Dubious Iwobi-Atalanta link

Dubious is the word

Tell em we won't pay a penny over £5m - take it or leave it.

I'll take dubious.

It would be like Christmas.

If they take him then surely one of our American friends could flog them the Brooklyn Bridge

I think Colin Glassar must have seen this and fainted. He would have been all over this thread like a rash!!

The kind of transfer that would immediately give Benitez about six days grace! Still can't believe the way Everton, backed Silva after his first season, and think this is when Brands inexperience regarding the EPL, put us back a few more years, even after the Walsh and Koeman, debacle, with Iwobi still being a signing that is still to this day impossible to fathom.

Tutto Mercato = Total Bollocks. This must be a wind up thought up by some ex-RS hack. Unless, of course, Atalanta have a recruitment policy and scouting system as awful as ours. Fat chance.

Hope springs eternal though and tonight I'll dream of not seeing the name Iwobi on the team sheet for Saturday.

I honestly believe there's a talent in Iwobi somewhere. It's not football but there's definitely a talent!

If there were any truth in this (and there probably isn't) it would be interesting. Atlanta has a superb recruitment department who do great work spotting talent in unheralded players. I'd not be too sad to see him go as he's not done much but I feel he's rarely been used correctly.

One for the bulging, spurious rumour file. What next, Barcelona wanting to sign him as Messi's replacement?

You never know though, we were daft enough to sign him for 27m so Arsenal have proven it can be done.

Too good to be true, If they'd take him, throw in Delph for free.
Regarding the Financial Fair Play and how we're under severe pressure, our stadium income for a season is around £17m/£18m before covid, while the top clubs with the new stadiums, revenue £80m/£100m, mainly corporate, so they are allowed spend way more than us? Even though Moshiri has the money, we can't compete? Bramley - Moore Dock can't come quick enough

It's a typo... it's Atlantis that want him, they've seen him play in his lead laden boots, believe he can do a bit of diving and he plays like a fish out of water!😩

Rob, Colin is probably driving him to Timbuctoo, or wherever the alleged Club are. Don't think too many will shed tears if it does come off !

How many of us would offer to fly the plane, despite being non pilots?

I'd sacrifice myself as long as Kenwright was co pilot

Brian M, Pontius was a Pilate wasn't he ? 😜😂

Derek, he was until he and his brother went into fitness training.

Alex, 9
Its not quizzing.

Maybe if all season ticket holders agree to pay a quid a week towards his wages we can make it happen.

Wouldn't we all get parachute payments?

For the money, he has to be up there with our worst-ever signing.

I have looked into this and I can clear this rumour up. Dubious Iwobi is Alex's 16-year-old brother, he's off to the Atalanta football academy after his GCSEs.

Whenever I meet a Gooner, I always tell them they will always be my favourite other club because of Michael Thomas. A few have returned the compliment for us signing Walcott and Iwobi.

Good post, Sam Hoare. The abuse Iwobi gets on here gathers momentum and is chucked in casually without much thought. It is unfair. As you rightly say he has rarely been used properly. He is not going to tear down the wing and plant a bullet- like cross on the head of DCL.
What he does have is the ability to make short passes in confined space and be available for a return, in short, retain possession to look to break down a team defending deep. This wasn't much use and was never required with the dross we were served up with in Carlo's latter days. Ordinary sides came to Goodison Park faced with the prospect of breaking down the home side.
Iwobi was never going to hitting teams on the break, if indeed this was the plan of the hapless Ancelotti. He will be a decent enough player in a different, not necessarily better, team. Unfortunately he is becoming a scapegoat for our inadequacies.
Like Sam, I hope he goes, because I can't see us being his sort of team any time soon.
Just another player signed without there seeming to have been much thought put into how he would fit into our style of play. Frankly, a style that has been unfathomable to me for some time.
Seems to me to have been a panic signing made for the sake of spending money. Like too much of our business for too long, a stab in the dark, throwing a lot of money and hoping to hit lucky.
Definitely not the fault of Iwobi.

People always ask what Iwobi's best position is? For Arsenal, the answer to that was whatever position he was playing the night our useless bastard scouts were watching him.

Worst signing ever? He's got stiff competition in Williams, Bolasie and Tosun.

Paul, best position?
.
.
.

In the stands.

Iwobi was Arsenal's retaliation for us selling them Francis Jeffers for £13M in the 90s... lol.

We are even now.

Stevie Wonder must be scouting for Atalanta nowadays

Gasperini is an extremely smart manager, and it's hard to imagine he'd be interested in Alex, but as Sam says, Atalanta is a savvy scouting and recruiting club. If anybody could spot hidden uses for him, it's them.

Paul@25..I'd throw Delph into that group as well.

Mike "as Sam says, Atalanta is a savvy scouting and recruiting club. If anybody could spot hidden uses for him, it's them."

Like selling him on for a BIG transfer fee to somebody like, er...!

I just hope none of our players read ToffeeWeb..christ they must be depressed after reading how shite they are. No wonder there is no desire on the pitch, peeps on hear have them hung drawn and quartered. Me, I will stick to supporting those who put in the effort regardless of how shite they may look. Being critical to the point 👉 of abuse on this site for Far too long. Try support and encouragement, who knows it might just work for some players, think Gomes made that point when he first arrived.

Philip Bunting 32 - The players don't need support and encouragement. That's what the money is for,

Andy#24 As you rightly say it's not Iwobi's fault, a panic buy in the last few hours of the transfer window by Brands, when we were supposedly buying Zaha. I know you said he hasn't been playing in his proper position, he was playing on the left wing for Arsenal, when he got on, even they couldn't believe we paid £28m+ for a reserve who has been tried in a good few positions, but to no avail in my opinion.

If this is true then, Allah Akbar!! God is indeed great.

Colin, to you this would feel like winning the League.

Or having a fling with Pamela Anderson, in her prime, in Hef's mansion, Mike😉

Colin, I was always more of a Barbi Benton guy, but yeah, I get your point.

Paul @ #25.

Strangely enough, I was watching a video on Facebook today of Lukaku scoring a hat-trick against Sunderland. Bolasie put the sweetest cross onto Rom's head for the 1st. Always felt there was a player in there. Never the same after that awful injury.

Mike Gaynes post 29. It would really be a big gasperini and a whoop of delight if that Atalanta boss takes iwobi and helps us start our spending.

5 million and the deal is done and we give them the money.

Not that I believe this rumour at all, but Atalanta under Gasparini play a 3-5-2 with under-lapping wingbacks to support through the middle.

There were a few times the Iwobi played as a right-wingback last season. He could be positioned there under Rafa's favoured 3-5-2 formation as well?

Just a thought?

I would pay Atalanta with all my life savings (£5.42p) if they would take this waste of a shirt.

Colin. I'd gladly make that up to a tenner mate. I'll also run him to the airport if you come along to make sure he doesn't escape on the journey!

How is he at pouring a bottle of brown ale and balancing fried onions on top of hot dogs, shirley there is something he can do.

John Maxwell can we give them the 5 million under the FFP 🤔

I feel sorry for him being made the whipping boy on here, you don't play for Arsenal under Wenger the amount of times he did or get dozens of caps for Nigeria if your shite, “Carlo Fantastico “ had him playing left wing back and right wing back, he hasn't had a decent run in the side in a settled position, we've got a lot of players worse than him

The owner wants the club to be competing for Europe and with the investment in players and the new ground he has shown his commitment to achieving this.

Unfortunately, previously appointed managers and Brands have left us with some players that will not come up to that standard. It's not helped by the profit and sustainability rules which may restrict business.

We will just have to get behind what we have and see what Rafa can do with what he has inherited and what he can come up with transfer wise.

Andy

You have a point but I think you're being very generous to Iwobi. Regardless of what position he plays, his end product is next to nothing. Looks a fine player in the middle of the pitch but offers very little in defensive areas or the final third. He's a microcosm of everything that has been wrong with our recruitment in the last few years.

I think Iwobi is the worst ever wide-player I've seen in my time and that's saying something after the likes of Alexandersson, Mitch Ward, John Oster, Idan Tal, Aiden McGeady...

The fact that we paid a huge amount for him as a panic-buy adds insult to injury.

I still prefer him to Delph though.

Just read on Transfermarkt website that Everton paid £28M up front, plus up to £7M in additional fees!!! It's worse than I thought man!

Pound for pound THE worst signing during my 50 odd years watching. It was looking like Zaha and ended up Iwobi,and for 35 million. I will never get over that. Why would anyone want that bum,especially at the fee and wages quoted.

Mmm. We're a similar age, Simon, but for me, Ian Wilson sticks out.

Then remember Per Krøldrup. I think Moyes's mate who knew a scout who knew someone that had watched a 30-second YouTube clip said he would be okay!

Harsh maybe, just remember his 45-minute appearance at Villa Park.

Some fresh rumours today that we are close to gazumping Celtic's bid for Antwerp right back, Aurelio Buta. Only £3M! I know nothing about him but sounds like he's rapid, great going forward but a tad injury prone. 24 years old. Intriguing.

Disappointing.

I am sure Iwobi has some skills somewhere well hidden but he can't run! He looks like he has Ccoc the Clown's shoes on or a pair of underwater flippers. You can hear the sound of his plates of meat slapping the floor over the sound of 35k fans screaming "Oh not him again!"

Surely the scouts must have looked at him and seen that he can't run, and so has a disadvantage in a running sport?

Forget "ever", Iwobi doesn't come anywhere close to Schneiderlin as the worst signing, just since Moshiri took control.

And Philip (32) - If he read ToffeeWeb, I know one player who'd be delighted reading about Iwobi, Leon Osman.

"5 years too late, but finally my replacement as ToffeeWeb's favorite whipping boy!"

Amen, James. Compared to Schneiderlin, Iwobi is Sheedy-esque.

However, it's a bit harsh to describe Schneiderlin as a "bad signing" -- he was brilliant for his first four months here, probably our best player that spring of 2017, but came back in August unrecognizable. He was a good signing who went bad.

Sam, I'm a fellow nerd about obscure footballers but, if Buta is on our radar, he's never been on mine!

Makes you wonder how he compares with Kenny, really.

Without making excuses Mike G, didn't he have personal issues?

Leon Osman. Never understood the sometimes contempt towards him. Very technically gifted. I used to say, had he gone to the continent, he'd have been a huge success.

And for those who like old boys at Finch Farm, as Tony Abrahams and myself have said numerous times, I'd prefer to see Leon Osman there over many we currently have.

Danny, not that I recall. In fact, Schneiderlin got married that summer and there were articles and blog posts describing how deliriously happy he was.

It was unseemly of me to speculate at that time whether the happy nuptials had sapped him of his incentive (or his physical energy!), but the fact is he was never worth a crap again on the pitch.

His dad passed away a year later, but his play had already deteriorated by then, and the next couple years were pretty dismal. I can remember only a handful of decent performances.

Here's a retrospective published earlier this year:

Morgan Schneiderlin: ‘Even if it was difficult sometimes, Everton is a great club with a fantastic fan base'

Agreed Danny #60. I always said that, if he played in France or Italy, then Osman would have been one of those unknown players we'd watch in the Champions League and talk about how technically gifted they were. He never would have been a superstar but good enough to catch your eye during the game.

Unfortunately, in the Premier League, he lacked the pace and power to stand out like a Gerrard or Lampard.

Robert @59; nor mine, never heard of him till today. Nonsense probably though if true, it can't be that they're expecting him to be first-choice right-back straight away.

Beats me why some seem to get pleasure in slagging players off.

Iwobi is the latest whipping boy: "Oh let's all join in and call him rubbish... many others are saying it so it must be right."

Well, it stinks to me. Does it make you feel better?

I think that's what I recall Mike, his Dad's passing. Maybe there was an illness building up to it? I honestly don't know.

Depends Lee. Had he been surround by better players would we have seen an even better player??

An outrageous comparison, but a smaller player than our Leon; David Silva. More renowned for his close control and technical ability than his size pace and power. De Bruyne; not particularly physical or blessed with pace. Players like that can cut it in the Premier League. In the right team, surround by the right players. In any league.

A bit like the James conversation we're having. You can accommodate and get more out of them if surrounded by by better players.

Credit to Leon. Being the type of player he was, he worked incredibly hard to feature regularly in a Moyes teams. Because to do that for a manager of that mindset and in the squad he played in compared to the 2 players I've mentioned, he showed the type of effort & determination I love to see now.

I just wonder would we have got more out of him had he been allowed to play more of his own natural game and had we used his obvious technical ability better more often??

He was wasted on the wing for years. Leon should have been played centrally or not at all as he didn't have the pace for a wide man.

I don't think he ever would have reached the levels of a KDB or Silva, even in a much superior team, but he was a talented player who didn't deserve the dogs abuse he got from some fans.

If our academy could turn out an Osman every year then we'd be one of the richest clubs in the league...because we wouldn't be wasting millions on dross like Delph or Schneidelin or whoever had one good game against us.

There are some teasing crosses that Iwobi had put in in the past (those with pace right in front of goals) but no one got on to it. It was the kind of crosses that you can see other teams forwards just slides and touch in. Not sure if it is his abilities but the understanding between players?

Not sure if Atlanta would pay good money. Might as well try to give him a stable position hope he turns good.