Rabiot linked again in possible swap deal

Get him in, must be an improvement on what we have. In fact, almost anyone we bring in would be an improvement.

So it's Gomes + £17M? In fact, give them £20M!

Rabiot isn't the kind of deal we should be pursuing. However, if it meant we could get Gomes off our books, then it would be a definite yes for me. I don't think Rabiot's wages would be much different from the £100,000+ a week Gomes is on anyway.

Let's be honest, though... This is a ridiculous rumour.

Well, he's a lot better than Gomes – who might possibly be the worst central midfielder in the Premier League.

Rabiot is a talent and a big unit. I'd have loved him a few years ago when we had a chance of breaking into the Top 6 or even the Top 4.

Now, I'm not sure he's a good fit for a team trying to regain a foothold in the Top 10.

I think we need people highly motivated to help us on that journey. An ex-PSG and Juve player, accustomed to regular trophies, might understandably struggle to find that kind of motivation.

What Gavin said. He'd be awesome next to Doucouré in a 4-2-3-1 but bacon don't fly man.

The only good thing about this is the going out of Gomes, but I don't see much improvement with Rabiot. I always believe that the midfield is the major area that needs improving.

I believe that Moise Kean is a player we could use in a swap deal to get in a better quality midfielder than Rabiot.

I doubt Juventus want him. He'll probably stay and fight for his place. On the bench.

With 5 subs next season, I can see Gomes coming on for the last 15 minutes to give away needless free-kicks.

Why would Gomes go?? When a lot of our other big earners have now set the precedent for staying put until their contract runs out. He will stew on his big contract and leave for free.

More likely is he leaves and we pay part of his wages because no one paying a decent fee and giving him the wages he on now.

The legacy of bad recruitment lingers long and it stinks!!!

If he is gonna stay then he should only be used as a late sub when the game has opened up a bit. He should never be used in a 2-man midfield and told, in no uncertain terms, that he is not allowed to make challenges in and around our box!

Just a bit of tittle-tattle to get Gomes's name out there? I can't see Rabiot moving anywhere unless there's European football involved. Or are Juve still being creative in desperately trying to avoid the Moise Kean fee?

Everton have proposed this to Juventus? Whilst we're talking about ridiculous proposals, I've made one to Catherine Zeta-Jones which involves her licking Nutella off my balls this weekend whilst she's wearing my Adidas Kirkdales. And I can safely say the latter has got more chance of happening than Andre Gomes going to Juventus.

Rabiot appears to be an infuriating player. Inconsistent, often disinterested, often a liability but has clear ability.

I mean, we want rid of Gomes no matter what, but Rabiot is exactly the type we don't need.

Our midfield needs, more than anything, reliability. Good solid consistency. We don't need 'spectacular', not at this moment.

We need a Lee Carsley and pre-injury James McCarthey. We need presence and fight in the middle. Rabiot is not that, as Philipe Auclair says 'Rabiot is Rabiot'.

Rabiot has talent, but he seems to be quite a divisive presence (along with his agent mother) and we really don’t need anyone joining the club who is likely to cause problems. We are just too fragile right now.

Also, we cannot sign too many players whose careers have suffered a slight downturn. If it’s for a small fee (Demarai Gray), or they are potential game-changers (James Rodriguez and Dele Alli) then it’s a bit more understandable - but I see more risk than reward with Rabiot.

Oh, and it’s also newspaper nonsense so not going to happen anyway.

Good luck, Barry. I gather Biscoff is gaining traction as an alternative to nut butter and chocolate spreads if the Nutella proposal is rejected. Another option perhaps.

This is one of the most bizarre rumours I've ever seen! NewsNow wouldn't even come up something like with this – we stiffed them for Kean... they'll hardly fall for Gomes too!

Christ on a bike, Barry, I've literally been coughing so hard I've nearly had a coronary!! I started to read your post out loud to my wife and, before I could finish, we were laughing so much, I started to choke and cough.

The funniest bit being not the reference not to Nutella, which is pure class but the nod to your Adidas Kirkdales!! Get yourself on Live at the Apollo, I'm buying 2 tickets!!! Ha ha!!! Class!!!

Barry Lyndon 12, you really pissed me off when you stole the Oscar from Tommy but I'm made up with that post.

Barry, a word of advice - CZJ is a fan of nuts according to a trusted informant named Dougie, so lose the chocolate and you might just be "in".

Just another mindless media rumour (I hope).

We have had far too many signings that are too inconsistent for words so why bother with this guy. Like James, he will play the odd decent game but is really just content to get a big fat paycheck and let others do the hard work.

I would sooner play some academy players who will run for 90 minutes and try to impress the manager every chance they get.

Speaking of what to do with Gomes, just for fun, I looked up the wage list for the players of Portugal's top 4 finishers last season. The wages paid in Euros. Different sites show different wages, so mine may not be exact.

Top 3 weekly wage earners for each club:

1. Porto
- Otavio - €110,962
- Uribe - €55,577
- Grujic - €40,577

2. Sporting PC
- Slimani - €59,231
- Vinagre - €33,269
- Edwards - €26,538

3. SL Benfica
- Samaris - €50,000
- Fejsa - €42,000
- Everton - €40,000

4. Braga
- Medeiros - €15,769
- Mineiro - €12,500
- Matheus - €10,962

One of those clubs could use him, we'd have to pay a major chunk of his wages still. Would we get any kind of loan fee?

Went on to La Liga to see what the top earners in that league's Top 4 make annually. No secret players at those clubs make big euros. So, I'll just put where Andre's would fit in their wage scale. Again, in Euros.

1. Real Madrid - Yikes. They could pay his full wages on a loan and he'd still be way down the bottom of that wage scale. Can't see why'd they'd want him, though, unless Don Carlo felt guilt for leaving us.

2. Barcelona - Not Real Madrid 'Yikes'... but Yike. Gomes makes at or more than Feran Torres, Umtiti, Dest, and Neto. So they don't need him and, of course, that's the club where he was "found out" and who subsequently dumped him on us.

3. Atletico Madrid - Gomes's wages around the same as their 12-13th highest paid. A club that relies on and boasts of a nasty, suffocating defense. No room for our boy Andre.

4. Sevilla - Anyone seen Oliver Torres? Best I can tell, he's on a "Gomes-like" wage for little production. Can't see our boy going there, "Once bitten twice shy" and all. Although, that hasn't stopped us, has it?

Andre has 2 more years on his contract left with us. So, if we can strike a loan deal for this next season, I'd guess we'd still be paying a major chunk of his wages and/or no loan fee, given the wage-scales of the type clubs would find him an improvement on what they have.

I have nothing against Andre. He has footballing skill and IS trying out there. Just woefully short of meeting the physical and pace demands of top-league English football. His wages? The Club offered them. Of course he accepted. Who wouldn't?

I think a loan to a Championship club best. His skill would shine more and the pace/physicality wouldn't be as extreme as in the Premier League. We'd still have to pay a major chunk of his wages. Maybe no loan fee up front, but if he helps whatever club to promotion, then €4-5 million loan fee on the back-end.

Just don't think having him sit and watch for next two seasons will do. Yet, we really cannot do with him out there playing. He's in the wrong league.

Barry Lyndon, thankyou, thankyou!

Barry #12 — hilarious!!!

All the best as ever in any transfer dealings for EFC, but this rumour is pure Bull, no decent team will take Gomes, and no decent Vets Team would take Gomes.

He has mastered the late lazy tackle and the lazy approach, no tempo, no guts, no belief, to all Everton games.

The so-called 40-minute master-class in the ill-fated Pickford derby, at their place, never stuck with me. He done great for 35 minutes and then scored one decent goal, v Wolves, in 2019.

Since then basically zilch, aside his goal v Wolves in 2019, the left-wing cross, at Wolves in 2020, but you can't justify, a pass, or cross per game, as granted rights to start in Everton Teams. More likely suited for the Old NPL, Div 2, in old currency at best, IMO.

Some bad injuries he's taken but he's taken laziness on the park in mind and effort to a different level, in my opinion, at the expense of EFC.

The Palace game last season was his summary of his football ability. Frank delivered by taking him off, and Dele began his resurrection, hopefully back to his best, and in future, for Everton.

All have a great weekend, across the globe.

James @21, excellent research and levelling on the virtues of Andres Gomes.

I was going to post on this thread, but Mr Lyndon ran away with it. In his Kirkdales.

Mike Gaynes & Robert Tressell,

As soon as I saw this rumour, I thought two things: a) what Robert said about Gomes and b) Mike Gaynes won't be happy.

Regardless, I can't see Juve falling for Gomes in a swap. They just offloaded Ramsey who was infinitely better albeit overpaid and injury-prone. So nice try, Kevin, but you're not an alchemist. If you try to turn dirt into gold, you might get dirt with an orange tint but it's still dirt.

Best shot for Gomes is a free transfer to some rich mugs. I heard Qatar may need to replace James – or there's wherever Bernard went – but Juve? You're having a laugh!

When he first signed, our vastly overpaid André Gomes acquitted himself well. All he needed was to find himself in a competent team.

Alas he, like anyone with sight, quickly realised he'd joined a basket-case club, Hence, like any "professional" footballer of the modern era, he then took a peek at his exorbitant contract and, like so many other such marginal but mega-expensive signings in his time, for us, decided to ride out his contract.

Most of us call them "dead-wood", with good reason.

Yes, the "Son" injury was hideous and he genuinely deserves deep respect for the exceptional speed of his recovery. That said, most of us are understandably still wondering why we paid so much for so little.

I don't blame Brands – our owner/board treated him as a nonentity after all.

Guess who I think is to blame?!

Tell ya what, Kieran, I may not be much of a Rabiot fan but, compared to our man Gomes, he is a god of the game.

In the unlikely event this rumor turns out to be true, I will be dancing a jig, singing "La Marseillaise" and screaming "ADRIEN!" like our Blue boy Stallone in Rocky.

James #21, I don't think there is a chance in hell that Gomes would accept a loan to the Championship but he might very well go for a Juventus deal.

Gavin #3, unfortunately not true. Multiple web sources list Rabiot's weekly salary at £225,000, doubling Gomes's paycheck. (This makes them two of the most overpaid players on the planet.) Unless Rabiot is willing to take a massive pay cut, he would be taking a helluva bite out of our budget.

Mike Gaynes

If Gomes is the barometer, I'll tell you what: if we shift him, I'll drag my own 45-year-old slightly overweight ass over to Goodison and take his place for free.

No-one can't run for 90 minutes, nope I can't hope to mark or tackle anyone with a hint of speed or talent but I can still do a petulant foul that actually injures someone aside from a yellow card, and yes, I can still swing in a corner so it heads directly into the net (give or take a competent goalie). So, in those meagre areas, I, like you and probably everyone else on ToffeeWeb, is better than Gomes.

ps: Still holding a candle for Minnesota. I told my wife there's this cool yank from Oregon who may be there….

Sorry, KK, but my Minneapolis buddy told me stories the other day about the time he has spent sleeping on airport floors the past few weeks because his flights were cancelled. So you and Jonathan Oppenheimer carry the torch, and say hello to Inchy for me.

ps: I moved from Oregon to Washington last year. Directly across the Sound from Seattle.

James Flynn (21), interesting research about potential destinations for Gomes, thanks!

I am also secretly hoping that our friend Marco Silva comes in for him. I think Gomes played his best football under Marco, and perhaps wouldn't mind playing under him again.

A loan deal where we subsidise 50% of the wages would still result in an annual saving of about £3 million. But I am sure Kevin Thelwell is trying all permutations and combinations to offload Gomes.

What Andrew said @14. Wouldn't touch this guy or his attitude with a barge pole. He could do untold damage in a dressing room that needs to be pulling together

Anyway, there must be something drastically wrong with any deal that involves a club taking Gomes in a swap!

There is obviously a footballer in Gomes, but he his just another in a very long list who doesn't appear to enjoy his profession.

If it's because he's in the wrong league, you would hope he's made enough money to want to go and find a more suitable league in which to play. But, if he's just plainly fallen out of love with football, then he might as well stay at Everton, because he's getting paid an absolute fortune to contribute nothing.

Our recruitment has been appalling for years now, and obviously because our strategy, or lack of a strategy, eventually dissolved, because so many different managers have been involved, leaving us with a squad of players that don't really complement each other.

I saw green shoots towards the end of last season, the Brentford game, in particular, was how I want to see an Everton team start a game of football. We need a few players in soon, and hopefully the likes of Gomes will leave. We definitely need some “hungry players” in our squad, rather than players who are just going through the motions.

Rabiot is pretty decent and could do very well but as Andrew @14 says is probably not worth the risk with his attitude. Plus I highly doubt he'd come here.

I've never been a big fan of Gomes even before his injury but he'd probably do well in a slower less physical league where his technical and long passing skills come to the fore. The problem of course is his overblown wages.

Moshiri & Kenwright seem to have thought that ambition meant paying huge Champions League wages to players who had proved not good enough for Champions League teams, and now we suffer the consequences.

A subsidized loan to Serie A or Portugal or possibly La Liga seems the best bet. Benfica or Valencia might want him back as he did his best work there.

I have decided that anyone who Frank Lampard wants in his and our midfield will do me.

Having said that I would prefer a player that is “on the way up” rather than one that has “already arrived” – so to speak.

Less than 4 weeks to the Chelsea game, and the squad is in need of a boost of new players.

There lies the issue and I think it's going to be a very enterprising approach from Frank and his scouts to get some decent players in.

The long shot for me is Gbamin: Will he make a comeback akin to Lazarus in terms of playing for Everton?

Also, Niels Nkounkou.

Here's to a good weekend for all.

Always liked Gomes, without doubt the injury nailed him. Quite agree he will do better in one of the European leagues.

Lol. Why would they want to do that!?

Please oh please get that swap deal done, Gomes is one of the most overated players I've seen at Goodison in 60 years.

I can’t believe that Juve would want Gomez or that Rabiot would want to come to us. This is made up paper talk. Not going to happen.

Has Drinkwater sobered up yet?

Would rather get Zakaria than Rabiot and pay Gomes to go the other way or any way for that matter.

Hey, we shouldn't feel too bad about overpaying Gomes. Remember, he played 75 games in what was then the best side in the world. Even Barcelona took a while to figure out that behind the elegance and the silky skills there was no production.

I'd seen him play probably 30 times for Barca with zero impact, and I was highly skeptical even when we got him on loan, but even I was swept away when he was so superb in the Pickford derby.

So let's not vent too much frustration at the guy. He is what he is. A really nice fellow and a really poor footballer.

Mike @43, that’s Gomes summed up perfectly.

Rabiot. Lousy attitude - next.

I can hear her now - Yum, Nutella!

Football is about 11 players playing against another set of 11 players. Yet, any team can have better players, but what any team can always do is play like a team not a load of individuals going nowhere fast.

Barry 12 Brilliant. I'll never be able to look at a jar of nutella again.

Pretty ordinary showreel although no glaring technique issues beyond a slightly heavy passing style. Cantona called his sort "water carriers" not the sort to pin your hopes on nor pay top dollar for. Must be loads like this lad about.