Everton interest in Harry Winks may have some legs

The Harry Winks rumours are increasing. Just don't see him being the answer to our midfield issues. Maybe, a squad player.

I see many web sites suggesting that Everton are interested in Harry Winks and have spoken to Spurs. As yet no fee has been mentioned but knowing Daniel Levy he will be priced at top dollar, and would probably be make weight in any deal over Richarlison.

I thought this was just rubbish and I have to say, if Lampard is interested in Winks, then I have real doubts about how he is intending to set us up next season. Conte, a world class manager has already offloaded Dele as being not good enough and I don't think Winks has started a game under him at Spurs. For me that tells us all we need to know about Winks.

I find it quite remarkable that Leeds are holding out for at least £70 million for Raphina, who doesn't get into the Brazil side when everyone is fit. Yet Richarlison who always starts for Brazil is only worth £50 - £60 million. But of course this is Everton – sell cheap, buy expensive.

Just looked at Winks's stats for Spurs – played 128 times… 2 goals, just what we need another midfield player who doesn't score goals.

I'm starting to get a bad feeling already about next season, Winks in and Richalison out would be disastrous.

And what's even more pathetic about Winks is... 3 assists. In his entire 6-year Prem career.

So this is a midfielder who not only doesn't score goals, he doesn't create them for other people.

In 2019-20 he had an amazing stat line -- 41 total games, over 3000 minutes on the pitch, zero goal contributions. No goals, no assists. Spurs scored 87 goals in all competitions that season, and Winks wasn't directly involved in any of them. That's hard to do.

Samways Mk II anyone?

Brian 2 - it never used to be like that when Kenwright was in charge.

What we wouldn't give for someone with an ounce of sense running the club again

I wouldn't mind him in as a squad option, but not for £20m. Might as well sign Cleverley again.

Aye, Kevin - what a shame he's only the Chairman & has no say in how the Club's run!

Winks's stats are so poor, they make Andre Gomes look like Socrates in comparison. Please tell me there are better options we are considering.

So after bringing in Manure cast offs for serious money now we want to do the same with rubbish from bloody spurtz!!!!!!!?
Worrying news indeed!

What does this say - 128 games for Spurs 2 goals
10 games for England - 1 goal.

He does seem to have gone backwards post-Pochettino/Mourinho.

Depends what we are looking for? Gbamin not good enough?

Winks plays as a central or defensive midfielder.
Pochettino - "When we talk about midfielders – because you like to use Spanish midfielders like Xavi and Iniesta – he's like this type of player. He has qualities to add to the team that are completely different".
Danny Murphy in September 2018. "The England team should be built around Winks, citing his performance for Tottenham against Real Madrid in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage as evidence: "Winks has got the capability, more than anyone else I have seen. What he showed in that game in Madrid, in both games when he was fit and at it, was a confidence and an ability to play. To see the passes, to get his foot in and be disciplined and that mix of midfield talent that you need, For me, Winks is one of the best I've seen when he's at it – in terms of his all-round ability."

So maybe Frank and Kevin are thinking we need a ball winner to protect the back 4 or 3 and Winks fits that bill better than most. We will worry about scoring and creating with other players.

Just wondering. Remember, Gueye only scored 2.

Eriksson seems to have been the engine in Spurs midfield under Pochettino.

Eriksson seems to have been the engine in the Spurs midfield. Man U move has fell through.

It's hard to judge the stats for Winks, because he never really got a consistent run in the team, as for his few goals, in my opinion Winks is a defensive midfielder, which we lack. He's overvalued at £20m, considering Bissouma cost £25m. Hojbjerg's place must be under threat now, a better option but didn't he turn us down for Spurs?
Leeds want a minimum ofv £65m for Raphinha, so we have to value Richi at £70m at least, nothing less.

The interest may have legs. Winks, not so much.

Phil @ 6 - Samways and Stephen Hughes' hybrid.

Yet, an ex-colleague of mine thought Samways was great!

Your post @ 12: those quotes from Pochettino and Murphy just seem like vague waffle to me.

Bang average and we shouldn't be touching him with a barge pole.

However, Everton being Everton we will buy him and he can fit in well with the rest of crap we have in our midfield.

I know we're in the silly season, during which the self-interested (e.g. agents) get the unspeakable (many journalists) to pander to their whims, placing fictitious stories which are often little more than the return of favours granted behind bike sheds (you get the picture - and maybe some of the parties involved have several pictures). BUT

Does any Evertonian anywhere have any evidence to suggest that Mr. WInks has the sort of talent at his disposal to take us up the Premier League towards the CL?

Please enlighten us if you do. Our track record of taking the unwanted from London clubs historically sucks like a vacuum cleaner.

An Everton side competing for top 7 don't touch Harry Winks.

An Everton side that will be in the mix for bottom 7 do.

That's the reality of where we are as a football club.

Schneiderlin Mk II?

I just don't see what he could possibly add should we go ahead with this, there are enough rumours to suggest we have interest, but hopefully it is just that. We need more positive signings who are capable of getting a goal or two, not one every Blue Moon.

Would be a very underwhelming signing and seems like more of the same.

Winks could do the pivot role in midfield sitting in front of defence like Delph did towards the end of last season but we'd need to move on Gomes and Davies for the deal to make sense.

There's a report tonight saying Spurs realistically expect to get up to £12.9m for him. There's no way Winks is worth £20m. I don't understand why we don't go for Holbjerg now that they've signed Bissoumma.

If Spurs offer him and £50m for Richie I'd reluctantly accept but I'd much prefer to deal with Chelsea and do a deal for Gallagher and Broja.

I'm not anti Harry Winks. He's a tidy player but this is just like a Vinny Samways or Tom Cleverley signing. Don't we really need pace and power in midfield??

Phil #12, when those comments were made in 2018, I also thought Winks was a wonder to watch. So quick, so silky on the ball, so accurate with his passing through the middle of the park, such great anticipation.

And then along came 2019, when he became a full-time starter for Spurs, played more games than Kane or Son or Sissoko or Dele, and produced nothing. Zeroes. He has produced nothing since.

In order to compensate for that, he would have to be an absolutely world-class ballwinner. Like Gueye. He is not. Not even close.

I looked it up. In that high-usage 2019 season, Winks had 40 tackles in league games. Gana averaged over 130 per season with us. Winks' best season for interceptions was 36. Gana's was 141.

No contest.

There is no level on which Winks makes any sense to me.

Gavin, injury angle aside, Winks isn't half of Delph.

Pace and power, you're right - with the character to match. It's something we haven't had for a long time and seem unable to find. Some snark à la Fellaini wouldn't go amiss.

Mike @ 24 - you saw something I missed, and maybe you watched more of Spurs. I can dimly remember one passable performance but no passes longer than 10 yards.

He seems to share that Eric Dier thing of being on the pitch without being involved in the game.

Just watched his showreel and saw the indentikit "Steady Eddie" tidy in possession but no game-changer – Tom Cleverly reincarnated.

We want 4 or 5 dynamos unearthed from the lower or European leagues for buttons to transform this place, so presumably that's booked in for next week NURSE!! NURSE!!

"I'm not going to change your sheets again, Mr Rathbone!"

Noooooooooooo!

Will #25, I vividly remember England demolishing the USA in a friendly in 2018. The England midfield of Winks, Dele and Delph absolutely shredded the US midfield, and those three looked like they could rule the world together.

Winks was 22, looked 16, totally poised, clinical. I was intensely jealous of both England and Spurs.

How quickly things changed.

Only an average team with no ambition would sign an average player and get fleeced by Levy. Hope it is just rumors for something by sportswriters to earn money.

Two games spring to mind for me, when we're talking about midfield.

1. The horrific 5-2 defeat by the RS which was possibly Silva's last game

2. The horrific 1-0 cup defeat to the RS youth team under Ancelotti

In both games we were unbelievably weak in midfield. Countless others too of course but those were horrible to watch.

I want to never see us overpowered so easily again. I want big, physical, mobile players who will protect the defence, release the full backs and let the attackers attack.

I want someone like Sangare.

I don't really want a player like Winks who is really just neat and tidy. I want someone brutal and ruthless who can play a bit.

And here's another question, which Premier League club apart from us would sign Winks to genuinely improve their midfield? I'm struggling.

Bang average player, who we'd no doubt be looking to move on if he was already on the books.

What the fuck is going on at Everton? Harry fucking Winks… fuck off!!!

Is Kenwright being bent over again by Levy? I mean seriously have we learnt absolutely nothing?

Buying Sky 6 cast-offs on big money who couldn't give a shite is the worst business you could ever do and it's almost ruined us. Especially from fucking Spurs who are, in reality bang average and still haven't won anything – although I think the media missed that bit.

I hate these bastards almost as much as the red shite. If you sign this player, Everton, we are finished! Absolutely disgraceful

If Gomes can be offloaded for an amount equal to the fee for Winks, then okay; otherwise, it's a No.

Conte is an elite manager and you have to worry when he is showing him the door.

Why are we not dealing with Chelsea as they have better options if Richarlison has to be sold.

Typical Everton transfer window,lot's of rumours and hot air connecting us with a variety of players, some exciting young prospects, and some that other clubs seem to want to get rid of. Who do we go for? The latter of course!

Given his last couple of seasons, what on earth is Winks going to offer us? Better to go for someone like Zinchenko who can play left side of midfield with Mykolenko, creative midfielders, and another centre-back and where are our goals coming from next season?

What worries me more is, if this is the calibre of thinking that is supposed to set us on the road to recovery, I am becoming seriously concerned.

What Nick Page said with maybe fewer expletives since John Sr reads these. Fucking wind-up this.

And good call Christopher 34, Chelsea just shipped Lukaku and added Richarlison to their interest list. I'd take Broja in a compensated swap in the case that Richarlison decides to go.

Spurs have been trying to offload the guy for a while with no takers. That alone should tell the club something.

If we do sign him then sign on loan with an option to buy. Let's see if he can actually add anything before thinking of spending £20M.

You would say that this is total bullshit… but then, it is Everton – and reality bites. If this deal happens, then the club has learnt nothing.

We are so lazy in recruitment, you only have to look at the stats and see how he plays to know that this is totally wrong choice of player for us to buy now.

Let's hope common sense prevails but when has that happened during the Moshiri era? If we do buy him, then why bother trying to support this shambolic array of players?

Hope this one doesn't go ahead but, if it doesn't, we're also linked with Hamza Choudhury.

I don't know what the question is if either of them are the potential answers to it. I'm hoping that it's all media/agent spin and we'll actually unearth a gem elsewhere.

Not a player I've taken too much notice of, to be honest, but general consensus seems to be a No.

And I'm a bit concerned about Nick's blood pressure!!

Lol Danny. I'm just sick to death of it all.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Fucking Everton that.

Paying £20M+ for Winks would be so disgustingly Everton!! And entirely indicative of no lessons being learned.

He's probably a better player than Davies and if we took him on loan with a £12M buy option I could stomach that as we need numbers in midfield. But the idea of paying a chunk of our limited transfer budget this summer is borderline horrific.

Read somewhere that Lampard likes him but Thelwell is less convinced. Hopefully the DoF wins this one. Better and cheaper options out there.

Choudhury???

Okay, I submit – I'll take Winks.

Mike @ 29 – just realized; taking Winks would mean we bought that whole midfield. All players that didn't/haven't reached their potential for various reasons... and look where they tend to find their way to...

I think the Everton supporting father of Mr Thelwell needs to take him to one side and have some stiff words with his son because the warm fuzzy feeling he has with the supporters will change swiftly if he signs off on purchases like this one.

Typical Everton transfer target: players who can't get a game in a good side,

Roll on another season like the last… when will it end and we finally learn???

No to Winks.

I am fed up of buying players like him. I would get more excited if Frank gave Warrington a run in the team or even bought some young promising player from a lower or foreign league.

As Mike points out, this lad doesn't do enough at either end of the pitch. Another Gomes, Samways or Cleverley.

Thanks Sam, I was about to ask whether this came from Thelwell's desk and it makes sense he would not want to make this his first signing.

I couldn't see anyone paying more than £12 million for him, Sam, but he's neat and tidy, and can definitely move the ball quicker than any of our current midfield players.

We all want better, but this kid can definitely play football, so I wouldn't be as disappointed as most people on this thread if he replaces Gomes.

The thing which bothers me about this is we were linked with him same time last year. so that means he's obviously on some agent's list of 'players' who are surplus. And that seems to be the extent of our research.

"Who's on your list?"

"Winks."

"Hmm…"

Having said that, if there is one position Frank will know, it's this one. His stats though are eye-watering. No goals, no assists. You'd normally think with that he'd be an enforcer type, but no, he's not that either.

He does seem to be able to pick a pass, we'll have to wait and see. I've seen on the interweb tonight, interactions between journalists in the know and Spurs fans, to the effect that they view £20-25M as a 'heist'. And I don't think they were complaining.

If Levy does do us over with two duds for £60M, it might be time to take Everton around the back of the stables once and for all.

Yet another stab in the dark on an unproven player. No thanks.

Jesse Lingard… Dele Alli… Harry Winks… The press and agents see us as a soft touch and we would have all the Man Utd cast-offs etc if they had their way.

It wouldn't surprise me if Danny Drinkwater is used as a makeweight in the Richarlison deal.

Tony #47

You are right: he can play a bit. Straight away, I thought he was a Lampard-type player. But it will be a bargain buy or tied in with a Richarlison move. Looks like the jury is still out regarding Dele Alli at Everton.

I think he'll do okay. A bit like Calvert-Lewin who needs to play in an exact area of the pitch; played outside the box and he will do nothing. In the box, he's incredibly lethal.

If Harry Winks is played to his absolute favourite position, he'll turn out fine, he did look decent once. Even played a part all the way to the Champions League Final – so I'm sitting on the side of "he is a decent player".

Mr Conte, manager of Tottenham Hotspur, has got himself 2 crackers in midfield: Højbjerg and the newly acquired Bissouma from Brighton.

But Everton will be having Allan and Winks in midfield? Don't me make laugh.

Have to say I'm not too impressed with the Winks rumours although, should we sign him, he'd be there in a purely defensive capacity and at least a step up from Gomes and Davies. £20M is utter madness though. £10M is realistic.

Those saying we should go for Højbjerg, why would Spurs sell him? Why would he want to leave? They are in 4 competitions so will need quality strength in depth. They are building.

Hamza Choudhury seems to have been knocking around the fringes of Leicester's first team for years now. He'd still be an improvement on André Gomes but that's setting the bar very low.

It's one thing taking Arsenal and Spurs cast-offs but I don't want us to start taking Leicester's now. That would be a new low for Everton.

Did Thelwell not do geography at school? Young hungry £10M bargains all over Europe if he friggin' looks.

We a laughing stock again if this is true.

Okay, so a few different views. As I said, I don't know the player. But could he be the shield for the likes of Allan?

If he's that type of player, I wouldn't be concerned about goals. Peter Reid hardly weighed in on that front. But it wasn't his job to do so.

Anyway, I'm not getting excited or agitated because I can't control it. It's silly season and there is going to lots of talk, rumours and endless speculation, often with little outcome. I've promised not to have a summer like the last one with the manager situation as it developed.

Come 6 August, whoever runs out in a blue shirt to beat Chelsea gets my backing.

No chance of Spurs selling Højbjerg, he was one of their best and most consistent players last season — despite some lunatics on here thinking he wouldn't be good enough for us 2 years ago!

Never seen much in him.

But we need a whole new midfield. At least 2, preferebly 3 new midfielders. If we could get a Gallagher or Berge type, and a Nunes type, then we'd also need that unspectacular sitter type – could that be Winks? Not a clue.

We need rid of Davies, Gomes, and Doucoure (Allan is the only one I'd keep).

Fran, you'd get rid of Doucouré? I'm shocked. I would say, out of our current crop, he would be the first midfielder on the team sheet for most Evertonians.

We used to do our shopping at the football equivalent of Harrods (I still remember the joy of us signing Alan Ball all those years ago).

On our downward trajectory, we now seem to have by-passed Sainsbury's, Tesco's, Asda and even Aldi and Netto. We are now in the Premier League equivalent of a food bank, gratefully taking the items no-one else wants or was about to throw out.

Good times, eh Bill???

John, that was so long ago Liverpool hadn't won a European cup!

No no no no no..

Lets shift the crap we already have before we bring in anymore at least.

Maybe a cheaper Gomes but still not good enough or the type or midfielder we need.

Guff, lazy journalism. The lad is bang average. Not a chance Frank will want him. Next rumour please.

Please no. Serious question does anyone know if he is worse than Davies?

Will #43, I noticed that too. Less than four years ago amazing.

Sam #57, I remember. Shook my head then. Still shaking it.

Fran #58, I'm with Gavin. I'd keep Doucoure. For the first half of last season he was our best midfielder by a mile. He got injured, never fully recovered, but never stopped giving the best he had. (I count Iwobi as a midfielder, and I'd keep him too.)

Derby match should be interesting with Davies and Winks up against Thiago and Fabinho.

I'm expecting us to make an offer for Phil Jones next.

Goes to show that there isn't one person at the club who has got a bloody clue what they are doing…

Mike @65, I still think Iwobi and Doucouré could make a pretty decent midfield 3 with a proper, athletic DMC.

If you sat them just ahead of a Bissouma type then you get massive pitch coverage from Doucoure plus a fair few goals potentially if he's allowed to get forward and then a decent amount of ball carrying from Iwobi plus creativity and also (of late) some great work ethic.

Put the Iwobi we had at the end of the season next to the Doucouré from the start of the season with a top-notch ball-winner and you might just be onto a pretty decent midfield 3.

First of all, guys, nothing is written in stone. All we are getting is the usual plethora of rumours spread by the media to gain attention.

We don't need Winks. He isn't good enough and, with the letdown of Dele Alli so far, why would we take another Spurs cast-off?

I cannot see Tom Davies being any better than average along with Gomes but Doucouré and Iwobi are worth starting the season with.

At this stage, it remains to be seen who will figure in Frank's plans and very interesting to read everyone's opinions but certainly we don't need any players who couldn't be regular starters last season. We still have some of our own to deal with.

I hope there's no foundation in this and I hope that this isn't going to be a component of any Richarlison deal to Spurs.

After last season, and the great efforts to survive in this League, Evertonians deserve better than average cast-offs from any of the so-called Top 6 clubs.

This linkage, plus the rumours of the consortium's potential takeover of EFC, doesn't stir any genuine hope in my soul for the fortunes of Everton FC in terms of next season, and lessons learned from past transfer windows and board changes.

I hope I'm wrong but this has almost become the Everton blueprint for buying players, behind a disgruntled boardroom – even when there was decent money to spend.

It's feeling like nailing jelly to the wall in terms of Everton's long-term stable strategy to develop and grow the club.

Yes, the old cliche about beggars and choosers in life is true, but the so-called overhaul of the football directorship and coaching side of the club must have some standards.

I hope that Lampard isn't going to be adversely impacted by any takeover of EFC.

Well, as ever hope eternal, all matters EFC.

Nay, Nay and Thrice Nay.

Bill - “good news folks, we got an England international for freeeeeee… we just gotta pay £10M in October (if he plays 10 games) and £50M extra if he doesn't get booed before next season!!!

Mr Kenyon, if this is you, you're screwed. If not, please hurry up and close this shit!!!

Apparently we only want a loan deal to save whatever funds we have to put towards Zinchenko from Man City, while Tottenham are holding out for a fee, Winks himself is keen on Everton.

Sam 67,

Why would a bloke who is 30 in January, and has played for 6 seasons in the Premier League averaging 3 league goals a season, suddenly give us a fair few goals?

Interesting points on both sides of this debate. But in summary, he is crap. A nothing player. Not a scorer, not a tackler, a dribbler, a creator. he is just an overhyped Jack Rodwell.

He is precisely the sort of low-impact, warm body we've been signing for years and I can already see him sauntering off with his head hung low in that ridiculous new snow-stained shirt. Crappest transfer proposal since the January window.

Since Harry's nephew got here, the pathway to Spurs' 'hottest prospects' seems to have sprung open. We've now been linked with Bergwijn, then Winks, and bought Alli. I do hope we aren't being rinsed. We could be sixty big ones lighter in the next few days, with Richarlison going the other way for fifty. That would not be good.

Sam #67, and I still hold open the faint hope that the ballwinner might be the Gbamin from the 11 games in Russia. It'd be a miracle, but it could happen.

Add Allan and a couple of quality attackers to that mix, sell Gomes and Davies while they still have some value, hope Townsend comes back by midseason, and you might just have a reasonably decent midfield staff.

I'd like to see Zinchenko in an Everton kit.

Sam 67, I seem to remember we tried very hard sign Hojbjerg, but his mind was made up that he was going to Spurs. He's the type of midfielder who does not allow his team to be bullied where it matters in midfield. He's a facilitator. Robert back at 31 cites Sangare and the need for some Bracewell/Reid uncompromising power and toughness in midfield.

Allan in his prime would be just as good as either Hojberg or Sangare and still has some of that beautiful Brazilian streetwise aggression. If our scouts are earning their money they will be bringing in the next “Allan” so the club gets the best years out of such a player. What's Kevin Thelwell made of ?

I also think that Doucoure and Iwobi could play slightly more advanced with the right DCM sitting behind them. It's the key player signing this window. (Although Gallagher and Pusilic as our two ACMs would be a game changer goals wise). Even so, in our squad situation the DCM trumps everything as the player we most need.

I'm going to remain positive because Frank Lampard was one of the best midfielders to play the game over the last 20 years or so . He will know what's needed in that department.

It really depresses me to read 76 posts by Everton fans regarding our reported interest in the "legendary" Harry Winks for the vast majority, if not the entirety, of this summer's entire transfer budget as a direct consequence of the years-long ineptitude of our owner/boardroom.

His international appearances are a third of Ross Barkley's, the guy at the allegedly peak-age for a pro footballer, who can't even be confident of being on Chelsea's bench in any game at all.

If not now, when will it ever occur to the vast majority of true Everton fans that Kenwright's abject refusal to render himself to fans' accountability for years when he was the owner, and beyond, and taking full account of our decades-long Kenwright-"inspired" patronage to former bog standard players as coaches, none of whom have shone in their role whilst all becoming wealthy yes-"men" to ensure their ongoing contracts, and his shite negotiating performance in signings and/or selling players of any significance?

The shyster needs to be eviscerated from our club, together with everyone he appointed.

I guarantee that whoever screws Moshiri to the wide in acquiring our club will eradicate all things "Kenwright".

Not to do so would amount to masochism.

Tony @ 78, things have certainly changed some in two seasons. I remember a certain season-opener in London when a newly signed player had his arse handed to him by the excellent opposing midfield, and looked like he was playing two leagues above his ability.

The match — Spurs 0-1 Everton.
The player — Højbjerg.

No motor (aka work rate). No vision. Not a single evidence of pace, strength, physicality and toughness. Decent technique. He offers neither any of the aspects of Barry'14 (quite a vintage bottle that we had!) nor Gana'17 (getting up on to the top of our Wine Cellar List!).

Lampard and Thelwell have a lot of goodwill deposited in my bank so far: I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt if Winks is either being brought in on loan or a Free Transfer. Given our precarious Financials, anything more than 5 Million Pounds spent on Winks would have to force the Legal & Compliance at my bank into action.

Harry Winks is not a versatile player, but he does one thing very well – which is to drop deep and collect possession then look up and pass through lines directly into the attacking midfielders.

Maybe Lampard wants a player like this, especially if we are to play 3 at the back and push the wing-backs high up the pitch.

I am not a big fan of Harry Winks, and his lack of size, pace and athleticism suggests he shouldn't be the sort of player we should be looking at – but he offers something in a certain system where he is given the ball early and often, as his passing is his overwhelming strength. With the right players around him, then he can offer something very valuable.

Mike,

You had me looking for a Darren post...

I'd love to be proven wrong on Harry Winks but, at the age of 26, it just feels like another weak signing that we have made over the last 6 summers.

He's basically just the second coming of Tom Cleverley, the difference is Cleverley cost nothing.

For some reason, at Everton, nobody ever seems to work out that goals and creativity win you games of football. I've never known a club become so fascinated with signing "holding" midfielders that never offer anything going forward.

Our scouts need to start earning their wads. What we need is a signing that can potentially excite the fans and turn games in our favour.

Give me an Andrei Kanchelskis-type signing, then maybe I'll start to believe Everton want to change from being the museum piece it's been for years now.

The lad is an average Premier League midfielder. As others have said, he is neat and tidy and can play football. All-in-all he is an upgrade because at present we have a below-average midfield.

Davies is below average, Gomes is terrible, Doucouré (when fit) is a nuisance to the opposition, but is a truly awful footballer.

So Winks would be okay for a team hoping to finish 11th and at present, that sounds fantastic.

Dress it up all up you want, Eddie. Winks is a very Everton-lazy call – same with offering Kenny a contract, which to me is also embarrassing by Thelwell. Same with having half a club trying to move on and be professional and clinging to the other half of the old guard from a bygone era.

The marketing is the worst in the Premier League. Can't even buy an Everton kit in our own airport or sports shop and a month behind when a new strip is out compared to them other shower.

Just all very Everton and I doubt blue smoke will save us this time.

Very underwhelmed by this if it happens, it's clear to all that we need pace, strength, creativity and goals, and we want young and hungry players, Winks is none of the above, but I would say is an upgrade on Gilmour who a lot are clamouring for, he has just had a shocker at Norwich.

It's not scouting, Brian. It's the club picking up the available list from other clubs. A complete novice could do it at the end of the season for the price of a freddo.

Winks is an okay footballer, and would represent okay business if he turned up out of contract on sensible wages. But any real money paid in transfer fees is for the criminally insane.

Would an upwardly mobile European or Premier League club squander good money on him? No chance they would!

Will #80,

I was thinking the very same thing the other day, how quickly after 1 performance people were going overboard on Allan and writing Højbjerg off, mostly because he'd decided he didn't want to come to us, wish he had signed instead of Allan.

Oh and he keeps Winks out of the team too.

I'm done before we even kick a ball if we sign Harry Winks. Having midfielders that aren't any good at any aspect of midfieldery (if that's a word), is why we are where we are at this point.

Whoever it was that mentioned Tom Cleverley has put me off my breakfast thinking of the reality of a midfield with Harry Winks in it.

This is such an Everton signing man. I've been doing some research and also spoke to a Spurs season ticket holder mate. It appears he is only effective as a shield to 3 at the back, the role he played under Pochettinoh.

He does not get goals or assists because he is good at keeping the ball in tight areas and picking a forward pass. There are better CDM ball-winners yes, however he does bring some pace and quick feet. With 3 at the back and 3 across the middle (352) then he could be a good option if coupled with a ball carrier (a la Nunes, who of course we can't afford).

For me, it's a risky signing, he's lost his mojo like Dele, the fans turned on him last year big time and we know how that goes (we are after all the UK champions of toxic projection!).

I know I have to trust Frank and our new DOF but years of heartache have left me deeply sceptical we will ever again employ the right people to make the right decisions.

Another day and nothing concrete. So for now, it's second guessing and rumour, presumably based on the seeming likelihood Richarlison will go to Tottenham or potentially Chelsea. If we are doing cash plus players negotiations, I'd prefer to do business with Chelsea. But for now, I'll just treat this as paper talk.

In terms of the alleged £20m valuation, this is the problem doing business in the Premier League and paying an over-inflated premium for English players. Unless you buy from Everton that is. Even if we bought from ourselves, we'd probably see ourselves off.

I'd rather our scouts and DoF went on a duty free trip to Europe and load the van up with better value for money from the continent.

Brian, our marketing strategy is on a par with our transfer strategy. Enough said!

And forgetting our inability to go global or have presence in our own airport, just look at the city. They built a flagship store smack bang in the centre in the shadow of St George's Hall; one of the first things you encounter when you walk down from Lime Street. We have a modest unit tucked away in Liverpool One opposite the Lego Shop last time I looked.

Back to midfield. Any news on Gbamin? I presume he is returning and has managed to play football and stay fit for half a season? Maybe finally we get to see him do it for Everton.

That said, what are the odds that as soon as he walks through the gates of the Native American Burial Ground that is Finch Farm, the curse will strike? He will trip over his shoe lace and snap an achilles.

It's only Thursday. Long week. It's not even July. It's going to be a long summer.

There's nothing like a quick, athletic, powerful midfielder who can score goals. And Winks is nothing like that. As a few have said, not the sort of player we should be touching if we've got any ambition. But we haven't and we will.

I honestly can't see what a former player of Lampard's standing would see in him. I think our entire engine room got 4 goals between them last season, a shocking stat, so we go looking for another.

If we sign him, I'll be seriously questioning Lampard.

Daily Mail reporting Everton would prefer signing Winks on loan. Slightly in favour of that.

Fine with him coming in on loan.

I guess a loan takes a bit of risk out of it.

But only do it if we're actually going to use him in some capacity.

El Ghazi. What was that about?

On a different note. Rumours Broja's available for £25m with West Ham sniffing around. Now that would be a decent signing. Young, quick and shown he's capable and would have decent sell on value.

Why can we be linked with players like that? Surely we can compete with West Ham?

Danny 98,

Someone on TW said we had to take El Ghazi on loan to get him off of Villas wage bill as part of the Digne transfer, otherwise Villa couldn't do the deal. If true then we effectively covered some of Digne's wages for the 2nd half of last season.

Don't think El Ghazi made a single appearance.

Winks was woeful against us in the cup but was superb against that Real Madrid midfield!

So who knows what you are going to get? Maybe Lampard and Thelwell think they can get that Real Madrid performance again…

Change of club may be what he needs!

Denis #100, we are linked with Broja. Also Keane Lewis-Potter who fits that description also.

However, competition for Broja particularly will be fierce. I also think Chelsea might see him as their best striker now given Werner is mediocre and Lukaku is too heavy to play at the sort of intensity Tuchel wants.

We might be able to get Winks relatively easily and cheaply by comparison. Hence, it might be closer to fruition. Like Tarkowski, perhaps viewed by the club as a way to improve a bit without being spectacular.

He's not the sort of player I want but, playing the optimist, if we were to get Winks and, say, someone like Sangare then that might be OK. You could sit them behind Alli and let him press forward for goals.

We won't have a perfect summer or a perfect First XI for 2022-23 but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction.

David @75, when played a bit more forwards at Watford (a very average team) Doucoure scored 7, 5 and 4 goals. Hence me suggesting he's capable of scoring a few goals.

He makes good runs into the box and should score more than the 2 per season he's managed for us if given a reliable ball-winner behind him.

I haven't been this excited since the Eurovision Song Contest.

Dennis (102), Benitez certainly didn't want him, I think it was the third time El Ghazi was offered to him so the deal was out of his hands although selling Digne was part of Benitez's plan.

El Ghazi came on once for a very few minutes at the end of one game, I think it was to let him see what Goodison Park was like from a pitch side view!!

Andrew Keatley @84 you've summed my thinking up completely. This is more than likely a signing to fit a style of play for us next season and so, if we are signing players to fit a team ethic and structure, then I'm okay with that rather than the random transfer policies of numerous managers one after the other! Remember the summer of 3 No 10s being signed, for example?!?

If Frank and his crew are able to build a team (in the true sense of the word), rather than a rag-tag bunch of individuals, then it's what we've all been crying out for and is the change we need. Football is a team sport after all and we need to change the way we play as well as the mentality of the team.

I'll wait to judge based on: a) this signing actually happening; b) the role we ask him to play and who with: and c) actually how he does when he's played a few games.

Then I'll crucify him and call this a shambolic transfer that should never have happened… 😉

So Sam, based on his record at Watford, he should be able to get 1 or 2 more goals a season than gets now.

I know we are all looking for positives but I think that's clutching at straws.

Seems the vast majority are against paying a fee for Winks and some would see a loan deal as a better option. Do you think Levy is that stupid to let Winks come on loan? They want him out permanently and no doubt Levy will ask for a decent price for him.

Just like the Dele business what a deal he struck there a top earner they didn't want off the books, and Everton could end up paying £40 million for him. How I wish Levy was in charge of our transfer dealings.

Seems to me that Lampard is listening too much to Uncle Harry, he thought Dele would be a great addition and is probably urging Frank to get Winks.

I remember Redknapp being interviewed saying Allan has no legs and, despite him being one of our better players at that time, surprisingly Lampard dropped him for the next game; he hardly made any appearances from then on.

I see Lampard has said that we will probably change our style from the back end of last season, I hope that means no Iwobi as an extra defender. But I hope it doesn't mean we go back to him having our 2 centre-backs in the 6-yard box for every goal-kick, which was a complete disaster.

Denis,

I know some didn't like it when Ancelotti's pulling power was used as a reason for players signing. But in a similar but different kind of way, I think we're going have to lean on Lampard's pull to a degree in my opinion. Especially for younger players.

Although the laws of average will mostly lean towards money and the pull of European football, a lot of the current young players throughout the country and arguably Europe, will have grown up watching and admiring Lampard as he went around winning the lot in one of Europe's most high profile teams of the time.

It just might influence one or two gems to choose Everton as a longer term football development and career option rather than go for the big move early and warm the bench for several seasons only to be spat back out to where they came from.

Unusually, I've just been on the official site. For a different reason, but I ended up watching the replay of all last seasons goals.

Some random observations that I'd forgotten. We started and finished with a Calvert-Lewin diving header and a mini pitch invasion. Okay it was tame in comparison, but there was no outrage at the time that I recall. I didn't even know fans had jumped out of the Paddock and I was in the ground!!

Demarai Gray has really good feet and goals in him. If we can get consistency out of him, he could be a really good player.

Townsend can hit them.

We're going to miss Richarlison.

David@109, his average in his full seasons at Watford is between 5 and 6 goals. I'd be relatively happy with that from a central midfielder in open play compared to what we've had recently. No-one is suggesting he's gonna turn into prime Lampard. Not quite sure what your point is here.

So if we're buying him purely because he's available, that's continuing our rubbish transfer policy. If we're buying him to play a very specific role in a very specific system, then that changes my view.

If it's the former then this is a waste of time & money because Winks is a pretty average player in many ways. He can be steady at the base of midfield though, moves the ball well and has a decent footballing brain so if we employ him to sit and dictate, that could work.

I really hope it's not just another buy for the sake of it. We already have plenty of average midfielders to go round.

Didn't Allan have a problem with a double hernia, Brian?

Tony, yes there was talk of him having a hernia problem, but still managed to be on the bench for many games. Also no mention of him having any operation to cure the problem.

I hoped that, when Lampard joined, he would (given his background as a player) look to increase our goals per game output. I see no improvement in that area as yet but, to be fair to Lampard, this is his first proper transfer window.

Hpwever, signing the likes of Winks will not improve our goal tally. We seem likely to lose our 15- to 18-goal forward in Richarlison, so our goals-per-game ratio will take a hit if we don't improve in that area.

I don't see either Gray or Gordon replacing Richarlison's goals and, with there being little or no goals from midfield, I do worry where the goals will come from.

I am probably late to this one, but reading the Athletic, I see there is potential interest from Chelsea in Sterling. If that happened it could free up attacking midfielders that Chelsea might want to loan out or offload.

I had said I was going to avoid speculating.

Fail at the first attempt for Danny.

Save the cash and give young Warrington a chance.

He played at Tranmere on loan last season. Class.

The lad's an okay player, that's where we are at: best players out; okay players in. It's what we have done for years and I can't entirely blame the club for the situation. It's due more to the built-in imbalance of the Premier League.

I don't believe in keeping players that want to be elsewhere; also, the very best players only want to sign for the established Top 6 teams. It's a very difficult situation to change.

It's looking like it's going to be another difficult season.

I am with Sam@111, I would say Doucoure is certainly the best midfielder we have at the moment, if Harry Winks is being brought in to sit behind Doucoure then, if that's what Frank sees, I am happy to go with his judgement.

Doucoure is a much better player, not having to sit back, so, if we can play him in a more attacking midfield role, you will see a much improved player next season.

Like others, I've not taken too much attention in Winks's play, but Frank certainly got a tune out of Iwobi, so I'm happy to go along with Frank's judgement.

I just hope we stick with the manager for a few seasons, give the manager time to blend the players in, stop chopping and changing the managers every season, time for stability now and put trust in Frank.

We all have players in mind we would want; however, if Winks is the choice we make, at least give the guy a chance… not even signed yet and already he is getting battered.

Agree with Tony A and don't get the negative reaction.

He is tidy player who can pick the ball up as a defensive midfielder and pass the ball forward quickly. We don't have a player with this profile in the squad right now.

My guess is that he will join on loan which, together with Tarkowski's free, means we have covered two critical weaknesses in the squad without spending a penny.

Levy is doing a great job of getting rid of Spurs' rejects to Everton for far more than they are worth, when Tottenham have just unveiled another great midfielder, Bissouma, while Levy is getting Everton to pay £20M towards him through the potential sale of Winks, who plays similar to Allan.

Personally, I think Winks would be a terrible signing, even on loan. Just look at how often he was involved with Spurs wins and losses last season and you'll understand why Conte wants rid.

The fact that 2 of Conte's first 3 signings have been central midfielders tells you all you need to know about Winks.

On a separate note, has anyone bothered to listen to the BBC's Football Daily podcast? The section on Everton is embarrassing.

The so-called experts, Nigel Reo-Coker and Natasha Dowie (an RS lover) have clearly no understanding of Everton, its fans or players and don't half talk some shite.

Brian, Winks won't provide goals and assists to directly improve the goal tally. But every player contributes to goals for and against. Lampard wouldn't have scored all his goals without Makalele and Mikel screening the Chelsea defence and allowing him the freedom to get forward.

As for where the central midfield goals will come from, Alli is the obvious (but currently uncertain) answer.

What we need is the holding players to allow Alli to attack. Winks might do that - although in his prime at Spurs Alli had two big holding players in Dembele and Wanyama.

There are far better options in foreign leagues for a lot less money, for fuck's sake! It only takes a bit of effort from our scouts and recruitment department for once! Look at the likes of Brighton, Wolves, Leeds, etc. How can they find so many top young players and we cannot!?

If there is any truth in this £20-£25M figure, there is something seriously fishy going on here. This isn't value – even in today's day and age. The boy has utterly shocking statistics. I don't even think a free transfer, or even a loan would make sense.

Whilst I fully intend to be outside the statue with blue smoke for the player coach arrival against Chelsea, I think that any serious money paid out for this lad would equate to a Vitor Pereira-type protest outside the ground too.

Scary stuff.

I don't know if this has already been mentioned as I haven't read all the posts but apparently when Lampard was operating as a pundit in 2018 he was raving about Winks as the best holding midfield player around, saying his ability to cover distance defensively and passing accuracy was superb.

This to me demonstrates the short sightedness of many in football where you have to study a player through good and bad before coming to a conclusion – just as Dithering Dave does.

For me, Winks is another Tom Davies who has lost his way after showing promise and, like many other posters, I don't know why we aren't looking at better value options instead of Uncle 'Arry's has-beens.

If Winks arrives, I'll be taking 40…

Okay – I'll get me coat.

We are going to play 3 at the back as Chelsea do. Frank, if this paper talk is correct, obviously believes Winks is the player to sit in front of the back line. If he comes, I can only hope Frank is right. Fingers crossed.

On another note, here are today's rumors involving Everton:

- Tottenham offer Everton target Harry Winks to Rangers for £20m (Good luck with that)
- Everton make approach for Keane Lewis-Potter
- Toffees ‘interested' in Pape Abou Cisse
- Frank Lampard wants Hakim Ziyech at Everton as he nears Chelsea exit
- Blow for Everton as £30 million transfer target (Broja) open to a move to West Ham United

A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat. The nod being Levy; the wink being Harry; the blind bat is Lampard if this deal goes through.

Winks offers nothing as far as his stats go. We don't need another no-goals, no-assists midfielder – we have enough already.

Soren, don't worry, if Rangers bid £20 million, we will blow them out of the water with a bid of £25 million!

I've not seen or paid a great deal of attention to Winks as he is a Spurs player but he did not seem an imposing frame or a crafty ball winner or tackler. Additionally much of his efficiency with the ball is somewhat explained by the forwards that are constantly moving and drawing defenders which creates space and an easy vision for their midfielders.

That is down to the Spurs system and the fact that he has not contributed more within that system does beg the question: What the Fuck?

Wow!!

So many player experts on one site... and all know more about the player than Lampard. I honestly don't know why we bother with a DoF and a manager.

Before anyone says "This is a discussion," – it isn't... it's an assassination of the player's attributes before he's even signed (if he does) – never mind before he kicks a football.

Excellent comment, Dave@131, we are blessed with experts on the site.

If Frank sees him as a round peg for a round hole in his plans, then I hope we buy him. We have benefited from these oddball buys so often in the past.

When it all settles after the window and we have half a season to gel, you could see a fantastic team develop, we just need to put round pegs in round holes – not the square holes we've banged them in in recent years.

I'm going for a fast recovery for the club and without ridiculous money being spent.

Chris 121,

I did listen to that this morning, after my daily read of the Transfer Gossip page! If I was still a schoolboy I'd have found it insultingly poor.

Just a thought but, if we do get Winks, he has to be given the Number 40 shirt…

What's with the Lampard worship??? A little early for that isn't it? We all want to get behind the new manager but, after what we've been through, it is natural for some fans to have a critical take when a less than obvious target is mentioned.

By the way, what is the exact transmission of ideas among the DOF, manager and owner/chairman?

Dave #131,

Most on here have ate, slept and lived football since they could walk. Whilst we may not be qualified professionally, it's pretty insulting to say we can't have an informed opinion. If you don't like us having opinions, then what the fuck are you doing on a discussion forum site?

You also make an assumption that this is either Frank or the DoF driving this. We've been linked with this lad for several windows. It stinks of Bill or Moshiri and a new bat phone to their new mate, Levy. Given we are currently utterly skint, I think most of us have a right to question waste.

This player is most definitely that. Just look at his stats.

If the journo's said we were signing Messi Mbappe De Bruyne the site would be awash with posts rubbishing the journo's so who started the Winks rumour The Club ? The Journo's? Some RedNeck wannabe comedian?

Would it not be better to save the bile until names are mentioned by the club and don't forget we haven't got a pot to pi55 in until Rich Charlies Son goes.

Dave #131 and just to add to Gary's post, we left the recruitment and expenditure of over £500M to the experts and look where that got us.

In these days of heavily televised football, the fans see a lot more football than most managers and are therefore entitled to form an opinion.

Bit unfair, Dave @131.

We might not be "Experts" on here, however that's defined. There's a combined experience of watching the game of probably a millenium or two though, and it counts.

If we were about to sign Haaland, it would all be really positive. If signing the worst player in the league, then it would be massively more volatile. It's just a range based on what's there to be seen.

Winks as a signing is uninspiring IMO. If there's some hidden magic in him that Lampard can extract should we sign him, or he proves a great fit for some previously undiscovered pioneering role, I'll defer. Meanwhile, it's getting called as it appears and likely is.

A season-long loan for £10M would make sense and, if the lad works out, then we pay the other £10M to make it permanent.

Winks was one of those Spurs players, like Dele Alli, who looked possible world beaters under Pochettino. Can we rescue both of them from the football wilderness? Only time will tell.

Anyways, thanks to the abject mismanagement of Burke and Hare, we will have to wait until we sell Richarlison (probably on the last day of the window) to whoever is willing to pay over £30M.

I love the lad's fight and spirit but I don't see anyone falling over themselves to buy our Ritchie as he'd only be a squad player in a top 4-6 team.

ps: Dave @131, I was horrified when we bought Arteta and Cahill as I'd never heard of them. I was told that they were both crap (on another site) but they weren't too bad were they? Same goes for Gana Gueye

Well said Dale 👍.

Chaps,

I honestly didn't compile the previous few posts and stick them into mine! Seems we share the opinion.

I must stop writing posts in fits and starts without updating.

Soren, as long as we're not sniping each other, nice review earlier. I dug that.

I always try to wait and see how they perform for Everton and judge them as Everton players.

Players perform differently in different surroundings and when surrounded by different players.

We've had many over the years come with a fanfare only to disappoint.

Then we've had the odd Tim Cahill come in as an underwhelming £1.5M buy from Millwall as Rooney when out of the same revolving door that he entered.

Graeme Sharp from Dumbarton, Peter Reid taken at risk and Kevin Sheedy, a former Liverpool reserve who graced Goodison with his magic wand of a left foot. Sorry, had to get my 80s and Sheedy punt in! It's therapeutical.

I think the only high-profile player we bought in the Premier League era who I could say was a different class was Kanchelskis. Rodriguez had class but we didn't get to see enough of it. Nigel Martyn but a shame we didn't get him when we could have done had it not been for the apparent embarrassing position the club allegedly took.

Then there are relatively high profile flops. Krøldrup and Samways spring to mind. Am I being harsh on Samways? And Simon Davies. Oh, those last 2 came from Tottenham didn't they?!!

My point is, it's about building a team. We have to allow the manager and the DoF the opportunity to do that. So do the board.

Then we can judge them along with the players once they are playing for Everton.

Colin #140,

If we're going to spunk £10M on a loan fee, plus £3M-£5M in wages, we could offer Eriksen a whopping £200k a week and save ourselves a few million too. Hell, why not just add a couple of mill and go give Salah the £400k a week the shite are refusing him.

Suicidal business model…..

Given that money is so tight, any money we get in for Richarlison will surely be handed straight back to Spurs to pay for Dele Alli. I've not got a problem with Alli being Richarlison's replacement in some sort of 3-5-2 arrangement, but it's a brave gamble.

Lol Dale. Thanks man.

Danny, I thought Vinny Samways was a good player, and Pat Nevin. I know most won't agree.

Will @131.

I'm 61 and have followed Everton all over Europe. One thing I've learnt about football is expect the unexpected.

Cahill, Gough, Barry etc were all reviled and touted as a waste of money on this site. As for cast-offs... whoever we buy is a cast-off from another team.

I'm not saying Lampard is the Messiah but he knows a shitload more about football and team-building than "anyone" on here.

It's not so much the interest or even signing of Winks that's so disappointing and a big red flag. It's the idea we have appointed for the third time of asking a supposed savvy DoF with contacts all over the globe and we just resorted to what me and any blue or journalist can do and say the obvious.

He may turn out a success but, as I say very, it's a dumbed-down Everton Way of thinking.

Fuck, I'd have spent £16M on Zinchenko. Wolves-bound according to Sky.

Joe (148). I thought both Vinny Samways and Pat Nevin were good signings and good footballers but were unlucky in that Mike Walker bought Vinny then got sacked and Joe Royle took over and didn't fancy him, same with Pat Nevin bought by Colin Harvey who got the bullet and Howard Kendall replaced Harvey and didn't rate Pat.

Samways stayed at Everton for two years but only played 23 times, wasted in my opinion when Kanchelskis was in the team, Vinny with his great passing style would have made Kanchelskis's goal scoring even more impressive again y opinion.

Nevin was also left out by Kendall and played mostly in the reserves before going to Tranmere, he could have been used better by Howard who never reached anywhere near the heights he reached on his initial time at Everton at any other club including two more spells with the Blues.

Colin (140) - Has there genuinely been mention of a £10 million loan fee? Surely not. This can only have legs if there is no significant loan fee. And not just because our budget is thin.

If we're paying £10 million to loan him for a season, which can then be deducted from the pre-agreed transfer fee should we decide to sign him permanently, it potentially puts us between a rock and a very hard place.

If he's mediocre or worse we're looking at being down £10 million and a player for the squad for the following season so there's a world in which the powers that be would think – “Financially it makes sense to pay the extra £10 million to sign Winks rather than have to find a new midfielder within that same £10 million budget range.” It's not a good proposition at all.

Andrew, it was just a hypothetical estimate. I should've said, get him on loan and see how he works out.

Hi Dave [152] it seems to me that some fans will find fault in players no matter who they may be, to be honest most of them do so when they have given newcomers what they consider a fair chance. What I can't understand is the attitude that some have adopted, of judging players even before they have been signed,

My opinion of Pat Nevin is similar to that of Tony Hibbert, good in their positions but criticised unfairly. In Tony Hibbert's case the cry was 'He's alright defending but he can't cross a ball'', and in Pat Nevin's it was, ''He doesn't give his full-back cover." My reply to that was, "If I was his manager, my instruction would be to hang around the penalty area, but make sure it's not ours."

I believe that we all know a little about football and I'm no different, but I don't need 'stats' to tell me whether or not a player has had a good or poor game, and as Dave Lynch [149] says, every signing is somebody's cast-off, for one reason or another.

If I could pick three players that were hounded to hell, before even signing for Everton, let alone kick a ball for us, I would say Pickford and Gueye coming from relegated teams got a right good bashing, you can also mention Gareth Barry as too old.

It's not just them even before the internet and, players like Harper and Sheedy, even from hard core Blues in the stadium were disgusted we were after the shites fringe players, Paul Power another example, you can add Peter Reid and Andy Gray as crocked players past their best.

Have we not learned from Iwobi, a player transformed by Frank, a player finally being played in a more central position, instead of the wing.

I do not know much about Winks, but if Frank sees him as the player he wants, you will not get any complaints from me, could all be paper talk, but if Gomes goes and Winks comes in, could be a masterstroke from Frank, or a flop; either way we have to have faith in Frank's judgement for now.

Just read Arsenal have had a bid of £65M turned down by Leeds. If that's true, then what price Richarlison – £50M? Don't think so.

Not sure about this whole “if the manager wants him, it's good enough for me” mindset. Isn't that how we got into the mess we're currently in?!

For the last 4 years or so, a variety of managers have bought in a variety of different players. Some of whom they had historical links with (Ancelloti and Allan, Benitez and Townsend etc). Most of these players were decent enough players and most seemed to be an “improvement on what we have”.

But the inconsistency of approach and constant changing of manager has left us with a mishmash of different players, not obviously suited to one style or system with many of them on high wages and limited resale value. This is not how to run a club well.

The new DOF will hopefully be more involved in transfers and his job is to sign players who will be an asset even if Lampard is shown the door at Christmas. To ideally sign underpriced players who tick two boxes: High playing potential (to help on the pitch) and good resale value (to help off the pitch).

I'm not convinced Winks ticks either of these boxes. He is a tidy and composed distributor on his day, but then so is André Gomes and many on here know how I feel about him. A loan may make sense to take a good look at him or a very minimal transfer fee. But I suspect this one may not be a goer.

If Spurs want to sell Winks then, in my opinion, he's not good enough for us.

Why aren't we scouting and signing good young players with bags of potential? They are out there. Is our scouting set-up that bad?

Is Bill Kenwright involved in this transfer? He knows as much about football as Moshiri does.

Our transfer dealings are generally abysmal with a few exceptions. Why are we such a badly run football club?

Sam, 159. Totally agree.

Wasn't Niasse one of those so-called "if the manager wants him, then it's fine by me" signings too!?

Brian, forget about Winks coming in, I'll just be delighted if Gomes goes.

I genuinely hope this is a nonsense rumour.

The club stating a new strategy being set up, as lessons are learned, but then etching out transfer deals for rank average players reeks of despair.

How far back could you go? Claus Thomsen, Terry Phelan, Schneiderlin, Hottiger, Micky Walsh... The list is endless.

But let's see what's gonna happen as it happens, if and when it happens this preseason at Everton.

Yes, it was great to escape and take Evertonian support to an extra dimension in terms of literally carrying Everton over the line to survival, now 5 weeks ago, is history.

But hope eternal for EFC.

Dave @ 149,

As I remember it, Barry had a great record, Cahill was unproven but believed to have potential. I most remember concerns that Gough was knackered. Relative to his past, he was but was able to perform for us. Btw I wasn't on TW back then.

In the case of Winks, I believe there is plenty on which to judge, and I simply don't see anything to be encouraged by. Of course, I am never the final arbiter; just my opinion. The general consensus here seems to be that "TW" doesn't want Winks.

When extolling the enormous virtues of the combined TW knowledge base, I wasn't excluding you. None of us should dismiss anyone's right to their views. We might even agree on the next rumour.

Is right Sam@158.

There is zero evidence to suggest that anyone in this club hierarchy can be relied upon to make better judgements than the people who regularly contribute to this forum.

I'm not suggesting we know better than them, but I won't accept that they've got the best interests of the club at heart. If that was true, we wouldn't have been fighting relegation despite spaffing away more money than the average premier league club over the last 5 seasons.

Besides... it's a fans' forum FFS! If we just contend that Lampard has a better idea about what the club needs than we do, then what's the point of ToffeeWeb?

If you can't come up with a better argument for a post other than 'the club knows best', then I really don't know what you're doing here!

Brian H@114, true, because I expected to hear that Allen, had been operated on, with regards a double hernia, although this type of injury sometimes only needs rest.

He's getting older though, and if he hasn't had an op, there must be a chance that this could flare up again? But it genuinely wouldn't surprise me if Allen,also leaves Everton, before the end of this transfer window.

He's a big earner, who might want to stay and become a free agent next summer though, because this is very beneficial for modern footballers, and if Everton are to lose Richarlison, then they are definitely 100%, going to have to sign another centre forward, because otherwise we won't have anyone to deputize for DCL, which would be an absolutely ridiculous decision imo.

I am starting to think we've just got the wrong approach, we need to be bringing more people in with asthma. What the RS have achieved with a team full of asthma sufferers is amazing. Get those players in and get those inhalers all around the training ground, tbeir homes and the pitch and let's get those lungs working and get those steroids working on those muscles. With the right asthma medical team we can be the strongest and fittest in the league with Godfrey doing sub 9 second 100 metres. 👍

I think the clue is in the title Don, because Everton's midfield definitely needs more legs, even if most people want to leg the idea of bringing in Winks.

For me this is an absolute no.

We need impactful players. Signing a player who never scores goals nor makes any assists is to be 100% avoided. Unless he's a centre back, goalkeeper or outstanding defensive shielding midfielder.

This is another one of these players who I'm thinking ‘perhaps I'm missing something'. Much like I felt with the huge money signings of Bolasie, Iwobi, Sigurdsson and Keane.

Sadly, I'm pretty confident I'm not. We don't need another plodder in our team.

Here's an “I'm Spartacus” opportunity.

Hands up, anyone who thought Paul Power was a good signing when he came to us just when Lineker was off to sunnier climes?

I watched one highlights reel of Winks, because I was shocked by his stats, and to be fair to the kid, he created quite a few very good chances for his teammates, and incidentally scored a goal from a similar distance to the first goal Sigurdson ever scored for Everton, on this reel.

He does seem a lot quicker across the ground than Allen, Davies and Gomes, and is definitely not a bad footballer, for a team that struggle to keep possession, and came 17th last season.

People talking about the likes of Barry, Cahill, Gough, Samways Nevin, etc. as if they were the members of the silverware winning Everton teams! Not even close.
Is that what we want? Really? To assemble a team similar to how we were back in 90s or under the Dauer Dave?

Dave #131 and #149, I think you've missed the point of what a chat board is all about. This isn't an academic seminar or a summit meeting. It's an online pub, complete with a few virtual brawls.

Pretty boring if we all agreed with the manager. Or each other.

Soren #175, I reckon Barry, Cahill and Gough would have been embraced into any silverware-winning squad over the past 60 years.

They were excellent footballers, and characters.

Well with only about 6 weeks to go to the start of the season and the players will be back a couple of weeks before the season starts, we better start moving some of the players we need to transfer out to raise funds for players for transfer in.
Hope we are not going to wait an hour before the window closes to bring in players we need, but have a team ready that will be the core of the squad for the season.
This is the silly season where we will be inundated with numerous players and I would like to see who the director of football and the manager sign first, and that will show what areas of the team they believe need strengthened first.

One of the reasons for the financial mess is not having players lined up when a club comes in with a bid for players.

Wasn't there a story Richarlison turned down Man Utd a couple of years back?

There's been plenty of players bought cheap and young but we didn't sell. For example Coleman and Baines. Last summer Godfrey had interest and if the club said go ahead to everyone and bid it could have been a speculated £40 million. Same for Branthwaite who had some interest. Once Holgate had City rumours. Of course rumours and real bids are totally different things.

But part of the problem is not having players lined up and selling players when they are in really good form and getting £10 or £15 million more than they are worth and then reinvesting.

If the club had a bid for £35 million for Pickford could the deal be done and have a list of replacements? Same for Calvert-Lewin?

If after a good season Mykelenko has clubs sniffing around for say £25-£30 million or Patterson would it take bids and reinvest.

That must be part of the problem too.

I can't see the rules being beaten unless at least one or two players are sold every year that improve the financial situation according to the rules. So I think that needs to change in the transfer strategy, not just concentrating on who to bring in.

We do lack speed especially in the middle of the park when it comes to marking and tackling.

One paced players are okay when they have possession in their own third and just have to play the ball sideways and backwards but when you need to close down opposing players you need that extra turn of foot and it was so lacking last season.

When some key players get injured they usually need some games to get back to normal and one or two of them were in that category last season and was a major factor in some of those poor results.

No matter what Frank has up his sleeve he needs some speed in that middle otherwise next season will be nothing different.

Peter, good call, and at the time, Howard's purchase of Paul Power and with Wayne Clarke, made the big difference, and EFC, success.

Both were gems, like the signings, like Gray, Reid, Steven, and Bracewell, etc.

And Zico..

Right now, well hope Eternal, all matters, EFC.

I've just came back to this after a round trip to Bristol. No, not no the train.

I did ask if I was being harsh on Samways. Like I've seen Winks described on here, he was quite a tidy player, but he never convinced me. He did off to a memorable start mind with that lofted goal at Wembley to take the Charity Shield home.

I liked Pat Nevin. Always thought of him as a box of tricks; a very intelligent player. Unfortunately, and in hindsight, he joined us we were just starting off on the downward spiral. At the time he was seen by many I knew as a direct Trevor Steven replacement, so the expectation was unrealistic. No 2 players are the same in my view. The first time he caught my eye was playing for Chelsea at Goodison. I think it was that match when Pat absolutely cracked David Speedie cold out with his elbow. Even many Evertonians winced!

John Snr, I like your analogy on cast offs and I too don't like stats. I like to analyse the game and watch football. I'll read them as you can't avoid it these days, but I don't take too much notice of stats.

Some other good names on your list Brian (156) and on Paul Power Peter Mills, I'll put my confession hand up. I was in my best mate's house and we were shocked. We've bought an ageing player from Man City. Who were they? And with that moustache, he looked like one of our Dads' mates transported from 1976 was our general sentiment.

Mike Gaynes. I like your online pub and occasional virtual brawls description. Probably more accurate than we realise!!

Anyway, if this player does sign in whatever capacity, I'll judge him on his performances in a royal blue shirt. I can't believe there's still 6 weeks to go.

Danny hope you've had a safe journey home.🍺🙏🏼☘️

Let's hope there's some Science in the incomings, if they arrive this preseason.

No fekkn Spurs, duds..hopefully.

Will the the takeover view, of EFC, become clearer, I'm not sure, is it a set up to stir interest, after last season?

The best supporters in the UK! Yes.

UTFT!

that 87 team never gets its due. Adams Langley Pointon Harper Clarke Power all played for huge chunks of that season, and beat back double winning Liverpool to win a fantastic title. But just look at those names. How on earth was that possible.
The genius of Howard Kendall.

Kevin, zackly, 100%.

That squad is priceless, in any football era, that squad delivered, for EFC.

Absolutely 100% Kevin. The 84-85 team was the best in Europe at the time in my opinion as they romped to a then record title winning points haul. It's not the place, but such a shame they didn't get to prove it.

But for Kendall to win the league with that 86-87 squad was arguably his finest managerial moment in my opinion. Norwich at Carrow Road, May 1987; still my favourite away game that I hope one day is surpassed. I think Van Den Hauwe scored in the first minute or close to it. I honestly don't recall any of the match after that!!!

Paul, yes home safe and winding down thank you. I don't want to mix threads, but on the way back, my son read out a feed from a reputable source. Not someone we know, just one he follows who is usually on the money. It back's up what Greg O'Keefe has reported. Kenyon and his consortium have visited Goodison and the Bramley Moore site and held direct meetings with both Moshiri and Kenwright.

It didn't suggest other reports that Moshiri wants to retain 10% but it interestingly stated that Kenwright wants to remain as Chairman but they are keen for a revamp of the board, naming one of the consortium (I forget which one) as a potential successor. As well as Kenyon having a hands on approach.

Interesting few weeks ahead.

Peter 170. Paul Power had great players around him. Unfortunately Winks won't no better or worse than what we've already got.

Andy, I tend to agree, no better that what we have equals a pointless exercise. Given how much Levy will attempt to extract from us I'd rather have someone who loves the club. Is he any better than Davies? Any better than Barkley?

On Winks, —>I confess that I have never been impressed with Winks and I have watched him play in lots of games (not just on tv). My feeling is that he is there, he plays football but there must be loads of cheaper lads out there who can do that.

He might be able to fill a role but it is a possible signing that simply leaves one feeling...the same as before.

I also hope we don't do any business with Levy.

I have a feeling Winks will be a (£20m) makeweight in the Richarlison deal. Whether he's worth that is irrelevant. It's basically Levy trying to take £20m off Richy's price tag and get him as cheap as possible.

How are we supposed to get excited about signing a player who is about as good as Davies ? The priority should be adding players who can score goals!
Winks would add nothing, a waste of £20 million, surely there are better players in the championship.

Like many others I'm concerned about us buying any more of Spurs failures, Deli being a prime example, surely we're not keeping him on, it will be another colossal waste of money.

Under the present regime this obsession with mediocrity has become the rule by which we are governed.
Until something fundamental changes in the club's hierarchy things will remain the same.

@ Trevor 190

Scott Twine is a better player in league one. We'd probably get him for £5m plus add-ons.

He'd give us a lot of what we currently don't have - a goal threat, creative and excellent at set pieces. All with much room to improve and get better. This is also much of what Harry Winks absolutely will not offer us.

Would be on an hugely lesser wage too.

But rather than signing and developing a player like this - who is on the way up. Everton would rather stick to they system of signing players on their way down.

Well… that didn't work!

Instead of producing something we could all get behind, Don again regurgitates something from 12 years ago!!!

Sorry but I'm deleting all that from this thread. And I'll ask you again, Don: submit an article on this topic for creating a new thread of your own that I can add these posts back to.

Or don't. That of course is entirely up to you. But please do not repost Colin's excellent article for a third time…

You know what the Yanks say? Three strikes and you're out!

Tommy 189 you often make some really interesting suggestions of players we could sign and you seem to have alot of knowledge of players at other clubs so I am not going to knock you. However, comparing us signing someone like Twine to us potentially signing Winks doesn't make any sense. They are completely different players who play in different positions, one is a pure 6 and the other a winger (or 10) from what I can gather.

We need a 6 desperately, fuck it we need an 8 as well while we are at it. Winks may not be who we want but sometimes we can't get who we want, we need the next Gueye or Makelele. Any suggestions? I wouldn't mind Winks on loan, he can play a bit in a 3, I'd love Zinchenko or Gallagher to sit further upfield. We need to shift some midfielders too.

@ Steve 191

No. I believe your thinking is too rigid.

We need good players. That's the most important thing. Players who can score goals, crest chances etc will always be the difference between winning matches and not winning them.

Undoubtedly we need to be better defensively and have more legs in midfield. But talks of 6s 8s and whatever else is making assumptions on what system Frank wishes to play and what system we will adopt.

Richarlison is going and will need to be replaced. Signing Harry Winks will not come close to filling the void that such a player will leave.

Once you have quality - you can add a steady Eddie plodder midfielder such as Winks from anywhere. There's tons of players of his like out there for the fraction of the price.

Sorry Michael, it was indeed an excellent post from Colin, but I should have known better than respond, my apologies. Red rag to an old cow

Reminds me of Simon Davies. Not good enough for where we aspire to be. We need young, athletic, hungry players who will give their all. Not so-called Big 6 rejects on Easy Street at Goodison. There must be better alternatives out there. What do our scouts do?

Tommy Carter I agree with you we need more players who can score. With only Richie and DCL ( who was injured much of last season) we have very little else and when Richie is forced to do it alone we have a real struggle to win or put any pressure on other teams.

We are all mostly agree that second rate players like Rondon, Tosun and Niasse are not worth bringing in from leagues not up to Prem. standard.

Townsend and Gray sparkled only occasionally.
Alli and Iwobi may do better next term but more goals from the supporting cast is imperative.

The top teams have the abundance of goalscorers in their ranks.

Another fun rumor -- supposedly we're in for Wijnaldum on loan from PSG, where he has crapped out so badly that he has lost his Netherlands place five months before the WC.

Eddie and others, I don't have any trepidation about doing business with Levy. He's no legend in my book -- has made as many bad deals as good ones, and (like us) some odd hires as manager. And it's not like Spurs have won much in his 20 years on the job.

Our problem has been our own bargaining prowess, not other people's.

Hi Danny [178] I can take credit or criticism for any comment I may contribute on this site but regarding the, "As for cast offs, whoever we buy is a 'cast off' from another team", they were not of my choosing, those wise words were written by Dave Lynch [149] an observation I completely agree with.

You are aware of my dislike of players being judged by 'stats', you can add the fact of describing players by numbers [6, 10. or false 9] to the list.
In my younger days players were judged by their position, [2 and 3] were right & left full backs, [4, 5 & 6], were right half, centre half, & left half. 7, and 11 were right & left wingers, 8, 9, & 10 were inside right, centre forward & inside left, the wing halves and inside forwards would assist in both attacking and defensive duties when necessary. [I suppose todays mid-fielders.]
Like today, there were 11 vs 11 and the better side generally won the game, I attend games now and I still see 11 vs 11, formations don't register with me, but I still leave the ground having enjoyed or endured the football on show.

Latest rumour is we want Winks on loan but Spurs want £20m. Tell them to do one. Let's see if anyone is prepared to risk £20m on him.

No club will be paying £20m. Loan with an option to buy at £10m next summer. He's a player that has lost his way and has not progressed in the last few seasons. If we really must, a loan with a buy option deal makes sense to see if he Frank can rehabilitate him to make an impact here.

Bobble claims Gomes is trying to find a new club. Hopefully he can do that quicker than the time it takes him to move 30 yards across a pitch

Kieran, and also states that we are to take up our option to extend Doucoure's contact by a further year which is a sensible move by the club.

‘Everton are planning to excerise Abdoulaye Doucoure's contract by a further year, this season. His current contract ends in June 2023, however Everton installed a ‘club option' for an additional year, when he joined the club from Watford, in 2020'

Looks like it's basically done.. Loan with obligation to buy apparently.
Now we're continuing with zinchenko, which will presumably speed up once the brighton left back joins city 🤞

Kieran, Gomes will find a new club only if it's to his direct left or right. Definitely not in front of him.

Mike

So it's between Liverpool and Tranmere for Gomes

Joe, I thought Zinchenko was on his way to Wolves so thanks for that. There is our defensive midfielder!

Lessons learned, sermon 1. No getting mugged off in transfer deals by Spurs.

Winks isn't the worst but thinking what perhaps EFC, coaches are thinking, do they see something that can be unlocked potential, in the player?

May be there's more, but for me this raises deeper questions about acquisition, development and transfer policy at Everton.

But what is the football policy at Everton, in terms of development of a football system, playing culture, from youth to professional?

I hope it's in progress.

Yessss, maybe, something is up on the Zinchenko move. We were following Arsenal in the odds and then the story came out that Hammers had a 16m offer accepted. Now we've overtaken Arsenal as the favorite at some oddsmakers, we're 7/4 Arsenal 4/1. I'm getting positive about this again.

Kieran@199, zackly, the way he plays slower, than slow motion in football like no other Everton midfielder in the darkest days of the last 30 odd years.

Dale from what I've read and heard, we are in the driving seat. Fabrizio even mentioned it on his podcast last week, to quote the Italian he said “Everton are showing the most interest and have good chances to sign zinchenko”

I think he'd be an absolute quality signing and his ability to cover different positions could be very useful.

Dale/Joe

I'm really puzzled Pep is letting Zinchenko go. He's really a quality player. I would be pleased if we got him as our new Phil Neville (ex Manc, FB come CM)

Think Zinchenko is the one who gives us a real option of going with the 3 at the back, or possibly even a 4-3-3. Not only can he directly cover Mykolenko (if Nkounkou not ready) but he could play next to him and cover during a game.

Iwobi's experience and performance at RWB last year would allow him to do similar on the right with Patterson. Alli/Gordon/Gray battling it out for the CAM position in the middle, with a CDM option to maybe come into it against the top teams.

Pickford
Tarkowski Mina Godfrey
Patterson Iwobi Dele Zinchenko Mykolenko
Calvert-Lewin Richarlison

Gordon, Gray, Doucoure, Nkounkou, Dobbin, Simms etc – all offering energy from the bench to make use of the 5 subs. Coleman, Allan and Holgate options there too if we need to if we need to shut up shop.

Not a bad side that. If Richarlison goes, get another striker in (Broja), a CDM (Sangare) and look for another young right-back to push Patterson as Coleman heads to the sunset next summer. Another CM to push Iwobi would be icing on the cake.

COYB!

“Another CM to push Iwobi would be icing on the cake”. No, Gary. Pushing Iwobi out of the door, closely followed by Gomes, Davies, Keane, Rondon etc…. Would be the icing on the cake.

Kieran, I'm lead to believe zinchenko wants to play midfield on a regular basis, pep probably can't garuntee him that with the abundance of midfield quality they have. There loss is our gain I suppose! 👍🏻

Sounds like Winks is definitely coming. On loan with a buy clause (hopefully option rather than obligation).

I've had a good look at his stats and feeling marginally better about it. He clearly takes care of the ball with some of the highest pass completion rates and progressive passing rates in the league. He's not just a sideways merchant. His defensive stats are pretty poor though and clearly he gets little in the way of goals and assists. At best he could be like Jorginho, dictating tempo from the middle, at worst he's like a less handsome Andre Gomes.

It seems a strange purchase for a team not set up to play possession football and my worry is that if Winks isn't making tackles then who is? Do you have to play a ball winner next to him? In which case we have two central midfielders who are likely contributing no goals and no assists. That seems problematic to me given the lack of guaranteed production from other areas.

I think we need a 6 who can pass AND tackle. Cheick Doucoure seems to be able to do both and is apparently close to a £18m move to Palace (who continue to do good business and have transitioned from an old, slow team to a fast, young team very quickly and effectively without spending vast sums.)

Sounds like Winks is definitely coming. On loan with a buy clause (hopefully option rather than obligation).

I've had a good look at his stats and feeling marginally better about it. He clearly takes care of the ball with some of the highest pass completion rates and progressive passing rates in the league. He's not just a sideways merchant. His defensive stats are pretty poor though and clearly he gets little in the way of goals and assists. At best he could be like Jorginho, dictating tempo from the middle, at worst he's like a less handsome Andre Gomes.

It seems a strange purchase for a team not set up to play possession football and my worry is that if Winks isn't making tackles then who is? Do you have to play a ball winner next to him? In which case we have two central midfielders who are likely contributing no goals and no assists. That seems problematic to me given the lack of guaranteed production from other areas.

I think we need a 6 who can pass AND tackle. Cheick Doucoure seems to be able to do both and is apparently close to a £18m move to Palace (who continue to do good business and have transitioned from an old, slow team to a fast, young team very quickly and effectively without spending vast sums.)

Colin, Alex was one of our better players in the last half of the season. His goal against Newcastle one of THE reasons we are still a premier league club. He's quick, skilful and now maturing massively under Frank - specifically on the mental side he was missing. I don't believe he's a shoo-in for a first 11, but I think he fits that 3-5-2 formation well, and gives us depth we'll desperately need with 5 subs making ‘Klopp tempo' the new defacto norm.

Colin, are you staying steadfast in your hate of Iwobi? He was comfortably one of the best players under Lampard and played a crucial part in saving us from relegation. His work rate was outstanding and he absolutely deserves to be one of the names on the team sheet currently. We look so much more creative with him in the middle, though he needs to get scoring more goals.

Gary, I believe one swallow does not make a summer. I agree, Iwobi put in the effort (at last) and perhaps deserves another chance to stay at the club.

Prior to those last 6-7 games he'd been one of the worst Everton players I've ever witnessed. I'd give him until Christmas to see if this was a flash in the pan or the real thing.

The jury (me) is definitely out on Iwobi.

As for Winks. He's an improvement on Gomes but not by much.

Forget the names Sam.

It's probable that the manager wants to change the style. He did initially but then seemed to realise quickly, like Ancelotti, that he couldn't do it with the current players. So we reverted to type.

I'd imagine he will try to bring in players that can play the system and style he wants to implement. Who they are is anyone's guess. But that is his and the DoF's call. Then we can judge them. They reap the rewards of their own judgement or fall on their sword. But we need to give them time. That's been one of the key failings of this current Everton regime.

I'm not getting carried away with names. I've witnessed enough high profile signings that flopped and conversely, enough low profile ones that went onto to be favourites. We just never know.

Bar the odd true great individual, football is more often about building a team. It's a team game. I think of it like cooking for those who find therapy in the kitchen. Get the ingredients and right balance of seasoning and spices correct and you serve up something that makes you proud and pleases those you serve it up to.

Danny, Sam. This article today in the Echo is along this theme and is well worth a read. A statement from Kevin Thelwell in it that makes very good reading, showing the necessary joined up thinking. Worth a read.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/edson-alvarez-ibrahim-sangare-offer-24317539

Sounds like Frank wants Winks, Winks wants to come and Levy is digging his heels in value wise. I don't think we should be over a barrel to Levy for this player, and should be fully prepared to forgo him if the deal is not right for us. Frank will not be too happy about that but he'll have to deal with it. A loan with an option to buy, definitely NOT an obligation to buy. Even if this option involves a reasonable loan fee.

I personally think that if Lampard can get the ingredients right on the pitch, by bringing “a lot more energy” into his team, then this will compliment the ingredients, that are already in place inside the stadium, Danny?

We need to play with more aggression and we need to play a lot quicker imo, and looking back to the Brentford game, we were blowing them away, before a couple of key decisions went against us, and how we started that game, is hopefully something that is eventually going to become our normal style of play?

Sam, What do you make of Brentford's danish DCM Christian Norgaard ? the stats in that article are very good. I remember the Brentford supporter, John Hood?, coming on this site and saying that he was their main man and is integral to the team. He won their player of the season this year. He's 28 so not really the most desirable age profile, a late developer , but maybe a 10-15 fee player. His wages are stated as 20k per week. I'm not saying we should buy him but he warrants some attention.

Danny, the names (profile) of the players don't matter but the qualities do. The system and managers style is crucial of course but to borrow your own metaphor the ingredients do matter. A caprese salad with beautiful homegrown Italian tomatoes will always taste better than one of the supermarket shelves.

As with any player arriving at Everton I will be cheering them on and not judging them in a toffee shirt till they've had a decent chance. But if Lampard is looking for a ball playing number 6 I think there may be options out there who offer more than Winks. However if he comes I'll obviously wish the best of him and he does have qualities we lack.

Tony @220,

I like Nørgaard a lot. Very decent midfielder who does great work defensively but also chips in at the other end too. An unglamorous but effective player like him is exactly what we need. He'd have been on my lists if he was a bit younger.

Just read that Everton have until 30 June to offset any losses regarding FFP, so expect plenty of sales on or before that date. This may mean selling more than one of our current first-team squad. The problem is: sell your better players and you can't replace them with anything like the same quality, because of FFP.

Rumours are we will sell Richarlison to Chelsea and maybe take 1 or 2 of their players as part exchange, but how that helps our FFP position much, I am not sure.

Also, I would imagine the 2 Chelsea players' wages added together would probably be more than what we are paying Richarlison, so again it doesn't reduce our FFP by much, if anything at all.

So maybe it might be the right time to sell Calvert-Lewin to Newcastle for £50 million that would at least make a dent in our FFP position. I know many fans like me hate FFP but it's here and we have to live within the rules or end up like Derby County, so it's imperative we stay on the right side of the rules.

Also, I know the club have said they have been working closely with the Premier League over our FFP position, but maybe they have told the club they may have to do a lot more before the 30 June to stay compliant with the rules.

If we take a player or two from anyone with Richarlison going the other way, then surely it would be possible to say our player was valued at £70 million, whilst their players were only valued around £10 million? I have similar thoughts with having a betting company sponsoring us, because surely they could pay us an inflated price, and Moshiri could have someone lose a few million on bets.

I'm sure all contracts run until the last day of June, so Everton will be getting a few more off the wage bill next week, and it's possible things will start moving then anyway. This could possibly also be why Tarkowski hasn't been introduced as an Everton player just yet.

"I have similar thoughts with having a betting company sponsoring us, because surely they could pay us an inflated price, and Moshiri could have someone lose a few million on bets."

Always encouraging to see someone that knows which way the wind blows.

Tony # 218, the Thelwell article is encouraging. That focus on roles and responsibilities on the pitch, within a style of play is exactly what we've been missing.

Indeed, that strategic recruitment and development is what has made Norgaard (a pretty mediocre footballer) into an effective part of a Brentford side which is very much more than the sum of its parts.

So it's not so much that we should be buying Norgaard - more that we shouldn't be scared to build a team which includes players of the right profile and qualities for the specific role in the side.

As Norgaard shows us, the right player might be someone struggling for games at a mid-table Serie A side.

It all starts, therefore, with how Lampard wants to set us up.

The players to fit that system are all out there - and don't need to cost a fortune.

Nick Leeson... I mean Tony #224,

In terms of your " flexible player valuation" approach I'm not sure it matters... the only figure that counts is the actual money we receive. Or am I misunderstanding you?

As for your gambling suggestion, I'd be pretty confident that, once the inflated price was paid... Moshiri would very quickly remember that gambling is against his religion!

I think I'm misunderstanding myself, Brendan, although I'm sure northern Cyprus is full of casinos though, mate!

Robert, that paragraph from Kevin Thelwell is an interesting one. On recruitment, the way he talks about collaboration and Frank being ‘heavily involved'. It is Kevin subtly saying to Frank, "I am the conductor and you are a lead part of the orchestra." It's the DoFs responsibility as the conductor to get the whole orchestra playing in harmony together.

It's early days but I like what I am hearing from Kevin Thelwell.

Tony Everan,

That interview makes for good reading. Firstly, it indicates that we are looking to introduce a system and recruit accordingly rather than the patchwork quilt or "buy and see what happens" approach of recent seasons.

Secondly, it made me purr like a Cheshire cat reading that Lampard wants the players to enjoy the football. For too long our players seem to have feared it.

Tony, yes. Despite last season, we have a core nucleus of decent players. We all know or have views on where the gaps are. But the addition of a few new players to inject energy and tempo will be vital. And by 'tempo', I don't mean 'pace'. Players who can impact the game, be comfortable on the ball, and turn the game around quickly to get us on the front foot.

Sam & Robert, seems like we're saying similar things. It's about getting the right blend to play the system the manager wants but yes quality matters. Like a good wine!

If there is any truth in the Chelsea rumours, I'd prefer doing business with them than Levy. It still seems to suggest £50M plus players, which is a £70M deal, which is where I think Tottenham are aiming at too.

But all speculation & rumour. I guess we'll see what the next few days serve up on the hot plate.

Swerve this one, Blues... I'd rather have Derby County's Tom Lawrence, a real grafter, also creative and scores goals too – and he thrived whilst Frankie was the gaffer there!

He would be a great signing and wouldn't break the Goodison Park bank account neither.

Well, if anyone was thinking maybe Winks might be a decent signing, that Gobshite Paul Merson will have just changed your mind…

He has endorsed a move to Everton, so it's official: don't touch him with a barge pole!

Right on Joe and cheers Kieran, that just improved my weekend of speculation. He is class and can definitely find a DCL in the box. If we get both Winks and Zinchenko that adds a lot of flexibilty for Frank I'm still in the camp that discounts Winks ability to create space and find the forward runs given how much our squad struggled to coordinate runs. This is not a direct criticism of Winks as much as questioning if he can be a creator with the players around him.

I think Iwobi's performance improved when fans started throwing blue flares on to the pitch! Hopefully we have a stockpile of those.

In another news, Rondon has apparently said that he wants to stay and fight for his place which can be translated to "I want to stay and collect my wages no matter what"!

What annoys me is all the speculation and rumours regarding Everton. I keep reading of other Premier League clubs having bought and sold players, but in our case, it is all 'possibles' and 'probables'.

Why are we not hearing the club using the word 'definite'? Even if the players are here on loan. So much for this "Rebuild"!!

Bernie (235) — you may be right that we are in dire straits financially. However, even if so, it is surely wise not to announce transfer targets in advance in case we get gazumped by Jihad Utd in particular.

Larry,

I wasn't talking about our finances, or even announcing intended transfers. Take a look at the Everton News at the top of this page. Reporters say this, pundits say that etc. I would prefer to read of a definite transfer, in or out, but there aren't any!

Even the signing from Burnley is still not confirmed. Yet on Sky Sport, I read that Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs etc have already signed up players. Soon there won't be any decent players for us to sign!!

We may be in 'Dire Straits' financially but...Harry doesn't mind if he doesn't 'make the scene' he's got a daytime job – he's doin' alright.

As a signing, it ain't what I call rock and roll.

Bernie, it's more likely we haven't got the money to actually buy anybody until we sell Richie.

Comments on here questioning why Pep is getting rid of Zinchenko. In my opinion, he's a total liability as a left-back; he looks good going forward, but a rubbish defender.

Whenever he plays, he's targeted straight away. Look back to the Real Madrid game: all the attacks came down his side and cost Man City the game.

Having said that, midfield is his preferred position, and looking at him play there for Ukraine, he's a completely different player, and would definitely be a great addition.

Zinchenko is not a left back. He plays that position sometimes for City because of what happened to Mendy and he's left footed. City don't need orthodox defenders / full backs because they defend by having such a huge proportion of possession almost every game.

For us, I expect he would play as a central-ish (not holding) midfielder in a 433.

I think all signings are waiting for announcement after June 30 for financial reporting purposes. Deals are advancing in the background.

Lampard will be gone before christmas, he,s not got a clue..

Dale #242, that would make sense but this is Everton so it can't be true.

Bernie, as Tarkowski is contracted to Burnley until the end of June, we can' announce that officially – especially with the bad blood that currently exists.

The other thing about the end of June is that that is the cutoff date for FFP rules for this year, so expect outgoings to happen before 30 June and incomings to happen after that.

If things are desperate, I expect Richarlison to be gone by then; if not, then finances might not be as bad as predicted.

Tony #243,

Frank helped keep the club in the Premier League by adopting a pragmatic approach with our poor squad (we were in free-fall before then). I'd happily bet you a small charitable donation that he will not be gone by Christmas. (If he is, then we really will be in a bad way!)

I expect an improvement this season following the conclusion of the transfer window. We won't be challenging for honours but we will be better than last time out.

Totally agree, Nick @246. Lampard is a young manager who will only get better. Pragmatic, yes, and it paid off. As others have mentioned, he was cautious about playing the kids but he didn't have much margin for error.

Personally, I hope Lampard remains pragmatic, especially away, this coming season – because the First XI will remain very much a work in progress.

Thanks everyone for explaining the transfer holdups because of FFP. I hadn't considered that. Sorry for whinging!

Gary#255

Not sure if it is true but a few rumours that Everton have until 30th June to prove they a have abided by FFP rules and that they don't unless they sell before the 30th. So maybe thats why Spurs have the upper hand in what they pay.

A few people have commented on the 30 June/1 July financial fair play deadline.

I thought I read something some time back which suggested that it was simply a deadline for submitting initial financial plans. It's not a "cut-off" date as I recall by which transfers have to be actually completed so it shouldn't necessarily impact our transfer "strategy".

Can anyone shed any light?

Spurs are really laughing at us.

Ancelotti really wanted the 25-year-old Højbjerg from Southampton. Instead, he went to Spurs for around £15 million, and is now one of their better players. Everton instead got Allan, the 30-year-old from Naples, for £20 million, who has got worse.

Spurs have just signed Bissouma, much favoured from Brighton, for £33 million, and now Spurs want Everton to help pay for him by paying the ridiculous sum of £20 million for Winks, who is not as nearly as good as Bissouma, but is more like Allan.

Brendan @262,

I think the caveat that's missing here is having any big player sales "to be included in the accounts for 2021-22" – and therefore to potentially improve our compliance with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules by having that transfer income offset against and directly reducing our losses for the Financial Year.

Thanks Michael #264

That makes sense.

Brendan, 30th June is the end of Everton's accounting year. Therefore, as Michael say's a sale is required by that date if it is to be included in the 21/22 accounting year/period. Our new accounting period starts on the 1st July & is why we generally never make any pre season signings before that date (Tarkowski will be announced on Fri). The removal of wages for the end of contract players, Sigurdsson, Delphi, JJK etc. will all help with the accounts for 22/23.

Michael #264

Question for you, if the takeover happens and the club's debts are written off, does that affect the rules?

an we spend more money or is that still down to the new owners to also bring in as much sponsirship money as they can so we can spend more?

Any takeover doesn't affect our current FFP position.

Thanks also Steve #268

Thats even more illuminating.

Ton y#243,

If you listened to Andros Townsend on talksport praising Lampard for turning around a broken squad with a losing mentality, and Andros who had a good relationship with Benitez, it's not Lampard who hasn't a clue!

If it's true we have to sell off a player by the end of the month to satisfy FFP, you have to ask, why on earth did we pay top dollar for Patterson in January?

Let's hope it's not the case but, if Richarlison goes for anything less than £60M, we know we've been had cos of our own ongoing incompetence. I can't believe our chap would be stupid enough to at the same time let Gordon go out the door, but you never know with Farhad.

I think people wondering what we are going to do with the Richarlison money are forgetting about Alli, in that it's already been spent. We do of course have the option of never playing him, but I suspect that one of the reasons we are sniffing around Winks is cos there is a player who is used to playing with Alli, so I suspect we will end up spending £60M on the pair of them.

I hope Frank knows what he's doing. cos that's a lot of money when you''re down to your last fiver.

Kevin @260,

I'm just reading in The Mirror that Everton paid £5.5M for Nathan Patterson, which is a lot closer to his real value than the £11M quoted in most other places.

They say that it could rise to £11M with add-ons, which seems an odd coincidence. Someone has the numbers wrong... but who?

Michael,

I do recall Rangers openly congratulating themselves on the fee achieved at the time. From the tone, I don't think they were bluffing.

Going for players just because they've previously played with Alli seems a bizarre and illogical transfer policy, Kevin (260).

Harry Winks reminds me of Tom Cleverley; distinctly average and perhaps made to seem better than he is by having some much better teammates to keep the opposition occupied.

I would expect him to be horribly exposed if asked to operate as our lynchpin. I could be wrong and it may be the making of him to become the ‘main man'?