one source gone now lets get rid of the other one and get players in who take some pride in wearing the shirt instead of dreaming about other clubs.

If Lamine Kone is the new target rather than Koulibaly (who was always a very optimistic shot anyway) then that's a more realistic swap fro Stones if that's the way you want to look at the deals.

It's over-simplifying matters, though. Stones's actual replacement might not come for a couple of years – i.e. once we're in a better position to really attract top talent. In the meantime, we have Mason Holgate to bring through.

John (8), it seems as though we had to get the profit from the sale of Stones before we could really start spending to satisfy FFP rules.

''it seems as though we had to get the profit from the sale of Stones before we could really start spending to satisfy FFP rules.''

Promise or not, Everton as a defensive unit and as a back five were utter shambles last season. A sulking John Stones was not the answer to that. Ashley Williams and Lamine Kone will go a long way to improving the team.
How long should we hang on to promise. We need a team for this weekend and this season!

Lets get behind the new regime and stop carping about not going for Messi or Ronaldo.

As far as I know that figure was one that the red tops and rumour sites came up with

and was something "some" Evertonians chose to believe!

A real shame as I'm firmly in the camp that believes Stones has the potential to be a top class international defender - but - timing is everything and we were never going to keep him.

I genuinely hope the lad realises his full potential - and like Lyndon, I know it will gnaw away over the coming years if he does .

Onwards and upwards etc etc

Glad to see the back of him. I saw his stats today. Something like the 37th best defender in the league at interceptions and tackles. He is only marginally better at ball distribution than Williams and how many passes were to Howard? Do we really need a Beckenbauer whilst having palpitations at every incoming free kick and corner? He doesn't get tight enough. I lost count of the goals he was at fault for last season and please don't say that's Martinez's fault. The performance at Anfield was beyond embarrassing and he's already been influential for City with that performance in the semi final. Away at Watford when he hits a pass to Robles just after we'd taken the lead. Result: corner then 1:1. He was also fortunate not to give away a penalty at the Etihad in the league for over stretching after not being tight enough. A few times he made Sterling look class and that didn't happen much last season! The under hit pass against Swansea, being skinned by Defou, out jumped by Sakho was it? etc. He won't be a regular under Allerdyce and I think we've sold at the right time.

At the moment we can't compete with the set up at City. I don't know why anyone is upset or suprised. We did well to hold off for a year but there was no way we were holding out again, especially after last season.

Our revolution starts now, hopefully.

I'm tired of promise. I want to see proven ability. Williams and Kone (if we can get him) have it. RK and Walsh have obviously seen Everton's future and Stones isn't in it.

Let City put up with his cock ups. £50 million for a second rate CB that cost £3 million doesn't bother me at all. RK wanted more aggression and the players he has bought so far, Gana, Williams, and hopefully Bolasie and Kone are exactly that. Aggressive. We still need more but it's a start.

We have a few phases to go through, one is initial stabilisation and that is what we are doing now. Medium term is to improve our position and get into Europe and long term is to challenge the very top clubs but this is a 5-year aim, not this week's. We have no divine right to get to phase 3 and we are competing with clubs that financially out muscle us.

We are approximately at day one, Stones wanted success now and we can't deliver it so good luck to him and the same with Lukaku. If he insists on going then he's best gone as soon as possible.

Remember in all this we have to finance a ground move and having Moshiri as a backer will make this happen. If we have to supplement it by making money on player sales, then so be it. Arsenal did the same to make the Emirates happen.

The people running Everton aren't fans, they are businessmen that have vastly more expertise than us and it isn't necessarily a simplistic case of profit over promise which is meaningless. It is about meeting long-term targets that we didn't have under the last board.

Admittedly, it was a horrific night for everyone connected to our club, but Stones's actions that night stank of a lack backbone. I wish the lad all the best for the future, but if I'm right about his character, than it might the one thing that stops him going all the way to the top.

John Stones is potentially a top class player, who struggled in the 2nd half of last season owing to playing in a poor defence and victimisation by some of our fans. How many teams really progress quickly after selling a top player?

Our biggest need is for a creative midfield player – sadly, Ross will never be that - how many big bids are coming in for him? He's not really worth a place in our team – already given a goal away against lower league opposition this season and missed a pen!

To be honest, the state of the playing side of the club is in as much need of attention as when Moyes came, albeit with slightly better players. Martinez has single handedly and in such a short space of time destroyed any teamspirit that existed and fostered a.slovenly poisonous environment that now exists at GP. It's hardly a place where any player worth his salt and in his prime is likely to come at present. I think people don't realise how much of a mess it is. We need stability and unity before the stars appear. Having a team that actually tries and runs their heart out for 90 minutes for the club and fans would be a start.

There was a reason the atmosphere at GP was the worst in an age last season. If Stones didn't want to be there then fair enough, same goes for Lukaku. Both can be decent players on their day but we're very selective when that day was. They may turn out to be bastions of the game in future years but not with us. They have made that perfectly clear and as such I don't want them here either if that's the case. I only want players who are 100% committed to Everton.

And as for somebody trying to compare Stones to Alan Ball ffs get a grip. Stones has potential which he may or may not fulfill. Alan Ball was a superstar and a World Cup winner. To be mentioned in the same breath is just ridiculous.

Good luck to the lad but I have a feeling that Everton have done superb business with his purchase, development and sale. Remember that buying and selling is Everton's business model. We aren't located in SW London.

Link

Since then I have never been bothered with England and if Stones only changed his.mind at the mithering of Sterling and Hart then good riddance to him.

However, this then has to be set against an Everton manager who has to unravel the shambles left by the idiocies of the last regime in a relative very short space of time. What is obviously needed as an immediate replacement in a proven professional centre back who knows the demands of the position and the nature of the division in which he is playing.

As for his age, did the European championships show him as a geriatric? Have his last campaigns at Swansea given rise to "an aged struggler"? What Koemen needs is a good pro who can stabilise the core of his back line and give him time to construct that aspect of the side in the immediate future either with younger players coming through or by additions.

Talk all we like about Everton being a selling club etc, well of course we are. All clubs are when it suits them or when they have no options. Suarez left Liverpool; Ronaldo left Man Utd; Bale left Spurs etc. I am 71 years of age remembering the days when we were the ones buying players when we needed. Sadly now we are at present no more than a club trying to vie with others as the "best of the rest". Facing reality is a first step.

Rebuilding the team as a force will take time, rebuilding the sorry mess that the club has become in many ways, the squad (Gibson, McGeady, Niasse etc) stadium, business acumen, professional operations etc will take a lot longer. John Stones will be one of any number who will come and go, hopefully with a profit to the club and aid its attempts to strengthen the squad of players! Let us hope that Mr Koeman and the current regime are around long enough to establish it.

All in all though, we have again lost a super star to a team 30 miles away.

Sad state of affairs, I could take him joining Madrid or Barca, but to lose our prize asset to another Manchester club is a hard swallow.

I am not worried about losing him to any club. Whilst it would have been great to keep him, I am not sure if he is the type of defender we need at present. If we can have him back at 27 or 28 when he has matured into the top class defender, that will be fine. :)

I also see him in a defensive midfield role. So who knows what will happen.

Cracking young footballer. Great defender? I'm not entirely convinced.

Good luck to him though. Which ever way you look at it, we are far better off for having had him at our club.

Man City have got a gem in the making, but City's owners want success now, they won't wait for improvements.

Just waiting for Lukaku to be flogged and replaced by Bony and the circle will be complete. Thank god I've moved to Asia where the time zone makes it tough to watch games.

Precisely.

Koeman if he didn't want Stones to leave could have just said "No, Sorry, he is under contract and he is staying".

He has assessed Stones and made the decision to sell him.

Firmly hold to the view that if Mr Koeman had wanted John Stones to stay then the deal would have not gone through. He's his own man and would not have been pressured by Mosh or Bill.

The entire issue would have been discussed prior to his arrival and we would have heard directly from the manager if an 'agreed understanding' had been broken. Koeman is not one to keep his mouth shut if he feels he has been let down.

The player wanted to leave – keep tempering any regrets about his departure with that fact. We move on.

Keep the faith.

This lad knows / has been told enough times that he could eventually be the best defender on the planet. He's ambitious and wants to be that player and that means playing with the best players, in the top tournaments, under the best manager. City tick those boxes more than any other in the league and thats why he's made up - because he's going to be training with Kompany to try and stop Aguerro and Silva in the build up to a game against Madrid, all under the watchful eye of Pep Guardiola - not so he can share a smoothy with Raheem down at Dunkin Donuts in the Trafford Centre, which he could do with him anyway. Him Sterling and Hart could set up a love nest in Warrington and have the best of both worlds if they really wanted.

Cahill would've been saying 'Come to us', Rooney and Smalling would've been saying 'Come to us', as probably would Wilshere, Kane, and the training camp cat. Barkley would've simply stayed quiet in the corner playing his Nintendo, knowing he left the club 12 months ago really, the rest is just a beauty contest. Which City have won.

Stones wanted to go for professional reasons. That's why he left Barnsley for us - a step up. We can't offer him the same without consistent Champions League football / challenging for the title so just thank your lucky stars we are the ones picking up the 㿔m profit on the way.

Maybe in a few years time we've lifted ourselves up the pecking order but were not there yet, that's Moshiri and Koemans job and its a bitter pill to swallow but at this point we can only do that by getting up the league, putting our money on the table and in the greater scheme of things building a new stadium.

Keeping Stones was not an option. We've got the second highest transfer fee in history for a defender in return - for potential he may never realise.

At this point in time, given how the merry-go-round works, we've got a good deal; the key now is how we use the money - and the proof will be in the pudding on that one.

1.He didn't want to be here, 2. we needed to sort out Martinez' mess of a defence, 3. we needed the money for a stadium.

Pick any one or all three of those reasons to highlight the state of the club. It is a sad reflection of where the club is at right now but it is a reality, whether we like it or not.

The one positive was that in so far as we could, given the three reasons above, we sold Stones on our terms. We didn't just cave in at the first offer but held out for a very decent fee.

Personally do not believe he will become an excellent defender. But I do see him excelling in a similar role to what Dier is in at Spurs. I will watch his progress with Man City, and wish him well, but hope he has a poor game against us every time. A performance like his first half at Anfield would do nicely.

I never really rated the lad, he always seemed strangely detached and divorced from what the rest of the team were doing when he started performing pretty tricks in the wrong place.

I watched an interview with him on Bay TV, I have rarely seen a football player who seemed so aloof from reality, not at all a team player.

Ordinary England players, saying come and play with us? Makes you sick really, because if these players would have been born in Iceland, they would now be playing for a team in France, or Bundesliga 2, instead of being paid an absolute fortune to be playing for City. Players on a hundred grand a week, finding time to make adverts for head & shoulders, but are never on their toes.

Stones has a lot of natural ability, and can be an absolute pleasure to watch but he didn't want to stay at Everton, and only the future will tell us who ended up getting the better deal. I personally think the kid might have made a big mistake. (Impossible really, when he's probably on about 𧼐,000 per month!)

Crazy days these. £47.5 million for Stones looks like a good prize for us at first sight. But realizing it gives you Williams and Bolasie in return (if they are going through) the I am not convinced it is a good deal. I actually like both Williams and Bolasie I just think Stones potentially would be more valuable than these two. We will have Williams for the next two years, while Stones could have been our leader for the next ten years.

My worry is that by loosing our players with star quality, Stones and Lukaku, we will not attract players with star quality. It is already difficult with an 11th place, no European football and no sugar-daddy.

I was getting concerned about the apparent lack of transfer activity but if by the end of the transfer window we have managed to sign Gueye, Williams, Kone, and Bolasie, I will be a very happy Evertonian.

As far as the new hierarchy is concerned, Moshiri, Ryazantsev, and Koeman are light years ahead of Kenwright, Elstone, and Martinez.

I suppose that it is normal for a lad still learning his trade in the glare of the Premier League, as opposed to the relative obscurity of one of the lower leagues or the Under-21s.

As for the courting done on England duty, it has always happened, but perhaps Hart and Sterling should have been concentrating on improving there international form rather than chatting-up potential teammates.

In my opinion he will not fulfill his promise, and it will prove to be good business. I recall how Alan Green enthused about how Rodwell would one day move back into the defence to become a ball playing centre-half. Maybe Stones will move into midfield and become the new Gareth Barry?

Citeh fans believe they were sold a pup with Sterling. And the performances I have watched from him over the last year have been awful. Very much like Shaqiri in that we know that Pep lost faith in his inconsistency. And Stirling has inconsistency as one of his main characteristics.

Hart is another one under pressure. As both front line keeper with both City and England. Pep won't take the persistent mistakes that he makes. Can make brilliant save after save. But then gift sides a goal.

People say how can a manager such as Guardiola be wrong in his assessment of the player? Well I'm not saying that I and other fellow Blues who can witness his limitations week on week know better but top managers can and do make mistakes (Kevin de Bruyne anyone?) - they sometimes take risks with promising players in the knowledge that they can just sell on and replace if they don't work out. Mourinho is a prime example of this approach. Who knows, Guardiola might be adopting this strategy with City's billions backing him? In other words, because the financial risks are so negligible, it's worth taking a punt on potential - it doesn't mean that they're absolutely certain that it'll work out. Stockpile a few ugly ducklings in case some of them turn into beautiful swans.

For what it's worth, I think that Stones will turn out to be a decent player for City in the League as they tend to have high possession rates and in that environment he will shine. However, let's see what he's like when under pressure from top European sides who take the game to City. Then I'm not so sure.

He could turn out to be an imperious defender or a Raheem Sterling - now he showed potential once.

But if it doesn't work out at City, do you think Guardiola will lose any sleep over £47.5m?

How one player develops and takes his opportunities has absolutely no bearing on another under different management.

I wish John Stones well and am glad the whole frolic has ended!

The key point is, if he didn't want to be at Everton, he was never going to realise any potential with us. So 㿛.5m for someone who wanted to leave is fine by me.

I'm interested to see how pundits and City fans react to his goal and game-costing mistakes. When it was little old Everton it was a case of 'let him make mistakes and learn, get off his back'. I very much doubt it will still be the case at City.

The irony of Hart telling Stones to go and play at City with him, when it looks like Guardiola will be replacing him and he potentially could be an Everton target... Unlucky Joe.

Why are you talking so much sense and what have you done with Martin Mason?

a) He didn't want to be here (too many people ignore the fact he asked to leave a year ago, never mind now);
b) 㿛.5m IS a shit load of money, especially for a player who has not played well for two seasons and still has a lot to learn;
c) He showed in the derby he has no bottle and was a coward running off the pitch at half-time crying, bad stomach my arse;
d) We need defenders who can defend now and not in 2, 3, 4, 5 years' time;
e) His being around was no positive for team moral

Good riddance for me – now we can move on with a squad of players who actually want to pull on the Everton shirt.

Next to ship out, Lukaku. Faster the better.

Everton simply have to change the image of their club. Unfortunately you can only do that by winning more football matches than other teams and for that you need the best players, therefore you don't sell them.

It appears to me that as soon as we have anyone show any real promise, and this will no doubt apply to Davies, Connolly, Kenny, Ledson and Holgate, they want a move to a bigger club. My stories are wearing thin of us being a big club.

Not seen anything yet other than crisis management from the Moshiri regime. Williams and Kone a replacement for Stones? We needed another centre half last year and you can't have two men on the pitch by taking one off. I'm heading to Goodison on Saturday more in hope than expectation.

I at least thought we were trying harder in the Old Trafford warm up but we can't afford to get off to a slow start and in truth this pre-season has been pretty much a disaster on the recruitment and PR front as much as it has been on the performance/results front.

His replacement, Williams, however, does have form and is playing out of his skin at the moment. And that is what we need – impact players. Regardless of age or low value, form is better than reputation and or promise. Look at Leicester's team last year – squad value was 㿃 million. I don't care who we sign as long as they bring success to the club.

I might be wrong but any examples of when FFP has been breached and a team/club heavily fined etc, I would be interested in hearing.

I like this post.

Sure he is a class act but not irreplaceable and he does have faults which in his position can be costly. Everton got big money for him and the main thing is that it makes Everton stronger.

The fact that Stones has left for City is another sad indictment of the Martinez reign; I'm sometimes surprised we still have players who might actively want to play for us.

Money, the allure of the Champions League, the desire for England caps, the whispers in his ear from other City players with England – it's probably safe to assume that all of these things made a contribution. But the fact we have gone backwards as a team over the last two years is also not going to have made staying all that tempting.

I also think that "nervy Goodison" must have made the idea of staying here all the less palatable. Hope he goes on to achieve great things with the fantastic talent that I 100% believe he has.

Imagine how poor Ross Barkley must have been feeling then in the England camp!

It doesn't make us a selling club- if a player wants to leave then we have to sell him. RS had to sell Suarez, Spurs had to sell Bale, MU had to sell Ronaldo - it applies to all clubs so let's move on. For my money Williams in the back four gives it a far more solid look!

Over the years I have seen Hickson, Collins, Vernon, Young, Royle, Ball, Kendall, Pickering, Gabriel etc and on to Lineker, Kanchelskis, and so on ,move on or be moved on, so I'm not about to be wringing my hands over John Stones.

Get over yourselves ffs.

You can fawn over the fantastic talent of John Stones (pity he neglected to show us this talent too often) that's your prerogative but don't start using the Goodison crowd as one of the reasons why he didn't stay. He has wanted to go for over 12 months and if he and the team had put in any kind of consistent effort in then the crowd wouldn't have turned. We can take rubbish football so long as the players show effort and pride in the shirt but this lot deserve everything they got last season with their pitiful efforts and you insult every Evertonian with that last paragraph. I'm sick and tired of so called fans trying to use the crowd as an excuse for players leaving .absolutely nonsense

And the phrase "so called fans" to describe anyone who criticises the Everton support is a bit unhelpful; some might say that sticking up for the players (and sometimes ex-players) is quite a good quality in a fan.

Champions League - tick
Chance to win the league - tick
Greater chance of national team place - tick
Right style of play for him - tick
More money - tick
But the Evertonians really appreciate the way I... Oh. Yeah, tick.

It probably wouldn't have made a difference but there was absolutely no reason for him to want to stay. I can't think of a departing player's transfer that has made more sense.

You'd think he could play like Zico the way the media are banging on about him. The fact is, is that he couldn't displace Smalling or Cahill from the England team says a lot about the best centre half we've produced since Bobby Moore. City have paid way over the odds again.

As for Stones, maybe if he hadn't shown such disdain to the fans when attempting to dribble out of the area in the last minute against Spurs then he wouldn't have got the stick he did. To not get why we were so anxious given our shocking record of gifting goals away in the last minute again just shows contempt for the fans. Can you imagine any of the old successful players complaining about the atmosphere at Goodison? The likes of Ball Harvey, Kendall Southall Sharp Gray et al would have turned round to their teammates, lambasted them for pathetic performances and told them in no uncertain terms to get the crowd back onside.

So fine I accept I don't speak for every Evertonian, you obviously thought it was completely unreasonable to show our frustration and disappointment at yet another season when we vastly underachiever and the players only played as and when they felt like. Maybe that's one of the reasons why we don't actually win anything anymore, acceptance of mediocrity. When the Man Utd fans turned on their players in the last couple of years the perception was that the team weren't good enough and they weren't doing justice to the Man Utd way. Us? Well we're just plucky old Everton who will accept any old shite and we are just lucky to have someone of Stones ability in the squad. It's no wonder we don't win anything. Stones didn't even want to be here and showed that with his showboat football. Fine if you have superstar players alongside you, not so good when getting skinned in semi finals and giving penalties away by being so lax.

I am sick and tired of putting up with less than maximum effort from players as is most of the match going support. Fine if you think its OK but not for me.

Well said. I'm with you all the way. The way those players played in the latter part of last season was a disgrace to the shirt.

Glad Stones has gone and hope Lukaku goes too.

We could have clung on to Stones like some gin soaked, mascara splattered ex. Begging for another chance, and just please don't leave!

Then next week, in training he gets an injury, never the same player.
Or, he noodles along, but continues fannying around in the 6 yard box gesturing "calm down" and conceding entirely unnecessary corners, free kicks and goals.
And, he still can't work out how to mark effectively every week.

He's gone, and frankly when we paid ١M for him if anyone had said "we'll make around 㿔M profit on that lad". Well my bollocks would have bounced across God's Acre to my resounding laughter.

Everton have done beyond excellent business here. The biggest profiteering to be had on this classy but flawed centre half has been done and dusted. For his entire career.

He is:
Not a devout.
Not an Everton title winning manager poached.
Not an entire winning team sold.
A chess piece.

Sold for a clear 㿔M profit, and Barnsley get a piece of the action that probably keeps them solvent for a season maybe two.

Loyalty?
Modern day football doesn't even have the classy settings or happy endings of "Indecent Proposal".

It's pimps poncing willing prozzies.
Their talent may be as footballers, but cash is their drug of choice.

How many of them break into the first team at an EPL side, have a decent season with a standout performance or two, then get a contract offering 3 or 4 or 5 times their parents working lifetime earnings for just one year?

Ambition?
Financially secure at 20!
OK, 22.

If you can't accept this then consider that back in the day that Man Utd's Bobby Charlton was the national hero.
Reputedly paid 𧺬 a week.

Team mate George Best was on ٣,000 !

Bobby had a comb over slap head and a Ford Cortina.
George shagged Miss World.

Bog average EPL players have "cribs" that even 80's Hollywood Stars would dream of. They have wives/girls that never in their wildest 14 year old fantasies they would ever get into the same room.

Ambition?
Get real, once they can buy ANYTHING THAT THEY WANT and then buy another one next week, well just what do think happens to their kitten like attention?

Hmmmmmmmm football or tits?
OK boss, I'm listening.
A Bentley!
NO way! I can have TWINS !
Yeah Yeah I mark whoever!
FOUR IDENTICAL NIPPLES ! !

Make or break time for Ross – our unpolished diamond!

How the club achieves anything will be down to buying players for now not tomorrow. Our transfer policy and league positions over thee past 13 years is pretty good. Our preparation for the start of the season with bringing players in so late will always hinder us.