Confirmation of Lukaku deal expected this week

Well, it might be good news before our next match!

I don't think even the modern day mercenary footballer deliberately signs a new contract , planning to buggar off within 6 months. I think that the arrival of Moshiri and Koeman has genuinely captured his imagination.

If he sees the new stadium announced in the next month or so, and a big transfer fund confirmed for the next window, I for one think that that will be enough for him to discourage the inevitable suitors who will 'tap him up' this summer and he will knuckle down to the 'project'. I hope so anyway.

I said it in January and I'll say it now: I want to keep him but, if and when he goes, I would take either Batsuyani (Chelsea) or Sturridge, ideally both. Bats is similar to Lukaku 2/3 years ago, talented but worth a punt at £20/25 mill.

So many things go on behind the scenes that we do not know about. New stadiums, top-tier signings in the summer (playmakers that can provide him goals on a consistent basis for example) – all part of the grand plan.

Exciting times ahead. I'm excited and optimistic anyhow.

However, if we should fail to qualify for Europe, I reckon he'll be off anyway and it would be difficult to argue with that.

Sad indictment of the times that we wonder whether it could amount to no more than a guarantee of a higher fee in a matter of a few months. Crazy.

I was just thinking at work this afternoon that Sturridge would be great for us to get, even for just the derby matches!! He would love nothing more than putting one over on them, not happy there and could add even more bite!! Class player on his day.

Spurs were the better team the other day and fair play to them, great manager and I'd love us to follow their direction. Make home a place where all teams hate coming and really don't like the thoughts of welcoming us at theirs either! We need Lukaku for this but we really need to sort out our centre-backs.

It won't be easy keeping hold of him but it'll be far harder finding someone to fill what are becoming prolific boots. Having been one of his doubters, I've now come to the conclusion the longer he stays, the better, he could be something really special with the right players around him.

Get it done, Rom.

However, that is at least 2-3 years away and it would be difficult to see Rom staying that long... although if we can climb the next stage soon and get into the Champions League then who knows...

Presumably it will be in the ballpark of Harry Kane's wage, I think 𧵄,000. If he goes to a bigger club he would be under a lot more pressure and how often do we see strikers doing well at one club fail to take their form with them when they move.

"Four top signings" hopefully will be a goalie, a centre-back, a left back and a striker. Next job is to get Ross tied down with an improved new contract. Perhaps next season we will get a bit closer to the top table.

I got onto it months ago this Moshiri guy is clever in that he's trying to build the positivity and the brand of the club whenever anything negative happens boom! a positive press release about the new ground or Lukaku's nearly signed or Rooney's going to return!

He first did it and made a hash of it after we tried to sign Sissoko and nearly sold McCarthy; he tried to spin it with some bullshit about not wanting McCarthy to leave as he bought into a family!

But since making a fool of himself he's got better at it!

I've never heard us getting spoke about so much on TalkSport and in such a positive way since Moshiri arrived and I'm not having that it is all a genuine!

I'm surprised no-one else has noticed this and I'm not complaining if it benefit's the club and moves us forward into the new era of modern football then so be it, but it is funny to watch how the media in this country is used to manipulate are thoughts and opinions on certain topics!!

I think if you listen to talksport on a daily basis you will have noticed what I'm saying!

Great news if Rom has signed and is staying for at least a couple more years; enough time for us to assemble a decent team and see where it takes us!! Onwards and upwards!!

I have not always been an a supporter of him. There are times when I have thrown my arms up in despair at his game. Then again, I know nothing.

But that's part and part of football hopefully he will be here for at least another season; let's hope we can fulfill his and more importantly the fans' hope of Champions League football.

Yes, I know... but we can hope.

Robert @11 and John @16... I wouldn't touch Sturridge. We've just got Gibson off our books and you would take another sicknote? I couldn't handle that stupid celebration of his either, not that we'd see it much because his scoring record is brutal over the last 2 seasons.

Who knows though what the actual terms are going to be, but whatever they are it is good for us and shows what our top players can see something happening with our great club.

With all due respect, if it's not a reliable source, it's just somebody guessing, and any one of us could do that.

Let's just make sure they are actually top players and they bring what we need to the team and are going to take us up a level!

We need goals from midfield; the lad from Anderlecht, Tielemans looks special; his strikes from midfield are top draw!!

It's about securing an asset for the club. Adding 3 years and possibly setting a clause with a fee that triggers. This will mean he doesn't depreciate in value due to the short length of contract already in place. The extra weekly wage will be outstripped by the retention of value in a transfer fee.

However, I'm not suggesting for a minute that securing this deal will mean Lukaku lines up for us next season.

I agree 100% and we all know we will never find out the true details of the contract.

I was given this information from someone that I deal with on a daily basis through my work, and they have worked with the kenwright family for many years. However, it is all more than likely Chinese wispers.

The salary tells us we are prepared to bring top players to the club. Yes, contracts are meaningless but every player has a price. If he leaves for a top European club winning trophies regularly then it will be that, and not money, that he goes for. I will respect that and good luck to him.

Well done, Everton FC!!

He isn't lazy anymore – his game has come on a lot this season and he's improved both his work-rate and first touch.

The kid can finish, and that's all that really matters. You give him the service, build the team around him and he'll score goals. Proven season after season in the Premier League – he's like gold dust.

Now get Barkley's contract sorted out!

The four big signing comment is interesting – I'd love two of them to be Van Dijk and Sigurðsson, the other two who knows, as Lukaku's agent is one of the top agents in the world with some of the best players on his books maybe a deal to bring in two of his other clients could be on the cards. (I know I'm stretching but it wouldn't be the first time a deal like this has been struck.)

The hope and excitement is getting stronger.

I know sometimes he can get isolated and sometimes not be in matches when we are getting over run in midfield, like Spurs at the weekend, but his desire to score goals is freakish.

I love him, always get the feeling his exit is only around the corner and I don't think him signing a new contract will make me think otherwise. If I was Everton, offer him the world: 𧶀k a week and a big signing-on bonus to have the contract without clauses. We could spend over 𧴜m on strikers and maybe still not get 1 as good as him.

Time to throw the cash about and get a few world class players to compliment him. All he wants to do is score goals and be the best goal scorer, if we can get someone in who feeds him constantly he won't want to move to another club.

We should always set up our team to supply him with chances, if he gets 6 chances a game he is going to bag at least 3 goals without doubt.

You're all mad for thinking this is good news, while your average supporter struggles to earn a living.

Okay, I concede it's brilliant news, we're going to be top 4 next season, but as our Mr Resident Grump, Phil Whaling, said, it's always "next season".

The player will go should a genuine powerhouse come a calling and we get a fee which builds one stand of the new ground.

I think based on our league position, Rom knows we are more likely than not to be playing in Europe next season; as a calculated gamble, staying is worth it to him.

I think the improved salary didn't hurt, and the turnover of the playing squad is a good as any indicator of our stated direction.

Handled well by the club, that's the most telling part.

I'll probably be the only person on here that actually couldn't care less what Lukaku does. We saw again on Sunday that he's not actually that good anyway. Vertonghen immediately bullied him out of the game.

One thing is for sure, whatever happens, it will be to make certain people richer, as opposed to it being to the benefit of Everton Football Club.

Whilst this farce carries on, has anyone noticed that we still haven't got a proper goalkeeper? We should have signed Pickford a long time ago.

Deal worth around 𧴦,000 a week, set to be confirmed this week; contains an exit clause if an elite club comes in for him.

It then goes on to mention Real and Barcelona as Elite Clubs. I wonder are Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, The Shower and Chelsea all in this group?

It then mentions that his agent will still be looking for a potential move this summer. Don't you just love agents in football?

I suppose it's good for the club that he signs. But all the extra crap doesn't have to leave a bitter taste.

We need to get Ross signed up, though. His signing for me is way more important than Lukaku's. I would hate the thought of losing a proper Bluenose to some other "elite club".

Therein is the problem for the agent. For all the fact that Lukaku is prolific, and certainly a player I'm glad is playing for Everton, I'm not sure that there are that many teams out there whose style he would suit. The really top teams are based on fast, fluid, mobile, possession-retaining styles which I'm not sure is Lukaku's game.

Players such as Llorente, Bony, Carroll, Benteke, Giroud, Morata – all very decent players – don't always prosper at the very highest level. Or, when they do, they struggle to play regularly.

It will be interesting to see who would come in for Lukaku if the release clause is set very high and / or whether Lukaku would be prepared to move to a club where he isn't guaranteed a starting place.

I would expect the release clause to be big and it may just be too big. Perhaps our views of him is just a bit too subjective.

Enough of a media frenzy of Lukaku leaving forecasts to put instability in our overall upward momentum and unsettle the team. Sign ASAP please Rom!

With Rom and Ross only getting better and the team being further improved organically by Koeman Bros Inc. and via investment from Mr Moshiri, we really should be back in the mix at the very top sooner than later. COYB.

He really has got a problem with Everton. Even my Mrs, who has no interest in football, has noticed. On Sunday she even remarked that: "I don't like him. He never has anything positive to say about Everton." Things must be bad if my misses has commented on it.

Craig (#47) mentioned Martinez and his role in bringing him to the club which I agree that his sweet talking to both Rom and to Bill managed to persuade a world class top striker to sign for us was a major coup. Lots of us slate Kenwright but to come up with the 㿈M to sign Rom cannot be dismissed lightly. I'd say Moyes was shocked with that news and he thought he had a good relationship with Bill.

With the wheels coming off the Arsenal bus now I wonder would a cheeky bid for Giroud be worth a gamble.

As for the fans, no guarantee he will stay. The buy-out clause stipulates the fee a club will have to pay to release him, should he wish to join them.

All-in-all, it's another way of avoiding haggling!

This is a good deal for him and the club. No doubt the Exit Clause was the sticking point, but it will be enough to provide a very good replacement when the agent finally gets his way.

Next up, hopefully Barkley

Plus, he's fantastic, and will end up with well over 100 goals for us by the time he does leave.

We will be lucky to get £6 millionn for him, That could be a down payment for Shane Long maybe!!

Same guy just signed his THIRD Everton contract wants to leave, eh?

Interesting.

Haha. Has a club in their position ever tucked its tail deeper than what I just watched.

Haha. Shame on you PSG.

Fun watching, though.

I'll be damned.

My mistake on West Brom.

The rest of my post? Have an opinion?

Still sticking with my view that Luka hasn't once stated, or intimated, he wants to leave Everton.

Ah now I understand. I wondered what West Ham had to with it!

My thing is that Lukaku hasn't once in 4 years said he wants to leave.

He's getting a new contract, at a huge chunk of change, at the Club where he's the main man and no doubt about it.

Why would he want to leave?

However, there have been numerous occasions where he has been quoted as having said things that could only be construed as a "come and get me" if you're a Champions League club.

I believe that "part" of the reason that he's still with us is due to the fact that Everton have never received a concrete offer for him from a Champions League club, despite the efforts of the press and just about every ex RS gobshite pundit to make it happen.

Just substitute Koeman's name for Lukaku, Barkley, Coleman, Baines and everyone all the way back to Rooney.

Just yapping dogs, hungry for scraps... gobshites with no talent or morals, telling lies and floating crap for reasons perhaps not unrelated to money.

It'll be great if and when Lukaku signs a new contract. We'll find out when there's an official statement from the club.

How about this?

Every word out of his mouth regarding the Champions League was aimed at the owners of His Club getting in better players for him to play with.

Loan and permanent contracts, this kid is on his fourth deal with Everton. Where has he even hinted, just one time EVER in 4 years, he wants to leave?

He can however carve up teams like Sunderland and Bournemouth. Sell him for –80 million and get Gabbiadini or someone like him, an all-round opportunistic poacher, a lead-the-line forward.

Nowhere In his interview with Ross did our man say anything about leaving Everton, yet big gob is convinced he's going to leave us in the summer. He's tried to tell the world that Rom is too good for us, now it's Barkley's turn.

Wish there was an option for crowd noise and adverts only – most of us have been to hundreds if not thousands of games and don't need their opinions (usually uninformed) to form our own.

Replace Lukaku (the best striker, in many an opinion, we've had since Lineker) with Gabbia-fucking-dini?!?

Seriously,you must be winding us up.

It's hardly an odd perspective. There are numerous occasions where he's "hinted" EVEN once as you put it here's the first of many I found and know about.

However, he told Sky Sports News HQ that the Champions League is "the next step" for him and said he is keen to test himself against Europe's elite in next season's campaign.

Lukaku said: "That is the next step for me. I'm 23 next summer and I think it would be nice to play in the Champions League from next season."

Bearing in mind these comments were reported on the 27th of March 2016 and Everton had absolutely no chance of qualifying for the Champions League, it's fair to say he was looking to be playing for someone else.

I've no intention of getting caught up in a posting war with you, James, and I don't disagree with you because I'm against Lukaku (quite the opposite, as I realize how important he is to the club) but that particular comment is pretty straight forward and hard to misinterpret.

My last word on it anyway. Believe what you want, mate.

Sorry for the cynicism but this is not worth a jot.

I didn't search for it, he had posted it straight after their incredible win and I don't begrudge him that that tweet. Call me a cynic (and I am) but I can't see Ronnie ever getting effusive or emotional about Everton on social media or in post match interview apart from to slag off his players, the board etc etc

I would be a happier bunny and a little less cynical if Koeman came out after poor performances (Chelsea,Spurs, Bournemouth, Leicester at home) and took some responsibility for the dire tactics employed. Come on, how many of us looked at the team sheet on Sunday with its legion of defensive midfielders and thought we were going to get anything?

Let's see how many goals your mate Gabbiadini has after 100 or so games, eh??!

But, as with all things TW, you may be right, wrong, partially right, right now and wrong in 2 mins, always partially wrong or right, psychotic, ill-advised, very smart, posting from Broadmoor, or even the Trump-man himself. Who knows?

The best strikers in the Premier League can score against any team, whereas Lukaku is apparently more suited to lower level Premier League teams.

Within the past fifteen months he has scored three against Man City, two against Chelsea and one against Spurs. Further back in 2013 he scored a hat trick for West Brom against Man Utd, two for us against Liverpool and one against Man City. In 2014 he scored two against Arsenal and one against Man City. In 2015 he scored one versus Liverpool.

That is 16 goals in total which seems to me pretty good in a team which has often been outclassed in fixtures against the big clubs.

He's not as good as Kane, but he's still good.

Stop trying to throw those facts around. Our friend John Wilson would much prefer to go with that totally debunked bullshit line that Alan Shearer put out a couple of months ago that Lukaku only scores goals against weak opposition.

Come now, the "FACT" that Lukaku is at the top of the goal charts in the Premier League obviously means that he is NOT one of the best strikers in the Premier League. The fact that he had 119 career club goals by the age of 22, and had more than 60 goals in the Premier League by the age of 23, ranking him 4th All-Time highest scorer in the Premier League by the age of 23, clearly means he is just nowhere near a top talent.

And guys, it makes total sense that in the Premier League, with every club playing each other twice, that ALL those better strikers would have scored MORE against those inferior opponents, since it's so easy to score goals, apparently... Wait, I mean that doesn't make sense. Well clearly it's down to those better strikers saving themselves to only score against Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Yeah, that's clearly what happened. Yeah, Aguero's 12 Premier League goals must have only come against the very best teams. So let's see... he's scored 2 against Stoke, 2 against Burnley, 2 against Swansea (uh oh, not looking good so far), 2 against West Brom, 1 against Sunderland, 1 against Burnley, 1 against Boro, and 1 more against Sunderland. Okay, look at all those goals against Chelsea, Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool... Shit, that didn't work.

Let's do Costa. Yeah, he only scores against the big boys: 2 against Swansea, 1 against Everton, 1 against West Ham, 1 against Watford, 1 against Boro, 1 more against West Ham, 1 against Man City, 1 against West Brom, 1 each against Liverpool, Palace, 2 in 2 games against Hull, 1 against Leicester, 1 against Stoke, 1 against Southampton, 1 more against Swansea and that's it. 17 Premier league goals and only 2 against the "Top" clubs.

Well shit... It looks like Lukaku's 18 league goals, with 2 against Man City and 1 against Spurs is actually MORE than Costa and Aguero COMBINED. This can't be... It just can't be true, can it? Can he really have scored more goals in total, and more against the "Top" clubs?

Yeah, I wish we had Mick Madar back!!

If hard work covers a multitude of sins, then I'm convinced this is why people would rate Kane better than Lukaku.

:)

Not forgetting every one of Kanes goals are perfect strikes.
75% of Roms are scuffed shots

He's a very good goal scorer in an average team. Give him more supply and perhaps he can score a bit more, oh the pundits won't like that...

As I keep saying on here, he scores goals. That's his job and he does it well. When we get more players that do their job as well as he does, we'll be getting somewhere.

The guy is having a good season and scoring some fantastic goals... but these silly stats which people insist on putting up to compare him favourably with Costa, Aguero and Kane? Any Evertonian who understands the game would trade Lukaku in for any of them in a heartbeat.

There are good strikers, very good strikers and then there are strikers who score when it really really matters, those who ensure their teams win something.

Going off how they have fared (so far) this season alone may show that Lukaku has scored a whopping three goals more than Aguero against the so-called 'big clubs', but their overall Premier League records paint a different picture as to who is more prolific in such games:

Sergio Aguero

Tottenham: 11 games/10 goals
Man Utd: 8 games/7 goals
Chelsea: 10 games/ 6 goals
Liverpool: 9 games/ 4 goals
Arsenal: 8 games/ 3 goals

46 games / 30 goals

Lukaku:

Tottenham: 8 games/ 1 goal
Man Utd: 10 games/ 3 goals
Chelsea: 5 games/ 0 goals
Man City: 10 games/4 goals
Liverpool: 10 games/ 5 goals
Arsenal: 10 games / 1 goal

53 games / 14 goals

And seeing as though he was also mentioned above:

Harry Kane

Man Utd: 6 games/ 0 goals
Chelsea: 6 games/ 3 goals
Man City: 5 games/ 2 goals
Liverpool: 5 games/ 2 goals
Arsenal: 4 games/5 goals

26 games/12 goals

Link

Or maybe he doesn't get enough help sometimes when he doesn't work as hard... or he can't quite get hold of the ball?

Still silly money, I know... but there can't be too many sides that wouldn't want him in their team.