Everton rumoured to be considering Tarkowski

I see there's a few rumours around that we've offered Tarkowski a contract on 90k per week.

I know that despite our worrying financial position we will be linked with 100 players this summer, mostly nonsense.

Tarkowski? I don't want to even comment.

But in terms of Burnley players, Cornet would be useful £18M and Pope for £12M whilst selling Pickford for £25M plus. McNeil has lost his way but is young enough that for a low fee would be worth a gamble.

He can cross and Calvert-Lewin can jump.

Looking at the way our centre backs have performed this season I would take Tarkowski. Everton were so vulnerable to crosses and it cost them dearly in so many games.

Okay, when we got Keane from Burnley, we thought that's good but he can be erratic and hasn't had too many good games this season, as is Holgate.

Young Branthwaite has a lot to learn before being top quality but Godfrey could become the best option for next season.

Mina seems to be injury-prone.

Tarkowski and Bassey could be a decent pairing.

Rumours of £120k a week for Tarkowski gathering pace.

I think he's a good player, but without any real aerial dominance he's not the replacement for Mina that we desperately need.

Maybe on a 2-year deal to allow Branthwaite to go out on loan for a year, but even then, is £12-£13M worth spending on zero chance of return or profit?

Coady would be better. Thelwell bought him once he could do it again.

It would hasten Richarlison's departure.

Can't see him looking forward to facing Tarkowski in training every week. And if this happens I could see Richarlison ending up on the treatment table pretty often.

No.

Tarkowski is a decent player and probably better on the ball than most would give him credit for. Unlike Keane, he is a leader and a good communicator which is something we lack when Mina is injured. £90k is probably not far over what you'd expect for a free transfer of this calibre, usually he'd be £60k but an extra £30k per week due to there being no fee.

My worry is that, like Keane, this is a player used to defending in a low block. He is not hugely mobile and how would he do when isolated with a fast forward running at him (something he doesn't have to deal with at Burnley)?

It wouldn't be a terrible move but I wonder if he'd suit the football Lampard wants to play next season?

Much depends on who's staying and going. If we are able to shift Mina (and Keane) then we will need a more experienced defender and a leader, Tarkowski could offer that without dipping into the transfer chest. If Mina is staying (and I hope without International matches and so much fixture congestion he may be able to get fitter than last season) then i'd focus on a younger and more mobile CB (Bassey, Carter Vickers, Colwill, Ndicka, Carmo) who can maybe develop into a top-class player.

We probably won't have a fortune to spend this summer so working out priorities (midfield?!) and using the free or loan transfer market wisely could be essential. But we cannot make the same mistakes as previously, players must be bought who fit the intended system coherently.

Absolute joke if true. We never ever learn.

Justin #2.

So it begins. The rush to offload our most consistently brilliant performer.

What does Jordon Pickford have to do for some people to see how good he is? His performances this year are the only reason why we aren't planning away trips to Stoke and Swansea.

Forget all the cheap and easy media jibes.. 'He always has a mistake in him'. Since the restart season, when like a lot of players he wasn't at his best, Pickford has been by far the best performer for Everton and I haven't seen a more consistent, and occasionally superb, keeper in the Premier League.

As to this thread's real purpose, Tarkowski would add a bit of experience to our relatively young backline. Only Keane and Mina have been around the block. Coleman may be put out to grass. If we were talking a £10M fee and £50k a week (£2.6M a year) nobody would bat an eyelid. But because he is out of contract we can amortise the fee as payment to him over the period of the contract which distorts the figures, but keeps us on the right side of the profit/loss figures.

I can see more such deals as our only way of recruiting this summer. If we pay fees, then clubs likely to be in the relegation fight might want to scream foul, like Leeds and Burnley have just done.

Our defending of set pieces can be shocking and we could do with a leader at the back – is that Tarkowski? It might be what we can afford.

Give me a fit Mina instead – but is that likely to happen?

Sam # 9. Spot on. Tarkowski is very good at what he does - low block defending. Keane is too though.

Our real challenge is to find a more reliable version of Mina who can push the line forward against weaker sides and at home.

Tarkowski is probably not that player.

It might be Coady or Carter-Vickers.

It might also be a foreign player. Carmo looks excellent even after serious injury but will probably have his sights set on a Champions League club. He may also hamper the development of Branthwaite since both are giant left footers (Ndicka also).

There's a lot for Lampard and Thelwell to decide upon in terms of style of play, team structure, player development and where we want to be in 3 years' time.

That strategic stuff needs to be resolved before we spend any money on recruitment.

Not keen on this one at all.

Tarkowski seems to have a decent reputation and has played for England but whenever I've seen Burnley play this season they've been defensively atrocious.

If we're lacking anything defensively, it's been leadership and organisation. Two attributes which Tarkowski certainly didn't bring to Burnley this season just gone.

F, no thanks.

The F could stand for Frank or something else ending in k.

An eye watering £100k per week... ha, ha, ha – we already fell for Keane, I'm not having it.

Our FFP situation means that we will be looking at the free signings market for some signings. No upfront money and the outlays on wages spread over the years.

Tarkowski is an honest, aggressive, resilient player, and as Sam above says, has virtually been indoctrinated into the low block game at Burnley for 6 years.

Also, 6-ft 1-in is not really tall for a centre-back, although I've read some (year-old) stats that he is good at defending set-pieces. Which may well be a factor in any decision making. I too prefer Coady if Thelwell can manufacture something.

I think there will have to be a balancing act to our summer spending on how resources are deployed. There will be educated (if that's the right word!) compromises along the way.

Capability-wise, Mina tops as stats has shown when he played. But it's wise to move him on when there's still good value as he has long term injury which I think will only get worse as time goes by.

Keane has made some mistakes this season but overall he performs steady and reliable.

I think Godfrey can compensate him with his speed. Branthwaite has the physical attributes and his passing and control looks good. But he get caught out twice by long balls, one got on the wrong side and got red-carded while the other was lucky not to result in a goal. He needs experience to read the game better.

Holgate plays a lot under Frank. Does Frank rate him? He has mistakes all over. But he made timely crucial tackles at times. I would move him on if reasonable offer receives.

What about Gibson? Does anyone know?

If we move on Mina and Holgate then it makes sense to get Tarkowski. With Branthwaite or Gibson as 4th centre-back and loan one out.

Bassey and Godfrey should be our centre backs next season, but really our midfield needs sorting out ASAP as we have zero creativity there... that's our main worry for me.

Seems to me there is lots to sort out before we go signing anybody: Who do we release? Who do we keep? Who is available for sale? What is our budget?

I also understand that the Chairman has previously been heavily involved in transfer negotiations and we all know that this has largely had disastrous consequences.

So for once, I just hope we have a plan in place before we go making any new appointments. Many of our obvious problems can be traced back to our past hurried and ill-conceived recruitment strategy.

Our neighbours have some sort of transfer committee which seems to work very well for them. Maybe we could learn something?

We already have 5 centre-backs. Do we really need another one?

Although, considering Mina's injury problems, if we could move him on, then Tarkowski would be a good bet while Branthwaite gets up to speed.

Personally, I think our priority should be midfield. We have almost zero creativity and barely any goals from there. We haven't had any decent creative goalscoring midfielders since the likes of Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar, and Fellaini.

Cahill scored 68 goals alone. It would take the current lot working together a 1,000 seasons to get anywhere near that figure. So let the defence and attack wait a while. Let's get the midfield sorted first.

This is exactly the type of signing that's left us lumped with ageing average players on huge lengthy contracts. If we still haven't learnt our lessons, then we never will.

If we're going to sign a player over 28, then they need to be top class and a leader. And if a player is either of those things, they're probably going to be joining a team higher up the table.

No more ageing players.

I would say a clear-out and recruiting in midfield is a priority.

We have to keep the few good players we have.

If we sell or release enough to fit Tarkowski in, then fair enough.

Sam Mellor,

Exactly. This acquisition would be stupid. No sell-on value, high wages, questionable contribution.

Frustrating.

No, another relegation player. Not on those wages or at that age. Before the usual comments chip in about Gray and Reid, that was decades ago when the game was slower.

Unless we get rid of Keane and Mina, then there is no point to this.

If we do get rid of them and he is happy to come as a squad player (I would be trying to develop Branthwaite alongside Godfrey or Holgate), then it's not a bad deal; replace 2 defenders who command a transfer fee with a free transfer. Makes FFP look better and gives us more wiggle room elsewhere.

I agree with Sam and Robert.

Tarkowski looks good in the low block system Burnley play but they are an alehouse team and I doubt whether Fank ants to play that style of football and we should learn from the Michael Keane mistake.

I did have high hopes for Godfrey after his first season but with Covid, injuries and his lack of height it looks like Holgate has got the supplementary centre-back covered.

We need a real leader who can talk the other defenders into position and organize the defense. Although Coady has been mentioned Wolves also play a highly defensive game which I don't think suits Frank and anyway why would he leave Wolves for us unless money talks again, but I hope we've learned that lesson.

I would have liked to get Rudiger on a free but he wont come to us and I believe he had a falling out with Frank at Chelsea.

A lot of our recruitment of the quality of players we need will depend on how they can be sold on the project for a team that narrowly missed relegation no matter how big we think we are.

Kevin - good point. If it's get two off the books and bring in Tark, then fine.

But I'll be a lot of money that's not the case, and Sam Mellor's point stands - too old, no sell on value, wages too high.

We'll see I suppose, but if this is our first action in the transfer market I'm going to cry.

It's obvious the back line needs revamping.

What we have seen this season is a gradual decline and mistakes galore.

They did start well but as injuries to the offensive side of things increased, the pressure on the defenders to maintain stability in the face of other teams offensive capabilities they just became unglued.

Seamus, so often our hero some seasons back is now a back number and Kenny is not up to snuff. Myolenko has done well and perhaps Patterson will step up at right back but the others in the middle are iffy and only Godfrey may be worth the risk.

Burnley knew what they were doing when they let Keane go as Mee and Tarkowski have been pretty solid since then despite them going down this season and let's face it Everton could have been down with the performances they have seen in central defence,

Why do people insist on looking at age and club when it comes to buying players? Distin was already over 30 when we signed him and he played for 6 more years. Dave Watson was signed from Norwich.

Van Djik is currently 31 yet I don't see Liverpool making plans to sell him. Thiago at Chelsea was well into his 30s when they signed him.

Centre-backs last longer than most outfield players and really come into their prime in their late 20s.

Stop worrying about sell-on rubbish. Nobody ever wants to sell on a good player anyway. Can he do the job we want from him? That is all that matters.

Frank,

I do see what you're saying and there's a lot of value in experience but age has to be a massive consideration.

I'd rather not be thinking about sell-on values etc as I wish being a football fan meant worrying about football rather than the business side of it but the reality is, we're in a massive FFP mess precisely because of signing older players.

We give them fat contracts (and with Tarkowski, it would be big because he's on a free) for say 4 years. Nobody else is ever going to sign a player in their 30s for £100 grand a week unless they're an absolute superstar which means that we're stuck with them for the length of their contract.

You gave Distin as an example, and he was a good one, but that's so rare. I'd counter that with Rooney, Williams, Sigurdsson, Delph, Rondon, Tosun (although, to be fair, I think he was only about 26 but still, another huge contract with no sell-on), Walcott, Cuco Martina, Alcaraz.

That's just off the top of my head, there's probably loads more. At least if you sign a young player who turns out a bit of a dud, you have a chance of getting your money back (like Moise Kean) or even making a profit (like Nikola Vlasic).

Look at what Leicester have done, signing young players, accepting they'll be there for a couple of seasons and then probably move on. That's what we need to do.

Frank,

Good point, I believe Gough and Weir were also into their late 30s, as was Jagielka but the game has changed in recent years with much more emphasis on fast ball-playing centre-backs as the demise of the traditional Number 9 has been replaced with "false" 9s.

I remember two seasons ago when we were linked with Allan at nearly 30 that the consensus was sign him, he's a top player. We have now found out he was past his best and is now finished with top flight football.

Another England cast-off defender like Keane!

NEXT!

I have been disappointed with Branthwaite recently. Keeps getting caught wrongside of the man he is marking, seems slow on the turn and hardly makes any tackles.

Sam @ 30 - Exactly! We have not got sufficient revenue to cover our player purchases or wages which is why we are making shedloads of losses.

Like it or not, we need to make sure player sales is a significant portion of our revenue streams (it hasn't been for a while for the reasons you mention) to cover our outgoings and return to profit.

This will continue to be the case until we can increase revenue elsewhere via new commercial arrangements/sponsorships, increased match day income (new stadium) or via success on the field (Champions League).

FFP means owners cannot just throw more money in like they did at Chelsea etc, and clubs need to be run well – regardless of how rich the owner is. That is why a club like Newcastle will be looking at what Everton has done in the past and, contrary to what Bill Kenwright thinks, will be saying “Let's not do what Everton has done.” Of course the odd older player on reasonable terms can still be okay provided it is value for money.

Paul @ 10:

I agree.

The Tarkowski rumour I saw yesterday was £120k per week over four years. Yes a rumour, but why would I not be surprised if it was true? A "Lucrative" contract, one source called it. Indeed.

There is a huge vein of loserism running through this club as the default, it's almost like we're playing a part.

Sell Mina or Keane and bring an experienced Premier League on a free. Unfortunately it's where we are at financially.

Don't be shocked if Richarlison moves on too, to be replaced by the lad Johnson at Forest.

Yes, in short, sell-on value allows us to reinvest sale proceeds in new players.

No sell-on value means our transfer kitty is much reduced and FFP-type conditions become very stretched.

It doesn't matter quite so much for Man City or Chelsea but it matters great deal for everyone else. It has absolutely killed us over the last 5 years with the chickens finally coming home to roost last summer when we had a transfer kitty of only £1.7M.

I really hope this is just a rumour, not the right age, not something special, it would signalize more of the same. If we do sign him though I wish he will be like distin and not like ashley williams.

Tarkowski and Bassey. Interesting combo. Shirley must be getting on a bit now though... Still all hands to the pump.

Tarkowski - better or worse than Ashley Williams??

One of Rafa's excuses was that last summer he was hamstrung as Everton were unable to shift on players which left him scrabbling around the bargain bucket.

Likely to be the same this summer; Aston Villa, Liverpool, Man City already signing players but we'll have to wait to see who leaves before any major signings come in. Up till then, it's the bargain bin.

Dennis @41 – I'm better than Ashley Williams and so is my wife.

As regards Tarkowski – a solid defender and leader. Whether he can play in a back 3 is a different matter, as I believe that will be what Frank will play next season: 3-4-3. Newcastle will most probably take him anyway.

How many wanted us to sell Lineker, young Rooney, Stones, Lukaku? How many want us to sell Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison now? Especially when they go to other Premier League clubs.

Selling your best players as they come into their prime to your main competitors is not the way to progress a club. The way to progress is to keep your best players and add to them.

The fact is age is not the only arbiter of what makes a player good. Skill, stamina, character, leadership. Just look at the likes of Peter Reid or Andy Gray. They were hardly spring chickens when we signed them.

I could understand selling our better players if we had some kind of flourishing youth system knocking out two or three top young players every summer but we haven't.

So as much as I want to see top young, hungry players at Everton I'm also realistic. We have to improve considerably before next season just to finish mid-table and the squad's backbone needs serious stiffening. If we have to bring in one or two older players to do it, then so be it.

Frank, I think most people agree.

Moyes did it largely by signing a core of 23- to 26-year-olds with circa 100+ games under their belts and the need for a step up (eg, Howard, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar). These players have resale value if they do well and will also occupy a place in the side for many years (just as important).

This was supplemented by some wise heads with low wage demands (eg, Distin). The low wage demand is key if you're buying someone with no resale value.

That's the sort of approach we need now with some more speculative signings of young players with great potential (again, low wage demands and modest transfer fee).

Interesting to be linked with Tarkowski. As noted above, we already have 5 centre-backs so, on paper, it isn't a position we're desperate for.

However, Mina is too injury prone and questionable whether Holgate and Godfrey are ready to be 1st team regulars (I'd say a better more experienced head is needed next to each of them). Branthwaite obviously not ready to be a regular, which just leaves Keane and I'm not sure he's the answer we need either.

On the whole, bit of an odd one unless the plan is to sell one or two of our current centre-backs to raise funds and sign Tarkowski on a free. This way we swap like for like and get a transfer(s) fee in. That would make sense for me, especially if one of the ones sold was Keane.

On the whole, Mina is our best centre-back but unfortunately just too injury prone. We really need a strong leader in that position who is reliable, we just don't have this yet.

We have five central defenders on our books, but how many people would moan if we got rid of at least three of them?

Tarkowski is a better player than Keane, and a genuine leader, but he didn't just lose a step this season, he lost two. Got turned and beaten off the dribble several times that I saw in the second half of the season. He's coming up on 30, coming up on 400 games, and coming up on the back side of the hill.

No thank you.

He would be poison in the dressing room unless Richarlison leaves.

We need a ball-playing centre-back if we are ever to be able to play out from the back.

Tarkowsky is not the answer, particularly at £90k/week.

We could consider a swap: Keane for Zouma. It was rumoured that Davey wanted Keane.

Tarkowski In — with Keane going the other way – would be a good bit of business; I'd be happy if he went for nothing.

I take little notice of Burnley so know nothing of this player, so I asked my son. He just shrugged, muttering about him being a Sean Dyche defender, and walked off.

That'll be a No then.

If only it were this easy…..

Free Transfers:
- Tarkowski
- Ryan Fredericks
- Longstaff
- Nketiah

Loans
- Cole Palmer or Connor Gallagher
- Levi Colwill or Malang Sarr

Outs (as well as out of contracts):
- Mina & Allan (£25M)
- Davies (£5M)
- Gbamin (£10M)
- Broadhead (£3M)
- Gomes (£5M)
- Calvert-Lewin (£60M)

Buy:
- Loftus-Cheek (£20M)
- Ismail Sarr or Manny Dennis (£25M)

Net spend (excluding loan fees): £63M in black

Starting 11 (and back-up)

GK: Pickford (Begovic)
RB: Patterson (Fredericks)
LCB: Colwill (Holgate)
RCB: Tarkowski (Keane, Godfrey)
LB: Mykolenko (Nkounkou)
CM: Loftus-Cheek (Doucouré)
CM: Longstaff (Dele Alli)
CM: Iwobi (Gallagher)
RA: Sarr (Gordon)
CF: Nketiah (Simms)
LA: Richarlison (Gray)

So we are aiming for mediocrity then?

We must buy young talented players and mould them into a team. Not players who have one or two seasons left in them. Let's build a team of young players that will develop together and become a force for the future.

We have 6 or 7 really good players already so it is possible using some nous to put together a very good team for next season. Build the team around Pickford, Mykolenko, Patterson, Iwobi, Richarlison, Gordon and Calvert-Lewin.

I would buy two top-class central defenders and two midfielders. A striker as well if possible. Please, no oldies or stop-gap buys.

A strong player, admittedly, but I can't see him fitting into the team makeup apart from his age being against him. It would be a 'No' from me.

Lester (@17). Sadly, I think Gibson is more injury-prone that Mina and has not exactly covered himself in glory on his loans. I expect him to be moved on or his contract not renewed.

Not for me this one – I agree with those who think he is not suited to how Lampard wants to play, is not that great and the wage demands are far too high.

I know there isn't a transfer fee but a contract worth £120k a week over multiple years for an average and ageing player is too much. We risk just repeating the same mistakes over and over when it comes to recruitment. For me, you only pay people those amounts when they are truly world-class.

Better to find younger versions of players like this who are more in their prime (ie, early/mid 20s), have the same ability and with some experience of playing in the first team to bring with them.

Also, I am not a fan of signing players from relegated clubs. I know it can work but I fear they bring a losing mentality with them most of the time.