Everton eyeing Arnautovic move

Joao Pedro is going to be upset at that typo!

Wouldn't it be a better idea to get a manager first?

NEXT!

Too old. Not good enough.

Another guess, and stab in the dark.

He said this six years ago when he was youngish:

“Ronald Koeman tried to persuade me to move to Everton. Romelu Lukaku also phoned me to ask if I would join them, and I found that a great honour” Arnautovic told SportMagazin in Austria.

“But nonetheless I rang Mark Hughes and told him: ‘Get the paperwork ready – I'll extend my stay with Stoke."

Why would he want him now that he's about 50?

A 2-year deal? Someone is having a laugh.

He was sort of the poor man's Mirallas back in the day. I'm not sure what he is now.

While we're at it, why don't we sign Frank? He's doing nothing.

What, again?

Just what we don't need.

Injury-prone and questionable attitude.

The days of anyone decent wanting to join us are gone.

Is Yakubu available?

I wanted him 10 years ago... like Yarmolenko. Jesus wept.

Bill Fairfield #8 — brilliant post!

A good laugh is what I needed!

Probably just a load of manure to fill an empty news slot but, if it is true, it just proves Thelwell is not up to the job and needs to pack his bags and move on.

Why not just apologise to Rondon… who was at least 1 second faster than this bloke over 10 yards.

Kanu is available, and he's only 32.

Why not pursue Viktor Gyökeres, he seems what we need in terms of attributes and, as we now have to realistically plan for should the worst happen, would also be an asset in the Championship.

We don't need people who are going to come in, command big wages, and have nothing to offer in 6 months.

Same issue with the Ziyech links.

Seems all very short-sighted, which, unfortunately, is no surprise.

Dysfunctional horse before cart nonsense. Who the on earth is targeting this player?. Will the new manager want him ? Will he be useful to his system ? In fact it must be fake news put out by his agent.

Fran, Gyorkeres a better call, but surely we are not going to be signing players until we know for certain who the manager will be.

Tony, well, we have 6 days. Last time we left it to getting a new manager resulted in van de beek and Dele Ali.

Of course, our club is so dysfunctional that I don't expect anything to be done properly, but surely the DoF would be identifying the players (or would have already), possibly whilst talking to the managerial candidate, and getting the deals done.

But I very much guess our line of transfer business is dictated by which agents call us and who they offer to us, rather than us identifying players and contacting their agent/club.

Do we have have a scouting department? Honest question.

The new manager is not going to get backed in the market. He is going to be given whatever we can get for next to nothing. These won't be his choices. These will be entirely agent driven offerings. It has nothing to do with scouts, it is about what is available to a club with no money.

Our scouts, Thelwell etc all know who the players are who can make a difference. These range from fairly established players to what are often called hidden gems. But these players cost actual money, up front. No money is being released for players. The money dried up about 18 months ago.

These players also have offers from clubs with managers, with prospects etc. As we've seen with Danjuma, players worth having won't want to join.

Robert

I suppose you could argue that with no money, we won't find much better than Garner or Townsend who theoretically should be fit soon? If that is the case. I'd sooner so us go short-term with a Hail Mary on Sam or Dyche who might keep somehow with what we have.

Don't understand all the negativity here. This lad has more "attitude" than all of our fragile current players have put together. It's a quality we have desperately lacked for years.

He is technically a far better footballer than Calvert-Lewin. And he is right now one of Europe's most prolific scorers. He could be a real talisman for us.

Who cares how old he is, how much he costs, or how long the contract has to be? If we can afford him and he helps keep us up this season, that is all that matters. The alternative, with all its financial implications, is too apocalyptic to think about.

Do we have a scouting system?

We only seem to be linked to >30-year-old players who have been put on the open market.

It's almost not worth having an opinion at the moment, but it seems to me that, if this player is scoring one in two, we should be looking to sign the players providing the assists as Simms is a big lad too as a survival step (not that they would want to come mind).

Maybe get a manager in first, a sports analysis team, a global scouting network and youth development education centre to bring schoolboys through with excellent educational prospects attached. This would entice first-generation arrivals to the UK who will later carry premium UK fees in transfers to the team who would otherwise not be able to afford tuition fees for their children to get ahead in this country. Blue-sky thinking is needed for the next decade to fix this mess.

Or sign someone to stand like a lamp post with no supply for 6 months or on the bench cos the new manager can't use them to make the crowd even more angry with the board.

Ffs he was shite back in the day. This club of ours sucks arse.

We don't need has-beens. He has skill but is way past being someone who an help Everton. May as well bring back Osman.
Apologies to Osman fans.

Pathetic signing.