Mirallas heading back to Olympiakos

Did the right thing, signing a contract to get a decent fee. All the best, Kev.

Net spend on Tosun of half a million!

Yes good point. We should have given away Barkley and Mirallas and spent £50m on Tosun so that we would have a larger net spend.

Mirallas won't be missed and Barkley's contract had 6 months left. All things considered, for once the club's hierarchy is at least demonstrating a semblance of business savvy, having just about cocked up everything else.

Of his time at Everton, his conduct has been questionable under each manager. In particular the on-field sending offs were brainless trantums.

Scored some boss goals though!

Thinks he better than he is.

Then of course there's the £9 million in wages.

No better him away.

Hopefully there's a few more to go as well.

Shame really he was never consistent. Still another wage we are saving. Do they want Besic thrown in for a tenner??

Leon Osman in a recent interview describes him as "not the bravest". Likely to know more about Kevin than me or you.

I purely was doing the maths, so keep yer condescending sarcasm to yerself if you don't mind.

I was doing the maths. Not meant to be negative at all.

Funny how people can interpret the written word so differently from how it was meant.

Hopefully start to ship out the rest of the crap and start to see more of the likes of Lockman, can't believe he hasn't had more game time. #COYB

If so, I can only imagine the excitement and hollering when you are balancing your accounts and/or paying your bills.

Oh, I forgot.... !!

You misunderstood what I meant. Why can't you just leave it at that?

Or say "Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant"?

A top left-back, a big left-footed centre-half, and another big striker in, please.

As for you not so super Kev, giassou and efharisto for (almost) nothing.

Least he got the shitbag back in the next derby he played in.

Great player on his day but his attitude stank the place out.

A bit of shrewd business as usual.

Fully agree. He was putting them in their place like no-one has for years. He got chopped down and we had to bring on Magaye Gueye, who played okay on the day but wasn't Mirallas.

Could have been our Cristiano – but became our Bebe.

Just hope Lookman hasn't learnt too much from him; the impact he had last night was mentionable to say the least.

After years of general parity under the Kenwright regime, £120k per week contracts have probably caused a lot of what we are witnessing on the pitch – players playing for themselves.

Not saying Mirallas was one of them, but I don't think he would be too happy on the bench earning a lot less than some of his colleagues. We need a clear out, and he is rightly being let go.

When the current squad has virtually no strikers, I would have loved to have seen him being played centrally. However, it's World Cup year & he needs to play. Best of luck, Kev.

Seems a lot that for half a season. Are you sure it's just for a loan?

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/olympiacos-say-agreed-deal-re-14122439#comments-section

Also, Allardyce has supposedly said there'll only be sales out and no loans during this window.

£4m for a half season loan.... things are looking up.

No tears shed here.

I must be going mental as it stated the below on Sky Sports transfer earlier on loan with a loan fee of £4 million; however, just checked again and the loan fee has been removed from the statement by Sky.

Either way, they will have to pay a loan fee and wages, sure we'll find out tomorrow the specifics of the deal maybe...

22:01
MIRALLAS REJOINS OLYMPIAKOS

Kevin Mirallas has agreed to join Olympiakos on loan till the end of the season.

Everton will receive a loan fee, but the Greek club have no option to buy at the end of the term.

I guess he wanted away before the season started but it never happened and like Barklay has basically been out of the picture.

Playing a deeper role did not suit his style.

Need to see the back of players who are only playing for themselves or their move to more illustrious pastures if we are to ever progress.

I can't currently see any other eager wantaways at the club so let's move onto the shite and the has-beens now.

Was fantastic early doors and as someone referenced, came on against West Ham in the cup when we were down to 10 men and 1-0 down and scored 1 and made 1 to go 2-1 ahead.

At that point Bobby Martinez should have closed the game off but we went for a 3rd goal and conceded an equaliser instead.

Mirallas was one of my favourite players due to his pace, strength and goal threat but last 2-3 seasons he's wasted his career being shite.

Not sure if he's lost it or just had a crap attitude.

There must have been a reason so many managers didn't pick him.

He never seemed to get it together again mentally after that.

Good luck to him and I hope he rediscovers his form so we get a decent transfer fee for him.

I get the feeling that, if there wasn't any money in the game, Kev would be a hairdresser some other kind of show pony.

Anyhow, good luck to him and let's hope we see more of Lookman.

I was going to say the same. He twatted Sewer Rat so for me that will do.

Thanks for the memories, Kev.

Always on the lookout for No 1 since he's been here. Can you remember a window when he's not said something derogatory towards the people who pay him, and the fans who adore him, to engineer a move? Flattered to deceive, even since the Moyes days. Never a team player, and to be fair never that good other than the odd occasion he had a standout game.

Thrived off the fact he was Belgian. Luckily for him, the media would make a big song and dance about it when he had a standout game that we as Evertonians should expect as the bare minimum! This is what he's made a career out of at Everton.

I always thought he was better than he was and those Match of the Day knobheads fed his ego to astronomic proportions.

(On a side note, match of the day wise, Gary Lineker disgusts me. Never has a good word to say about Everton, even though he had a record-breaking goal tally that year he played for us. I'm glad we won fuck all when he was running the front line, the bitter bastard.)

I've never understood why other fans liked Mirallas so much (my close family where among them); good riddance for me. He's had an awesome career (cash-wise), taking the piss out of an amateur employer (Everton FC) and he's looking for one more pay day to go back to the inferior league he came from!. T'rar from me, dickhead. Take your gold Bentley inflated ego with you.

Apologies about the rant, but for me, Kevin Mirallas has been the epitomy of everything wrong with our club player-wise for years. He always thought he was better than us. EFC – a stepping-stone for the entire time he was here. Step on this, you twat!

On a positive note, for me, he's the last of the first team players on our books who think they are bigger than Everton FC and who think we as fans should be grateful for their piss-poor performances. Good riddance.

Apologies but he boils my blood – along the with the other knobs from that era: Barkley, Lukaku and Stones, who were allowed to believe they were better than us for financial reasons. We are Everton. Only the Best is Good Enough. Otherwise, what's the bloody point?

Surprised that a few posters, talking of clearing out the remaining deadwood, are including our Oumar in their lists. It wasn't long ago we were nailing him as our saviour when Koeman was forced to pick him and he came up with the goals we badly needed. He is still our joint second-top scorer this season and can still do a job for us as an impact sub, so I for one wouldn't want to see him go. He always plays with a smile, not a scowl, like Mirallas, and totally loves Everton as far as I can see.

Lineker does say nice things about his time at Everton though, but it was only one season in his career.

As I say, there is probably a lot more to it and I look forward to welcoming a lot more ball-players to the club... and maybe some less defensive midfielders.

We're not getting a lot of money for him but it's good business to get his toxic influence out of the club and off the payroll. Shame... as he used to be good on his day.

We may indeed get some more ball-playing types but they won't be from the top shelf.

Unfortunately, those players that are creative, exciting, skilful and work their wotsits off, are all bought by the stupid rich clubs. We certainly can't afford them.

We are not the only club with this imponderable – our current manager prefers the former type of player. Roberto Martinez preferred the latter type of player; our former manager Ronald Koeman couldn't make his mind up, and bought neither.

Which of course is why we, especially, are focussing so hard on developing players who can do both. We do have a tremendous crop of younger players coming through and they are breaking through. As a club, it should work as a policy – because, even if they aren't world beaters (it will be so hard to keep them if they are), the local (or academy) lads will have our full support for trying, and more forgiving (maybe even on here) whilst they learn, and develop.

I think bigger expenditure on players and an appropriate manager for those classier players may be linked with the increased revenue the new ground will provide.

As with most, a loss is a crisis for 15 mins and when we win it is a new dawn! But, in the cold light of day, I think we may have 2 or 3 more years of mediocrity.

For me, if part of the plan is linked to the new ground, I can deal with that. If it isn't, it is not on. Guess we each decide whether we believe there is a plan like that. I say believe because, despite what will be admirable attempts to provide evidence, we have no idea really.

I was rather hoping Moyes was going to pay £20m, damn it.

2 short planks springs to mind.

Both leave with mixed feelings, occasionally amazing, often frustrating.

The best players are the consistent ones – neither of these players was ever consistent so for me I won't lose much sleep over either of them.

It was only a matter of time before he was ejected. Thanks for one or two good memories and good luck.

The squad is gradually being refreshed; Mirallas and Barkley gone is a good thing for the club. We need another one or two out, and two or three in.

Did some really good things for us in the 2012-2015 period but his overall impact has gradually slipped so much that even the fleetingly inconsistent brilliance have gone now.

Scored some lovely goals, the free kick winner at home to Villa in 2014 amongst my favourite at the Gwladys Street but never quite fulfilled the potential of being a double figures player.

I remember an early performance of his against Swansea away. We destroyed them and he was fantastic. A scorer of some magnificent goals for us. Spurs away, Stoke at home spring to mind.

Should have been finished with the club as soon as the final whistle blew in that West Brom game at home.

It didn't always work out for him but I think there's a few others I'd have got shot of before him.

Dan Parker hit the nail on the head when he said that he played well under Moyes. Good managers get the best out of good players. Do not let them get ahead of themselves. Mirallas deteriorated under Martinez and Koeman because neither of them managed the team or players.

Getting rid of players who have yet to be given an opportunity in a settled side more like the one that was playing on Friday is silly. I still believe the Klaassen could be a good player for us, Sandro not so sure. We do however need a creative midfielder of the Rooney type but who has the engine and can execute the pass which is in his brain.

Martina is getting a lot of stick because he is playing out of position. Why not reverse and put him on the right and Kenny on the left?

Even in our darkest days of this season, he was the only player I saw who attempted to carry the game forward to the opposition. Not always successfully but is that him or do the players around him have a responsibility also? I wish him luck.

So maybe the criticism is over the top from some but I reckon Kev probably wanted away so away he goes.

Barkley had had enough, so too had Lukaku. If I remember correctly, he was considering staying but felt the club didn't show enough ambition and decided to move on.

We had a similar rants on this site about other players, not least James McCarthy, and now, because of his influence on the team in the last few games, he is flavour of the month. Had he not played in the two games and been sold on, we would have had similar reaction.

A small talent with no bottle but a great ego. I hope we have a clause in there that will never allow him to come back. It's just great to see him go.

By position, a supporting central striker but never considered good enough to be trusted to play there, so he got shunted out left to play cutting in, as an inside forward. A problem though in that he lacked the defensive instincts and application to provide cover to our left back. Overall a downgrade on Pienaar, though quicker and offering more goal threat.

I'd have liked one of our managers to have given him a prolonged run of starts behind the centre-forward, maybe 5 or 6, in order to see if he had it. If not he could've been moved on a lot sooner.

Hot-headed, for sure but always trying to make things happen and desperate to play hence his frustration. Not necessarily a bad thing. Martinez convinced him to re-sign then dropped him. Same story this summer, when considering we were desperate for goals he could've been an asset.

An Everton nearly man, shame it took us 5½ years to reach this conclusion. I think he'll likely do okay for Olympiakos.

In addition, when Niasse leaves, most Evertonians will wish him well as they appreciate that, despite limitations, he gives everything he's got.

Mirallas, on the other hand, can do one.

Kevin gets the good riddance whereas Ross gets the tearful goodbyes... yet Mirallas scored more goals in fewer matches and didn't shaft the club out of £20M.

While his style was probably more suited to be a winger, he was too selfish to be one. You could always guarantee once he got the ball on the wing, his head went down and a direct run to the box would happen and, more often than not, a wayward shot would be the end product. I'll imagine he'll be back upfront for the Greeks and be back in the goals too.

Roberto's first season, the 3-0 over Arsenal; the Arteta own-goal. Kevin fought the ball away from two Arsenal players in our half, sprinted forward, passed it to Naismith, and broke for goal. Naismith's pass back to him was touched by Mikel just ahead of Kevin's foot. I thought, "Man this guys gonna be great for us."

The other was the following season in the Europa League. Can't remember the opponent. But Gibson must have given him a sign. Mirallas sprinted away from the defender and jumped on one of those laser-beam long passes Gibson had in his locker. Instant control and right-footed over the onrushing keeper. Into the net, cool as you please.

Given his ball skill, foot quickness, and legit sprinter's speed, you'd think he would have made more of it in English footy. Just one of those guys who leaves you scratching you head. "Why isn't he better?"

Good luck to him. But he needed to go.

On the other, there's Barkley looking after numero uno, I hope he gets dog's abuse on his return... selfish git. We should sue him for medical bills if nothing else.

Whatever you think of Mirallas, he cannot be compared against Barkley. Barkley has turned his back on the club. Mirallas signed a new contract, Barkley didn't.

We might not get much for Mirallas when he is eventually sold (if he is sold). But he hasn't left us out of pocket.

Barkley has hidden behind his injury, and ran his contract down, costing us (arguably) £20m out of pocket.

Mirallas is apparently a sulker and bad influence in and around the squad, but did the decent thing by signing a new contract (probably) knowing that his time was coming to an end, and we are probably better off without him in and around the first team squad. I wish Mirallas well, but see no future for him at Everton.

As for Barkley, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. Poorly advised and, in my opinion, he will regret this move in time to come. I will apologise on TW if I am proved wrong.

He loved to flash and shimmy, but wouldn't make a dummy run or run the channels for the others and the good of the team.

He won't be missed, I'm afraid.

Time for him to move on for his own and the club's benefit I feel.

Re the infamous penalty incident vs West Brom – that said more about Baines's weak mental attitude than Mirallas.

Away to Leicester this season, he was the only player he looked like scoring and was hauled off at half-time the visionary Unsworth – presumably his penalty for daring to have 2 shots which just missed the posts!

His attitude hasn't always seemed great – but did Barkley's? Does Schneiderlin? How has Rooney treated the club? How did the grossly over-paid Rooney 's £130k per week go down in our dressing room, after dumping us as an 18-year-old?

By the way, I don't Blame Sam for the state we're in – that lies with the likes of Martinez and our drooling Chairman – the sooner he has nothing to do with our transfer policy and the running of the club the better.

Last season, from January onwards, our best sustained run of results, we had a front three of Mirallas, Lukaku and Barkley. All of those players are now gone with 6 months of the season ending. We have recouped just over £100m for them. It's sad for me, that the best part of that team was bought so easily and cheaply.

In reality, Mirallas was a declining force. I suspect his perceived bad attitude was down to his frustration with him being unable to do what he used to be able to do. I wrote this about Mirallas at the start of the season:

"Kevin Mirallas has played this position (Left inside forward) for a number of years now. He's good at it because he can do the basics very well, that is come inside and dribble at the defence at speed, create the confusion as listed above, and shoot on his right. He's scored a load of goals. You're waiting for the “but” right? Well here it is, he's too well known, too easily predicted, I mean I fancy my chances in tackling him or forcing him to give the ball up. The takes the ball and runs inside, and he's looking for the shot. Defences just need to ensure the shot is not on. He then either runs into a wall or passes it safely and we lose momentum."

I'd also commented that he looked slower this season and so of the front three to leave, he is the one there is few reservations about. It's still sad to see a player who was here for 5 or 6 seasons leave, especially when despite recent events, he did well and he did entertain. That said, if the rumours are true, then the dressing room will be a happier place without him.

Those wishing to clear out the other "deadwood" then naming players who cost £20m or more, be careful what you wish for. The last thing we need to replace players capable of being at the top level with ex-stoke players. Just because your Porsche is broke doesn't mean you go out and sell it and buy a ford focus because that is more reliable. We've supposedly got a sports psychologist now, so let him work with those "deadwood" and let the coaches work on bringing the best out of them. The last thing I want to see is a firesale of players who were meant to take us to the top 4, and to bring in journeymen who give it their all week-in & week-out, but are ultimately not good enough.

The puzzle for me is why three managers let him get away with it. I was astonished that he had a lengthy contract renewal, which makes sense to me now in selling him on (hopefully).

Maybe other clubs don' t want to sign our "deadwood". You know, what, we are talking about people here.

Hibbert was a fantastic servant for Everton. He gave 100% throughout his career. Ultimately it ended due to injury, but at least he made it to a good age.

He was on a decent contract, and saw out the end of that contract. No one in their right mind would have taken Hibbert out of that contract early as injuries had taken their toll. Hibbert wouldn't end it early as it would be his last ever footballer's wage. So, you can't clear him out.

He cost us nothing but wages, and gave us everything he had. I don't begrudge him a penny.

He started well, and per the stat above, matched most of our attacking talent for productivity.

However, I always felt he was operating at 75% and only gave glimpses of going over that! Then there were a few incidents which left a bad taste.

As he's moving back abroad and is not a direct competitor, I wish him well and thank him for his contribution.

He seemed an odd choice for Moyes to sanction the signing of, as he always disliked flair players who were a bit about themselves. Moyes, to his credit though, was pretty good at putting his foot into a player and making them toe the line. Add to that it was Kev's first season in a new league so he was probably very focused on impressing.

Martinez was a soft touch and obviously didn't do anything to quell the ego. And Jags, or whomever had the captain's armband the night against West Brom, should have acted like a captain and not allowed that to happen. That was when it went south for Mirallas, and any club with a hierarchy with any brains would have rectified the situation one way or another.

I wouldn't say I'm sad to see Kev (or Barkley) leave, but I am disappointed it didn't work out for them at Everton.

Until Mirallas came, Jelavic was scoring goals for fun. Kevin had been the main man in Greece and when he came to Everton he thought his role was the same. So he went for the balls that had previously been the domain of Jelavic. Neither prospered and Jelavic moved on.

The manager's fault, not the players.

So, sorry but no respect... and we are better off without people like this.

The myth of Ross or the under appreciated Kevin?

He was alright, sometimes.

The new season starts and he barely gets a look-in except in Europa League games, hence trying to get a move to Olympiakos before the deadline. I can't say I blame him. Koeman had showed no intent to start him in the Premier League.

I too was puzzled as to why he got hauled off at HT vs Leicester. He'd looked dangerous. I think Unsworth lost confidence in playing with genuine wingers and wanted to congest the midfield. Still a weird decision though.

I read what he said when I lived in France and just to make sure I didn't read it wrong I asked my French girlfriend to translate it to English, he did think Atletico were coming in for him but they didn't, so back to Everton – deny it, say it was a misunderstanding.

I don't think you can ever have too many players who can create things out of next to nothing, except in the truly practical sense of trying to give everyone sufficient game time, but if they aren't willing to be simply part of a greater whole then they can become more trouble than they are worth.

Right time for him to go but he's not someone you'd sell to your rivals for peanuts so the market for him is unfortunately limited.

Be interesting to hear what position he plays. Always thought he'd make a good striker but seemed his best spell was playing RM/RW ahead of Coleman early in his career with us.

Sunday: Mirallas goes out on a loan deal? You just wonder who is in charge of our transfer policy.

I remember the expectation when he first came to us, going from those YouTube videos, he never quite produced regularly enough for me, and often went missing in games, plus the attitude problems; it was best he moved on.

I would be made up if we could offload Schneiderlin, but can't see anyone coming in for him. Admittedly he has been slightly better in recent games, but way short of what we need.

“Two polarising players end with similar PL records for Everton. Perhaps surprising Mirallas involved in 20% more goals. Fewer mins, too:
Mirallas 151 apps (29G, 20A)
Barkley 150 apps (21G, 18A)”

I assume Besic and a couple of others could follow.

I wish him luck, as he was an Everton player, and he did some good things for us now and then!

It has to be remembered though that Mirallas scored most of those in his first 3 years when he was in his mid-twenties, whilst Ross's were from 19 to 22 and the stats include his first couple of years when he played 20-odd games but didn't score (so averaging a goal or an assist about once every 3 games).

When our front three consisted of Mirallas, Lukaku and Barkley I had no complaints and I am not easily pleased! The players we have that remain are largely shite and we are now a million miles behind the top six in terms of team quality.

I wish Kevin Mirallas well, a quality player with a goal record very few have been able to match at our club in recent years.

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/01/09/everton-attacker-david-henen-says-he-is-open-to-leaving-permanen/