Who's free or cheap in 2023?

As long as Thelwell can sign young, pacey, tough & hungry players to make the squad more dynamic, I'm confident with Dyche's ability to mold them into low- to mid-table squad that doesn't have to worry too much about relegation.

And that, as you said, "From there you can build".

Thanks for the Yank callout. Miles Robinson was definitely Premier League ready a year ago -- fast, aggressive, fierce tackler, would have started for the USA in the World Cup -- but he blew out an Achilles.

He has come back and played every minute for Atlanta this year (I haven't seen him). If fully healthy, worth considering. Does not, however, fit your preferred profile of an aerial dominator.

To your wide right list, I would add Timothy Weah of the USA, gettable from Lille for about 㾶M. Only 23. Ridiculous speed, bags of talent, World Cup experience, but for some reason much more productive for his national team than at club level. Could be a diamond in the rough.

My only observation is we desperately need a creative No 10. Since the Icelandic went on a permanent holiday and James Rodriguez (who is on a free and worth a punt, lol) got handed the bums rush by Benitez, we haven't had anything creative in the middle of the park and without a No10 we are a one-trick-pony outfit. (The fact he got shafted by Benitez means he is worth a starting place alone!)

But seriously, it's a real issue.

If a new investor doesn't come on board this month, then Pickford will be sold to continue the stadium construction. Onana will be sold to provide a small amount that can be used for signing-on fees for free transfers and a couple low cost signings. Once again, I expect the club to start the season with both a weaker starting 11 and squad.

I did a quick scan of stats from some leagues in Europe and the UK, and in truth, we either won't be able to afford players that might improve us, or they are too old or too young.

Personally, I do not want to see or hear about players that we have supposedly chased in the past. Zaha for one. If we look at what Kompany has done with Burnley, he has combined a blend of younger players with established experienced players, who played attractive football. Albeit in the Championship.

If Dyche remains as our manager, I would like to see him try and get a mixture of experienced and younger players into the squad. We have some experienced players in the first team who we can build around, if we can shrewdly add younger players around them, it may be possible to improve our league position next year. Strikers are a priority.

It will be very interesting to see what money there is to spend and on what positions. I think the pot could be a bit bigger than some expect if we secure new investment over the next week or so to go along with 㿭M in fees for Gordon and Kean.

I think Reiss Nelson on the fringes at Arsenal is a player we should be having a very close look at. I like players who have a the right amount aggression and a bit of attitude. His 3 goals and 2 assists in 11 games this season is sound, he was underused maybe because he is leaving .

There will be more than a few clubs circling , AC Milan abroad too , but we should definitely look at him , even more so as there is now no transfer fee to pay. I'll be watching and waiting to see if we have an interest.

He is at the right age to really kick on at his next club. I like the idea of McNeill on the left, Nelson on the right bringing balance to the team. Sean Dyche could definitely work on him and improve, .

Ampadu also interests me, still young and ready to move on to establish himself. I think we need another central midfielder for squad strength. Davies will be gone, Gana one more year left, could be the right time to have a good up and comer as back up with succession planning in mind too. What do you make of City's Shea Charles we have been linked with ?

Of the forwards I think Dyche will be wanting someone with essential aerial ability, score goals and has a decent bit technique to hold the ball up with strength and cleverness. DCL in a different body, a body that works !

If you look at the strikers he had a Burnley - Barnes, Weghorst etc, Galoots ( makes me laugh every time thanks Dave Abrahams, you're getting me into trouble, I'm calling everyone a Big Galoot these days.). I'm expecting a refined, physically tough 6'2” plus who transcends the Galoot level as a back up challenger to DCL.

I like the new scientific term ‘ Niasse-Osimhen Spectrum' . We have to get this signing right above all else, I mean Beto comes into the right profile, but would he cope with the Premier League?, I'm not sure.

The fictional striker I want is a young Olivier Giroud, if Kevin Thelwell can find one. Maybe he can pull a rabbit out of the hat and get someone for under 15m., maybe not.

If we have got money to spend this is where it needs spending, we need the best we can get that fits into Sean's system. This window has got to be focussed on getting goals into the team, as it absolutely killed us last year being the lowest scorers in all four divisions before the Brighton game.

Robert, I'd like you to get out of the financial straitjacket with regards the striker and give us some more quality options that would in theory, cost more, but give us a much better chance of scoring more goals.

It sounds grim but, if you consider where we might have ended up against Fulham, Newcastle and even Man City etc with just a proper centre-forward on the pitch for 90 minutes, then you can see just how much we came on under Dyche.

If we do get some money this summer, through investment or sales or both, I hope we still hunt around for players in the bargain aisles – because there's some real talent here and the players (like Garner, McNeil, Tarkowski and Patterson) can be a really good fit. Then, as you say Tony, we might move in to a higher price bracket for the all-important striker.

If anyone got shafted then it was definitely the most divisive manager in out history, imo Christine, although just like everyone else, Rafa Benitez, has done very, very, very fucking well out of dysfunctional Everton.

It looks like lot of good thought and research has gone into your work once again Robert, and reading through this list, which includes quite a few players I've never heard of, definitely makes interesting reading, mate.

It's absolutely staggering the data clubs can now receive on any player they might be interested in. This data tells you things like average kilometers covered during a game, how many sprints a player completes, their top speed, and the most kilometers they have covered during a game.

I'm not one who is big on a lot certain stats, some of which I think can be quite meaningless, but this doesn't mean they are not important, especially when it comes to the things I wrote about in the paragraph above.

You say about us lacking a creativity in midfield, but I believe in Garner we have a very creative player. He had to play the last 2 games of the season at right wing back because of injuries and did it brilliantly. But he has already shown in the couple of games he has played in central midfield he has all the skills to be that creative player we have been lacking for a long time. Paul Scholes said he couldnt believe Man Utd let Garner go and he said he was the most talented midfield player they had unearthed in a while.
I think that if you ask most Blues our best midfield 3 would be Garner, Gueye and Doucoure.

I believe that Garner will be better than James Madisson and it wouldnt surprise me to see him get into the England squad next year.

Esk, Romano, Bobble, News Now, Maguire etc…. Can all do one. Show me the money!!

I liked the look of Gyökeres in the play-off final. Seems to hold the ball OK, decent shot on him and he looks a handful. Works hard too so could be on the Dyche radar.

We need a striker. Badly. And I think this is going to be the hardest part of the puzzle to solve given that we're only able to pay in shirt buttons.

Can we have El-Bilal Toure, Agbadou, Skhiri and Nelson? Thanks.

We also need a right back, left back, CAM and wide left player as well while not increasing our net spending. Hope Thelwell and Dyche are feeling creative and inspired.

Sorry Mo@14, didn't see your post on same subject and same conclusion.

Brian #10, amen, I'm a huge Garner fan too and believe he's the ideal distributing midfielder to build around. My only quibble with your post is that Onana will be in the picture more than Gana, who turns 34 in September and had some horrendous lapses on the ball this season.

Robert #8, I hope we shop ALL the bargain aisles, not just the European ones. There are some speedy young attackers in Latin America who would be worth a look IMO.

Dyche loves Doucoure, and has him at the 10. I see no real immediate need to sign a 10, because Doucoure is Dyche's guy.

If Doucoure goes down, I'd be tempted to play Iwobe there. Yes, Iwobe isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the dude passes the ball better than any current Everton player. He's wasted out wide, and I can see him feeding a striker continually playing the 10.

And that last bit is by far the most important. I don't care if we sign Superman at CB, if we don't get a striker we are doomed. Striker is the only position I honestly care about this summer that absolutely needs to be addressed.

Great article / submission Robert.

Gana and Onana (if we hold on to him) will platoon next season. It'll be a gradual takeover of the position by Onana from Gueye I'll bet.

Good work as always Robert. I wanted to not think about but you've made it too tempting for sone weekend womdering.

And Toure looked good for Almeria but I only saw him in two games.

I appreciate we are going to have to sell at least Onana to release some funds but I pray we can sign a striker and a winger asap. Then we won't spend the whole window pulling our hair out. Clarke of Sunderland might be an astute purchase as well?

I'll be surprised if we sign any of these players as I think our financial situation counts against us. We're going to have to wait for the Premier League money at the end of August, and any free agent won't wait until then to sort out their future, unless they're shite and have no offers.

We need a manager with either a good profile and a rolodex of former charges who can convince players to come or a South American-experienced manager because it seems like the only value (punt-wise) in transfers is in South America.

The facts are, we can't pay the wages, we can't pay the transfer fees, we haven't got a manager who attracts players, our board are MIA, the media is denigrating us, the government is investigating us, the football authorities are about to charge us, and we're about to sell any decent player in the squad.

In short, we're fucked and Dyche won't convince a freebie unless they're desperate for a club. Andy Carrol, you're number is being called. Depressing.

I'm more expecting us to shop at St. Vincent de Paul community stores for "preloved goods at reasonable prices."

We'll be looking for lightly used Andros and Demarai brands, and hoping whatever we buy won't be too worn and Rondon.

He only played 60 minutes for them, but from I believe he did okay for West Ham. May be worth a punt.

Also on the points deduction issue etc, we have never been found guilty of financial issues. First intervention has always been a suspended points deduction and a fine. Only on the second or third breach was the points deduction enforced.

- Goalkeeper - no action unless Pickford goes
- Centre-back - signings will only be for improvement, so probably a luxury we can't afford.
- Right-back - Can Coleman still cover that position? If so, signings would be a luxury.
- Left-back - Urgently need cover for Mykolenko. Ideally need a replacement so that Mykolenko provides cover.
- Wide midfield - we've got two and one is Iwobi. We have to sign at least one. Probably two.
- Centre-midfield - overstocked and a few can probably go.
- Centre-forward - no point keeping Maupay. Sell for what we can get. This is where the majority of funds needs to go. Signing a striker is probably the best way to get Calvert-Lewin fit too.

So we need a left-back, two wide-midfielders and a striker. Bare minimum.

Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ben Brereton-Diaz, Wilf Zaha, Moussa Dembele, Youri Tielemans, Daichi Kamada, Houssem Aouar, Andrea Bellotti

Some other interesting ones too. Are we even trying to sign any of them?

TransferMarkt – Contract Ending in 2023

I think Benitez did exceptionally well for himself, I wonder how much Liverpool paid him under the table for his appointment with us? At least the same amount – double if it resulted in relegation; he almost got it..

On the vexed subject of James, according to a number of sites (5) his average salary at Everton was a base of between 䀆k- 140k a week and win bonus. Not the 𧶨k a week many tout, indeed at his last current club, it's stated that his salary was 㿟k a week... in Saudi it was 𧶀k a week.

James Rodríguez – Salary & Contract

Is he currently worth 㿞k a week with no sign-on fee?

Top clubs will pick up Maddison, Barnes, Ward-Prowse and possibly Harrison, so forget those sadly.

One good buy this summer and four good loan deals (two domestic and two overseas), can turn around the options.

Leicester's James Justin - can play left-back and right-back. On verge of England squad but two injury-plagued seasons will turn off the top clubs. Loan with obligation to buy if he's fit and training.

Or Ricardo Pereira, again can cover positions. At 29 and ٢M a season, they will want him out. Technically he's decent.

Rodrigo at Leeds – he's 32 and will want to stay in the league. A decent goal threat, for me a no-brainer loan signing. Can come off the bench if he's slowing down.

Dan James – still at Leeds, and I am not sure he's done enough to stay at Fulham. I'd take him on loan to add pace to the right. Promise, but running out of options if he can't translate pace and talent into goals and assists.

Livromento at Southampton – he had real promise before injury. For me, he's a better player than Walker-Peters. Him and Patterson fighting for positions takes the pressure off Seamus who could cover further forward or right of a 3.

Sarr at Watford – he's not going to want to stay in the Championship. Clubs will be in for him, but a loan with an obligation to buy if he makes appearances appeals.

Gyökeres – I wouldn't buy him and neither will top teams. A loan with an obligation to buy on appearances is the right deal for Everton. And gives him something to prove in the top league.

Part of the point of the article is to show that the sorts of players we were recently spending 㿀M+ on, are not really any better than the sorts of players available to us at much lower cost (in many cases, materially worse). So the players I've listed really are the tip of a large iceberg of very "gettable" players who could genuinely improve us.

Finding a Mitoma, a Mac Allister or Caicedo at low cost is hard – these are genuine Champions League quality players. But finding steady Premier League quality players is not.

This is highlighted by the fact that our best players (aside from Pickford) all cost very low sums indeed. Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Patterson, Coleman, Garner, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.

Two seasons playing in this sort of market (plus some loans) could see the squad in very good shape – and ready to focus on finding real difference makers.

I'd prefer younger but he could fill a gap while Simms and Cannon show if they have what's needed.

It is so depressing being an Everton fan, no one really inspiring me anyway on that list.

On a brighter note, stadium coming along nicely, it will look incredible all lit up when done!

Exits on Free: Gbamin, Mina, Davies, Begovic, Townsend, Virginia
Return from Loans: Coady, Vinagre
Unsure Futures: Dele Alli (hopefully will exit on a free)

Players we have encashed on / or can encash on:

Nkounkou: 2 million
Isaac Price: Development fee 1 million (?)
Moise Kean: 25 million
Maupay: 5 million ?
Andre Gomes: 5 million?
Michael Keane: 10-12 million?
Onana: 20 million net profit ?

So, let's say that Dyche has a war-chest of about 60-70 million entirely funded by player exits in the summer (not counting the Gordon money, which I assume has gone towards reducing the liability of the P&S Rules.

So, we would need to recruit for the following positions:

Goalkeeper - should be a competent understudy to Pickford. I don't have names, but I assume for about 10 million, we can get a fairly decent, solid option from the continent.
Full Back - Walker-Peters from Southampton would be a very good option because he can play on both wings, but I expect he would be priced at about 15 million at least
Central Midfield - I like Ampadu from the list that Robert has put out. Mainly because he could cover multiple positions including CB if necessary. 15 million
Right Wing: Ryan Kent seems to be a decent option from Rangers. About 7 million
Forward/Winger: How about Anthony Elango from Man United on a loan with an option to buy? He has lost his way a bit, but Dyche might be able to revive his career.
CF: This is where we need to splurge the cash - 25 million for Tammy Abraham/Gyokeres/Beto
CF: Another CF on loan ? Maybe Broja from Chelsea? I know he has been injured since December 22, but he is back in training (from the Chelsea website). Even if he is available from Sep/Oct onwards, maybe worth a punt? Or even someone like Wout Weghorst from Burnley on a free or nominal fee?

So, about 75 million to be invested for incoming players, which seems doable.

If our squad looked something like this, I would be quietly confident that we will reach mid-table:

GK: Pickford, (Back-Up), Tyrer
FBs: Coleman, Mykolenko, Patterson, Walker-Peters
CBs: Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Holgate, Godfrey, Reece Welch
MF: Gueye, Doucoure, Ampadu, Iwobi, Garner
RW/LW: McNeil, Gray, Kent, Elanga
CFs: Calvert-Lewin, Tammy Abraham, Cannon, Broja

Send Simms, Dobbin, Mills, Warrington out on loan.

Starting XI for the 1st game:

Calvert-Lewin
McNeil Doucoure Garner
Ampadu Gueye
Walker-Peters Branthwaite Tarkowski Patterson
Pickford

With Iwobi, Abraham, Elanga, Broja/Cannon, Gray as back-ups

Broja back from a long injury, I'd be watching how he is before signing him, I wouldn't trust our medical staff to assess him properly given the injuries we have suffered over the last 5 years.

We need to stop signing Man Utd rejects.

I can't see us wasting our little transfer budget on a full-back when scoring goals is more of an issue.

2 goals in his last 37 games in English football, they'd look at him like a god at Finch Farm. Kieffer Moore – no thanks either.

Bring back Niasse, he's a better record than these lot.

Tony #7 - I'd prefer (within a realistic spectrum), a young Dzeko over Giroud. I was gutted we didn't sign Giroud after the links in 2017, but I think Dzeko is one of the most under-rated strikers of recent years. Giroud aswell, but Dzeko moreso.

I suspect Retegui has played his way into a Champions League side, even if we could afford him, I'm guessing he's now out of reach following a strong start to his Italian national career.

Real shame about Nelson, Sam. He would have been absolutely ideal.

He went to Cardiff on loan for the second half of the season in January 2022; in May, he won young player, players' player and fans' player of the season. He was 20 at the time. He was outstanding at everything you'd want a full-back to do.

We defo need a back-up left-back who offers a more dynamic option than Mykolenko (who I would still keep as first choice).

Looks like Dyche agreed Nathan Patto is the real deal now, can see him starting over Seamus uch more next season, so I'm less concerned about right-back cover for next year.

They couldn't find a single striker in the whole of world football to backup Calvert-Lewin, and as you've illustrated not 㿨 million here 㿙 million there, but loanees, 'worth a punt' from lower leagues or young and hungry up and comings.

That dereliction of duty nearly sent us down, and everyone of them should've been sacked on the spot.

If they saw Gana was worth bring back last season and then pay out for the likes of Maupay then this guy should be considered.

Link to a fancy picture I did of the current squad and what I would do...

Tielemans will be highly in demand. Good player but I don't think we'd have a sniff unfortunately…

I think centre-forward is where we will spend the bulk of any transfer funds we have so I'm hoping for a bit better. But if we sell Maupay then maybe someone like Dembele would be a good squad option.

Reported that Coady was on 㾼k a week at Wolves and 㿮k at GP which was one of the reasons we did not sign him.

Thelwell was at Wolves and must have known how much he was on, so why did he throw him another ٠M in wages???

Either report (Transfermarkt) is wrong or Thelwell is being stupid.

I would have liked us to go for Kyogo of Celtic but I suspect he'll follow his old boss to Spurs.

I'm sure he left Fulham to join Celtic, in his younger days, and this will have really helped him financially because clubs pay a lot less money, if they can entice a player from a different country into their club. I give Dembelle, the benefit of the doubt on this though because who wouldn't want to play for Glasgow Celtic, rather than Fulham at such a young age?

He was brilliant for Celtic, but playing in the Scottish league, he could probably play and score without really pushing himself in a lot of games, although he always seemed to score in the big games, a hat-trick against one of the greatest club teams Barcelona have ever produced, being the best example I can give.

I haven't followed him since he went back to France, but he was one player I'd have loved Everton to sign in previous years, and could imagine him playing alongside Calvert-Lewin, and being too much for a lot of defenders to handle.

Talent alone is not enough – so has Dembelle still got the fire in his belly to excel?

Someone who can provide a focal point, contribute in build up, apply pressure and chip in with something close to double figures is probably closer to the mark. And closer to what we need and can afford.

I'm sure we can do a lot better and we'd all like to do better... but someone like Che Adams would fit the profile and, at 26, would make a lot of sense.

I put it down to possibly the player struggling with persistent injuries, especially reoccurring thigh injuries stretching back to 2017 up until late last year. It's a risk I'd say, we need someone more reliable and resilient.

Ernie's suggestion of Che Adams way well come to pass for strength in depth, coupled with a younger up-and-coming forward like Gyökeres or someone (Sam, Robert will tell you who) who Thelwell thinks could develop fast into a 15-goal-a-season striker for us.

The most important thing next season is to approach it with the starting point that Calvert-Lewin is a bonus, not a permanent fixture. We have to design our attack now without him in the equation, and if he gets back to full power then we will be massively stronger in attack.

All Cardiff fans were sure he was going to start for Leeds in the 2022-23 season, lots of cardiff fans thought that they were in the know and put him in their fantasy football teams. However this didn't happen.

He went on loan to Luton in January, they got promoted in May. I'm not saying that it was only him, there may have been other factors I'm not a Luton aficionado but the team improved on his arrival.

To give it some context, Drameh arrived at Cardiff at the same time as Man City's bright young midfielder Tommy Doyle, who was very good, but not a patch. Though in fairness, Doyle has just got promotion playing in midfield for Sheffield Utd. Also worth a sniff.

that, as is said with the internet, would "break" ToffeeWeb.

It will be interesting what if any signings we get this season. To me, half the problem with the club is recruitment. We are the second longest-serving club in the top flight. Surely that would have given us a little edge in recruitment, with players knowing we might not win the league but at least we will still be playing in the top flight.

But no… we seem to go for the seasoned professional who is thinking about a retirement plan, rather than the hungry young player looking for success.

Interesting development according to Alan Nixon the English FA are trying to convince Canon to switch allegiance from Ireland to England. I mention this as you've mentioned lack of representation at under 21 international level as a negative for our young players. Does this show the FA are desperate or is Cannon better than we thought?