Atalanta seal £11m Godfrey transfer

Had high hopes for him when he signed but never seemed to be the same player after the injury. Good luck to him, wherever he ends up, just hope we can get a decent part of our £20m outlay back.

Def need to sign a new defender or two…

Reject it.

You never know quite what's around the corner in football, from both a player and fans perspective. At the end of his first season with us, I believed we had a real powerhouse of a player on our hands, and he rightly won the Player of the Season award. A bad injury and a dose of Covid later on in his career changed everything. He was never quite the same.

Best of luck wherever he ends up.

Another player who flatters to deceive.

Let's get rid of all these fringe players. If he thinks he's worth a start in the team and so he's not signing new contract, take a look in the mirror.

Get them to charter a flight for him and stick him on the next plane.

Yes, he's had terrible breaks with injuries and Covid, but he's also a player without a position. He came in as a centre-back who turned out to be hopeless in the air and easily caught out of position. Late last season he successfully reinvented himself as a defensive right back -- he was brilliant in the derby with that save off the line -- and with his terrific pace and tackling he may have a future there, but he cannot pass and will never contribute in attack.

Seems to me that if Godfrey goes it means Dyche still has hopes for Patterson.

The issue is our shortage of any players at all. We need 3-4 in on free transfers just to be able to name a full match day squad.

Absolutely correct regarding DCL, nor is their any evidence that we have breached PSR, which many on here seem happy to believe.

Consequently, he hasn't established himself as a first teamer. With him being out of contract next summer, we'd end up paying him a fortune to play about 10 games. We can't afford to do that.

It's a financial decision only.

As it happens I'm expecting Patterson to leave too, but perhaps on loan. I don't think Dyche does rate him.

£15m for him would seem a good deal for everyone and might hopefully be reinvested into a RB with some upside.

Godfrey is in his final year, and wants to go.

Hopefully Dyche will sign a full-back if he goes, but I guarantee if Dyche got an offer for Patterson, he'd drive him there himself.

Will we have 11 players for that first match at BMD?
🤭

Unless Branthwaite is gone, in which case we need him unless there's another center back lined up, we have to take that money for Godfrey.

Sure, you need squad players, and we'll be in trouble if we have only Ashley Young, Seamus and Michael Keane as our defensive cover, but as others have noted you have to take £10 million and reinvest it in younger defenders in this case.

Given we can't afford to lose him on a free I cannot imagine we'd let his contract run down. That's exactly the behaviour that's gotten us into the mess we're in. Can think of at least half a dozen expensive buys during Moshiris time that left on a free.

He's been with us 8 years now so don't begrudge him a move, as long as we get a decentish fee.

Sky now saying West Ham and Brentford(!) also interested.

Long long way to go till the window shuts. The only single upside of PSR is that clubs are forced to sell players in June so there's at least something to talk about…..euros at ‘king boring so far.

For me I'd sell him. He's a good size and pace, but his positional sense, heading and on ball ability is poor. I know he's turned down a deal, but he never game me confidence of being a first choice full back or centre back.

A bit like Funes Mori, our lack of proper money cost us. Instead of signing van dyke we got funes mori. Instead of Gabriel who has done well at Arsenal, we bought Godfrey. Poor scouting or ability to complete deals being the resounding issue again.

If he doesn't get more game-time though he has to go for his own good.

If we move him on for any sort of fee I would be more than happy. Hopefully Holgate and Maupay next to exit.

Better them to balance the books, than Calvert-Lewin, Branthwaite, Onana et al.

Keep your better players, flog your less-used players. It makes total sense as far as I see it.

As others have said, he provides versatile cover defensively, but he's basically a "Jack of all trades, master of none" and has been for a while. Moving him on would be sensible business at this point.

But I'll continue beating the drum that, if we discard Patterson, it will be very foolish.

Mike's summary is difficult to get around and £15M is too good to pass up.

However, Dyche needs players who are both capable and committed to his cause if he's going to improve things overall. Ben Godfrey has question marks in place for both attributes but he is someone I can see getting back on track in the near future to the extent we will feel we would have been better off keeping him.

We could be fielding a very changed starting 11 next season.

I hope we keep him but given the financial quagmire long since dumped upon us by Usmanov's monkey - led by the ever insufferable liar he allowed free rein - I suppose we now just have to sell him to even try to claw back any iota of financial credibility under the Premier League's wholly unfit for purpose, in a respectable sense, "rules".

I wish £millionaire Ben well, in a way.

Has Everton offered Calvert-Lewina new contract? Yes.

Has Calvert-Lewin signed the new contract? No.

Everyone is therefore correct, he has refused to sign a new, not to say he won't sign but we are in a shit position as we have to satisfy him if we want to keep him, satisfy the mean if we let him go and satisfy PSR.

He is a useful player to have in the squad. The only thing I have, and it's not a criticism given his effort and commitment, is that I'm unsure what his best position is.

If Branthwaite is kept, he won't get past him and Tarkowski, so it will be makeshift fullback or backup in my opinion. Probably useful given the injury to Mykolenko.

I won't second guess what the club are going to do business wise over the next month or so, as for me it's pointless. I'll just wait and see.

Neither Van Dijk nor Gabriel ever had the slightest interest in joining Everton. And our owner could never have afforded half of the £75m that Van Dijk cost the Liverpool.

Whatever interest there might have been, he chose to join Koeman and other Dutch players at Southampton which at the time were showing signs of ambition.

As for Gabriel, don't know about any interest, but as with many potentially highly regarded players, given a choice of going to a top 4/6 club or Everton, it's not a tough choice.

We have to get used to being used as a stepping-stone club at the moment.

You have to wonder if players like Onana are that highly regarded, how do they end up with us... apart from the obvious lure of money.

If he still had 2 years left on his contract, I would suggest we keep him for next season but, with only one, it's probably sensible to let him go for a bid above £10M.

As for Gabriel, reportedly he was happy to sign for Everton and had agreed terms. Arsenal played their hand on him quite late, which of course was always going to trump us.

We wouldn't pay the £15M for Van Dijk.

We were heavily linked with Gabriel and Dunfries but didn't have the money to complete those deals, or quite the pull. So cheaper deals like Godfrey and Patterson, and lost a fortune compared to what we bought buying inferior players.

Penny rich, pound foolish. Big clubs get their targets, and keep their better players. It is a talent that has haunted us broadly for 40-odd years.

So, if neither are sold in this window, it is highly unlikely they would sign a new contract in January, so they would walk at the end of the season and the club wouldn't get a penny for either. Which on current estimates would mean the club would potentially lose £50M in transfer fees.

Cash in for £25M and invest in Jacob Greaves from Hull for £15M.

Regarding PSR, you are right that no-one knows the actual situation, other than (hopefully!) the club, but I think there are reasonable fears that we likely would breach it unless we get a net transfer profit before end of June.

It is shown in previous accounts that we are or have been a loss making club and, while we are shifting a couple of high wage earners off the books, that may be traded off against some of the recent activity buying Beto, Chermiti etc on what appears to be the never-never, with delayed payments. Added to that, we do know we have substantially increased our debt to continue work on the stadium and the revenue gain from that is a full year away. That debt carries interest costs, possibly at punitive levels.

Hence many of us suspect that is what is driving our transfer strategy and business. I think we have at least one more challenging year, financially. After that, hopefully the owners can re-structure the debt and with a hopefully lower cost base and somewhat higher stadium revenue, we can look forward to not scratching around to survive.

Really, with a good run of games and a change of scene, he might flourish again. $12M + sell-on fees is the minimum.

We don't have a clue if we are in PSR breach. Even if we are and it's relatively small, we have suffered points deduction for 2 of those 3 years already.

So the penalty could well be down to a point or 2. The club might well be prepared to take that on, rather than give away players cheap.

My sense is Godfrey will go, and that will be enough to get us over.

Lyon make £12.7M bid for Everton defender Godfrey

Hopefully you are right and it only needs a Godfrey type sale to keep us under, not an Onana or Calvert-Lewin sale (unless there are contract issues and the funds are all re-invested).

I'm not aware that Friedkin has yet cleared any debt, given the sale process is still ongoing, but for sure, the key to our future stability will be his operation restructuring, with reduced debt levels and reduced cost of servicing the debt.

They may well have bags of cash, but that doesn't mean they can spend it until they sell some players. Have they sold anyone? Not as far as I'm aware, thus they can't buy Calvert-Lewin, so they tell the press it's because of his age — which apparently wasn't a problem a couple of weeks ago, so I smell bullshit. He's only aged 2 weeks.

Pat @49,

Do a Barkley? Calvert-Lewin has been with us about 8 years now – in the modern game, I'd call that pretty loyal. Players almost always come and go, I've never understood the anger towards players when a lot of them leave without saying thankyou or sucking up to supporters with a fond 'so long and thanks for all the fish' message on Instagram.

I wouldn't begrudge Calvert-Lewin a move to another club. He's been decent for us, and if he moves on, so be it. If he chooses Newcastle, good luck to him – there's more to a player choosing a club than the club itself.

It comes down to things like location, as well as the club in question. Calvert-Lewin has a new baby, and is getting married so if him and his partner see their lives in the North-East in the near future, who are we to argue?

Come July, I can see all the above clubs entering the transfer market, to get players in once the 30 June deadline has passed.

Makes sense to wait a week or so, then they can add it to the next financial year's accounts, spread over 3 to 5 years. It also enables the clubs to hold out for a higher transfer fee, instead of having to sell certain players for a low fee, or a fire sale.

Seems Everton have learned from the forced low transfer fee for Richarlison.

From my recollection he signed for Southampton for a reported fee of 11.5m, there may well have been add-ons which may have inflated the fee over the length of the contract. As you rightly state we signed Mori as an alternative very late in the window for a reported fee of 9.5m. What was galling was the fact that the club brought Mori in at what they thought was a bargain price, initially believing they could capture him for around 8-8.5m.
However they apparently learned late in the negotiation that there was a third party interest and they had to cough up another 1-1.5m to buy them out, hence it proved to be a panic buy.

The net effect of this was we lost out on the signing VVD for the sake of 2m, penny inching at its finest when you consider the fee Southampton received on his subsequent move to the team across the park.

I think Martinez had pinned all his hopes on bringing him in if the tabloids were to be believed at the time. Martinez by his own admission spoke openly about our vulnerabilities in defence at the time and his desire to bring him to the club. He really was the missing link needed to transform our fortunes and the rest is history.

Moise Kean going to Fiorentina for €13M.

Chelsea are in for a Barca kid for £6M release clause for Marc Guiu. That looks good business.

It appears that the signings made so far are part of a short-medium term strategy to ensure we are comfortably mid-table but in a stable and sustainable way.

Once achieved, next phase – qualify for Europe through the league then who knows, perhaps Champions League in say 5 to 7 years?

His first summer, he had a £30M kitty and gave Wigan over £20M of it for McCarthy and Koné.

He also had the opportunity to sign Alderweireld at the Brazil World Cup in 2014 for £4M... he signed Besic instead.

Our business has been okay atm, at the very least we seem to be going in the right direction on many things, which makes a nice change.

I think Godfrey will do well in Europe. Good luck to him.

Anyone involved in that choice should never be involved in any of our transfers. Van Dijk went to Southampton, and we were left with an Argentinian yard dog. We missed out on a top young defender and making a fat profit.

I'm certain we can knock them down to £5M.

As for Van Dijk I was shouting in the wilderness for Everton to take him but was told he'd probably be crap in the Premier League.

£17M from Celtic wasn't it?

Yet, there he was, week after week, doing his bit to help the makeshift teams that were fielded because poor management decisions had left the squad bereft. He was a fall guy for the failings of others and wasn't rewarded with enough chances to show what he could do as centre-back.

On the plus side, he's probably helped us to avoid further PSR trouble.

That said, it feels like the club has a plan and strategy under Thelwell and Dyche more than we've had for years.

At right-back, we have the 47-year-old Seamus Coleman and the young but a bit useless Natthan Patterson. Of course we do have the 61-year-old Ashley Young to cover across all positions.

I think we need at least two new defenders.

Jacob Greaves, Hull
Jake O'Brien, Lyon
Max Esteve, Burnley
Issa Kabore, Man City
Wan Bissaka, Man Utd
Linderloth, Man Utd
Jayden Oosterwolde, Fenerbache
Federico Gatti, Juventus

Of those, I can see them going in for Greaves and possibly O'Brien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Godfrey?wprov=sfla1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Godfrey?wprov=sfla1

It makes sense if we are signing the kid from Marseille, and might even offload Beto? And Maupay, (who will probably go in the last week? Because it will surely help the PSR, and this will also help give us some room to manoeuvre, once that sinister looking deadline has passed!

Branthwaite is coveted, Godfrey on the brink and two
others ( Seamus and Young) being highly susceptible.

Not many Premier League clubs have done business yet. There's the peculiar Dobbin / Iroegbunam deal and Newcastle have Lloyd Kelly on a free. Otherwise just a few interesting young players going to Forest (Stamenic), Wolves (Rodrigo Gomes, Pedro Lima), Palace (Riad) and West Ham (Guilherme) for fees between £5m and £20m.

The encouraging news is that, touch wood, it looks like the 30th June is going to come and go without any major departure. That at least suggests we're not in desperate financial straits or up against serious PSR woes.

And that's before Onana has left, which seems the likely big departure.

My guess after Ndiaye is a starting RB(Kabore and Wan-Bissaka mentioned lately) a RW (Minteh?) and a squad CB (Greaves). If we could pull off anything like that we'd be looking stronger than last year.

He rose to prominence following his success at Celtic as I understand it, similarly don't recall us being linked to Alderweireld or what kind of fee may or may not have been discussed.

As for the signings of Mc Carthy and Kone I'm not sure why you've alluded to the fees involved Mc Carthy (13m), Kone (5m). Martinez was criticised by some pundits for the fee paid for Mc Carthy but he proved to be a very astute signing and easily one of our best performers in years gone by, sadly his career was blighted by serious injury which he sustained whilst putting his body on the line for the club.

Kone had a respectable scoring record at Wigan and was signed for what would have been considered a modest fee for a striker back then however the fee largely reflected the fact that he was known to be carrying an injury however the club didn't have a lot of cash to splash around and they were prepared to take a risk on his fitness.

You could also have thrown in Gareth Barry brought in on loan and later signed for 1m, what an acquisition he proved to be. I'd go as far as to say he was probably one of the best value for money signings in our history or Lukaku brought in on a loan and later signed for 25m and subsequently sold for 75m, not a bad bit of business that by anyone's reckoning.

1) That bout of Covid during the summer of 2021 when he'd just broken into the England setup.

2) The leg break on the opening day of 22/23 against Chelsea, completely derailed the start of his season.

We seen a fine athlete in his first season under Carlo, early doors I genuinely thought we'd signed another Lescott type gem.

But the deficiencies started becoming more clear, the lack of being able to command in the air, not being very good at all infact with heading the ball doesn't do much for a defender, coupled with his not very good passing ability.

As I say, absolute immense athlete, loves a hard old school tackle, but I couldn't ever see him nailing down one particular position.

I wish him all the very best at Atalanta and hope it goes as well as can.

That's the best post on here. I totally agree with you on the two big setbacks and the fact he's a great athlete versus a great football player. In truth we paid way over the odds for him which wasn't his fault more a result of the fact Norwich like everyone else knew they could fleece us. But he's been a good pro, done his part. Probably a deal that works well for all parties. Good luck to him.

The BBC, for what it's worth, now reporting that the deal is done and dusted.

This is a great move for Ben; I think that the fee is too low.

Ben is moving to a classy club (I like to think of them, maybe wrongly, as Serie A's Lille or Real Sociedad) in a classy, beautiful town, Bergamo, as many Evertonians know (right Rob?).

Watch Ben develop over the next few years, and remember, as Jim B said, COVID, a terrible injury, and mental health issues that he was courageously public about.

The one thing that does need to happen, however, is that the people at Atalanta talking with Ben need to sort out what his best position. I can think of three possibilities; central defence is the one for me.

Good luck Ben and thanks and although the fees seems to be on the low side to me, I genuinely believe that more than a semblance of footy, financial, and business savvy is returning to our club at long last.

COYB

Everton 3 Brighton 1

As a right-sided centre-back in a 3, he was okay; in the season with Don Carlo he was very good and consistent. He's not a genuine centre-back. Just look at Branthwaite and Tarkowski. Ben was never near that level.

Atalanta are a club on the up and up and hopefully Ben will prosper with them. Arrivederci Ben.

Teary-eyed Bill would be proud.

With Coleman and Young getting their free bus passes next year, the future looks bright.

Dyche signed him when he was Burnley's boss. If Keane and Holgate also go, I expect us to go after Jacob Greaves,

I hope he does well in Italy, his move looks sensible for both parties but it does mean that we are desperately short of players, and there are still a few bench warmers who ideally should be moved on.

I also expect Man Utd to land Branthwaite for £70 million with probably Wan-Bissaka and Victor Lindelof coming in after 30-June. Hopefully for a combined fee of not more than £25 million.

Both of them are decent-good defenders, and as a whole a back 4 of Mykolenko, Lindelof, Tarkowski and Wan-Bissaka may not be significantly weaker than last season's defence, with a net profit of approximately £50-55 Million.

Although, I would be happier if Branthwaite were to stay and we got in only Wan-Bissaka or someone similar. The Onana sale should see us safe from the clutches of PSR.

He's had half a golf bag of clubs and had his Trebilcock moment in the final.
If Atalanta can cash in on him, fair play to them – and him.

Godfrey is off to the land of Krøldrup where centre-backs don't have to head the ball too much, which is lucky for him, because he's not that good at it.

Just another big athletic Galoot like Onana, I hope he does well for himself.

He showed a lot of promise early on but was never the same player after he contracted Covid.

If you're referring to me, then yes, Bergamo is a fantastic city (or is it a town?). Me and a mate spent a night there before the European game at Young Boys, Berne.

Well worth a visit, especially up to the old town where you need to take a cable car to get up. Bergamo is only about 30 minutes on the train from Milan. I'm sure Ben Godfrey will love the place if that's to be his next destination.

One of those where it's a shame to see a youngish player move on when he seems to have some potential, but I really can't see where he's fitting in at Everton.

With the contract running out he needs to go to the highest bidder. Good luck to him - I always respected his attitude and I hope he goes on to great things.

The money quoted is not enough for me though, but it is what it is he if wants to go.

I watched him in a few games, including the derby game where he made that fantastic clearance off the line, but three times he let Diaz come inside the penalty area and get good shots in, one of hitting the inside of the post, he did this poor marking in further games.

His poor panic clearances and distribution plus his adding nothing in an attacking sense means, to me, that I will be happy to see Everton take the money and wish Ben all the best for his future career.

We have the brilliant Young and Dyche's slap stick if Coleman can't quite make the full 90 at right-back.

Just don't come back! :-)

Haaland was really ruffled that day. He also made the best clearance I saw last season against Liverpool (another outstanding game). There have been some good moments, but has there been enough of them?

Carlo confessed he had never heard of him when he signed, but he did what he does and kept his instructions to Godfrey very simple. Got a decent tune out of him too.

I think Atalanta may be getting a decent deal if his consistency can improve with good health. It usually does.

And that goal-line clearance against them was almost as breathless as Pickford's double save against Chelsea, assisted by the post, which had me holding my breath for almost a minute.

Good luck, Ben. Stay fit and healthy. You will do well.

Yes, Iroegbunam and hopefully Ndiaye coming in, to make it 23m so some more signings presumably. Not sure any of the U21s are ready to step up yet.

We are allowed 25 in the squad I understand. But this does feel rather light, especially as the 21 includes Keane and Holgate, the latter who never played for us at all last season and the other who started 4 and whose only appearance in the last 18 games was Chelsea away as a sub.

We're in a fix because he could leave for free this time next year and we clearly need to sell to generate some money. If we get about £12M that's not too bad considering.

I liked Godfrey, as Dave said, the horrible injury against Chelsea and Covid was a severe setback. He has great pace, which he showed in the derby, but being played left-back and right-back hindered his chances of really proving his pedigree as a centre-back.

Dyche preferred Keane off the bench, I would have loved to keep him and offload Keane and Holgate. Wish him all the best, a nice guy, who always gave 100%.

I wish him all the best.

He never lacked effort though, lacking in ability, yes, but how many players over the last 6-7 years have been lacking in effort while having loads of ability!! For this reason, I wish the lad well.

He will probably be more suited to the slower-paced Italian game where he will get more time on the ball and time to pick a pass. Good luck, lad!!

However, unlike us, he'll be playing Champions League football next season…

Champions League games for him and a decent price for the lad, though he was never the same after his Long Covid caper.

That said, he had a few good games when called upon under Dyche, especially the derby, but then who didn't that memorable night?

One thing I will say though is I like the way we are going about our business, getting young hungry players in and linked with a few as well. I was worried we were going to have a quiet summer but it feels the opposite.

And getting them in and having a pre-season as well, can only bode well. I feel a lot more upbeat than I have for a few seasons.

In fact, if we are being brutally honest, he was lacking any type of brain at all.

Great piece of business.

Good price for a squad player.

Good luck to Ben.

I'm interested to see where and how he plays for Atalanta. I can't see where they're coming from with this one.

One year left on his contract, he wanted to leave, refused a new contract, had few attributes but worked hard and went for a nominal amount. Fair comment?

Reaction has been mostly good and positive, wishing the lad well after bad injuries and illness etc. Compare that with the similar situation and tone of comments regarding Calvert-Lewin which are pretty much all slanted the other way, derogatory abuse, get rid etc.

So why the difference?

Do fans 'like' certain players no matter what? And vice versa?
Both have their supporters and detractors, but attitudes towards them are almost polar opposite. I have to say too that I could have picked many more who have left us over the years as comparisons but Godfrey and Calvert-Lewin are the latest.

So why the difference in response to possible departures, is it just flavourful of the month, bitterness or just human nature?

He's not a full-back but always gave 100%. His passing needs to improve even at centre-back. He never seemed to trust in his ability to produce the right pass.

It's been said about his injury and Covid. He just couldn't get back to the level that got him picked for England after a promising start for us.

I wish him well and it's a deal that suits both parties. Champions League football is not a bad bonus and I hope he can impress the old defensive masters, the Italians.

Are you qualified to say that he has no brain at all? Have you met him or know him at all? Or is that just a shithouse throwaway stupid statement?

It is a good job we have fans like you.

Some in all walks of life love to decry others, trolls I think is the modern term. Sad ain't it?

Says more about them than who they are calling, what pleasure they get beats me.

He certainly has his detractors, and did put in some sloppy performances, but he was also really good on occasion. Not the finest football brain but definitely played at full tilt most of the time.

Good luck to him, he's moving to a nice part of the world to play football as well.

Good cover for injuries across the back, which is valuable to us given we can't afford to carry two players for every position, but I understand his apparent wish for a starting role. He suffered a terrible injury for the cause and always put a shift in.

All the best Ben, hope it works out for you.

But he was shit. I appreciate everyone's candour and diplomacy but come on, I've just said what we're all thinking.

Not the guy's fault, of course, he tried his best, just like all pros should, but he was just another typical English athlete with no skill.

Maybe the Italians will teach him to defend properly and after 8 years it's time to look beyond the potential

All the best, thank fuck.

And it frees up money for us... a good move all round.

Does this mean Michael Keane is staying?????

Career wise, potentially a great move for him. He's got no allegiance to Everton, it's a job. He's not the best we've had, certainly not the worst. I personally wish him well.

The difference I believe is that Calvert-Lewin could thrive and has the potential to score goals and improve the team he signs for.

It also weakens us and leaves us without a dependable striker, we are certainly a better team when Calvert-Lewin plays at the top of his game. Godfrey is a defender unlikely to ever hurt us and has never really been a first-choice player.

I've not seen the Calvert-Lewin thread but wouldn't be surprised if we're not offering him better terms than he is already on. If that's the case, which I have no evidence of, no wonder he's looking for another club.

Nah, mate. I wasn't thinking that one bit. He wasn't shit. He isn't shit. I'm sure he values your endorsement though.

Dean @128, bold and forthright as you think your slimy little post is, you are not saying what we are all thinking, so speak for yourself.

The last-minute goal savings stops where he saved certain goals the last 3 years in key games at Goodison and away were part of keeping Everton up. But there were many games and he gave the left winger, the freedom of the park.

The West Ham loss last season for me showed the lack of experience. But Ben, has a massive heart and I believe will excel in Italy. Serie A, the pace of the game with his burst mode, he wil stand out.

Did Everton take less money in the final tansfer, who knows?

Godfrey was an honest pro – not shit – and I wish him well. Not sure I could say the same for you.

Ben had his faults as a player, bad luck with injuries, but was no way close to being as bad as you allude to.

Easy to put the poker in but ask any Evertonian in recent times, there are no perfect players, but also Ben Godfrey gave his all, in every game. The Burnley games home and away, the last 2 seasons stand out, and more.

Each to their own, but good luck Ben, you gave your best.

He'll benefit from Gasperini's coaching and the less aerial, less physical style of Serie A.

No one thinks Godfrey had a God-given talent but his effort and athleticism means he made a much bigger contribution than “gifted” players like McGeady, Preki, Aandy van der Meyde.

He's not a great technical player by any stretch but, even then, he was far more polished than Joe Parkinson who also had a positive impact greater than the aforementioned through sheer will, guts and determination.

Dyche gave him a run in the team, probably with an eye on selling him in the summer. I am glad he got his move to a club that will suit him.

Best wishes to him and I hope he gets regular match time with Atalanta.

“But he was shit. I appreciate everyone's candour and diplomacy but come on, I've just said what we're all thinking”.

He speaks for all of us! What fucking blindness and arrogance from the voice of ToffeeWeb! Welcome one and all our resident psychologist who can read deeply into our minds to tell us what we really think is not what we are posting.

You don't speak for me, Dean, and, I suspect, for the vast majority on here.

I disagree with Dean's (and more than a few other's) opinion of Ben but because Dean is a Toffee I respect his right to post his opinion (he at least hasn't slagged off other Toffees in doing so!) but we're all of the same heart.

And when it comes to "heart", Ben is top-notch.

First of all, there is nothing – nothing – to support his erm "opinion" that boils down to "shit".

Also – and this is important, Don – he claims to speak on behalf of all of us.
,

He seemed to have gone out of Dyche's favour. Wanted away. Good Luck to him.

Sorry for it never panned out for Godfrey in his time with us, for various reasons, but I'll have good memories of him.

He was a victim of his own versatility, and like so many other young players at the club over the past seven or eight years, of the lack of coaching, stability and professionalism which permeated the club for so long. Too many different managers and tactical set-ups, not enough coaching.

He doesn't deserve the abuse from Dean, which like many others, I can only repudiate.

Thanks for your time here.

At that point in time, he struck me as pretty much the only player in the side who had that kind of fighting spirit. I attributed it to him never having the easiest start on his football journey, character-building stuff.

I thought then that he was the kind of character to build a proper team around. This was all before Covid and his later injury.

He did alright for us. Best of luck to him on a new adventure.

Some players are just loved. It's very rarely about the player's ability. Denis Stracqualursi is a prime example.

I think one action can turn fans against players forever — dressing up and modelling will definitely do it. Once the bandwagon is rolling, it doesn't seem as if it can be stopped.

Anthony Gordon was loved one minute and hated the next. I believe that came about as a result of his agent seeking £100k a week for him.

Mind you. Gordon has proved many of his haters wrong. They said he wasn't very intelligent, but how many people who go flying over the handlebars of their bicycles have the brains to actually capture it on their phones?

I'll always remember that tackle on Shaqiri in the 2-0 at Anfield, the RS player nearly soiled himself!!

“He's shit”, is your opinion.

But he could never be as shit as your post. That's my opinion.

Judging by the reaction of the more mature writers on here, he's failed miserably.

Hope you succeed in whatever you do with the rest of your miserable life, Dean.

I've seen him play - in the flesh/up close and personal since he arrived.

No other qualifications required.

My favourite memory, him warming up in front me with his shorts on the wrong way around. Not his bib, his shorts.

Maybe he was great on the live forum though, or the other internet message boards.

Good luck to him. He is still better than Holgate though...

He has now declined Everton's contract update and a fee has been agreed for him to move to a club that seems to appeal to him. That's business, nothing personal on either side.

Isn't that a bit like the bloke down the pub saying, "Well, Einstein was a good scientist but his thought experiments were a bit simplistic. However, Stephen Hawking and his theory on singularity, bla bla bla"?

Actually, I realised while writing that quote that I was basically describing one of my kopite mates. Haha!

I don't think he's ever been universally loved by the fans, like Richarlison, or Ferguson who, despite both never being prolific, just had a connection with the fans.

I've never doubted Calvert-Lewin's commitment and think he's put his body on the line a lot of times while playing through injuries for us. In an ideal world, I'd keep Calvert-Lewin, sell Beto, and add another striker.

However, I think for the club and the lad, it might be the right time to try something new. We have been in a cycle of relying on him when his body hasn't been reliable. A fresh start for him and a new approach for us might be what's needed.

He's scored some absolute pricelessly important goals, some of the most important goals in our recent history… yet, as you say, some never give him their full support.

I wouldn't slate the lad for bargaining on what will probably be his last big contract, it's the club's fault they have let him gain the upper hand by letting his contract run down.

I know I wouldn't turn down a pay rise, why do we think footballers should?

It could be that it's not "just" about money and that he thinks he can play for a team higher up the league who don't constantly struggle at the bottom.

If that's the case I agree with him, he could (IMHO).

Can you provide any evidence that Calvert-Lewin has been offered £125k per week and that he has turned it down?

The much more significant thing is that (touch wood) it looks like we're going to get past 30 June without a major sale.

By 1 July last year we'd sold Kean for €30M, and the previous season we sold Richarlison (and had already sold Gordon).

Maybe (hopefully) we have stabilised?

Sky Sports are saying Newcastle pulled out of the deal because the RS wanted to include Quansah.

Considering Gerrard was his idol, and refusing to train with us when we were struggling, I can see how much of a prick he was.

I've scored a billion career goals in 5-a-side.

By the way, was Gordon seriously a red growing up?

He's gone, he's doing well for himself, and we've moved on.

It's old news now but don't forget Gordon refused to play for us when we were in big relegation bother last season, so I wouldn't say he tried his best, in my opinion.

I'm hoping this throws the door wide open for Patterson to claim the right-back spot. I like the kid and hope he and Mykolenko on the other side are with us for years.

Good luck to Ben Godfrey. I wish him well.

No Ian, that's not how it works. But there are plenty of outlets reporting that he's refused to sign a new contract, hence the attempted deal with Newcastle. I think it's pretty fair to say that he has so far refused to sign a new deal going on the available "information".

As for the £125k a week.

We don't do evidence on here Ian. It's ToffeeWeb – not a court of law.

Rumours and supposition abound.

Again, though, I can't see the point in our fanbase shitting on him. Just for the fee alone, his time with us was a net positive.

Sorry, Rob, just being a bit facetious but not towards you. :-)

£5M bid for their soon-to-be 31-year-old current left-back to cover for Vitalii until he is fully fit? Writing on the wall for Lucas Digne and the FSW is no longer here. Help Villa with their PSR…

He and Yerry were abused by our fans outside the ground after a home defeat. Yerry got out of the car and the fan had a very quick rethink about what he was saying, LOL.

If the rest is to be believed, Gordon did indeed down tools until we sold him to the Skunks.

It must have been desperate to choose to live in Newcastle.

There will always be disagreements on his value as supporters want more for a player going out and less for a player coming in.

All players are open to negative parts of their game that supporters seem to remember, but to me that one tackle in the derby that changed the outcome of the game showed his positive side and he should be thanked for his service to the club and wished all the best in his future.

"...the fan had a very quick rethink about what he was saying LOL."

Not quite true.

Can't find the videos now, but this newspaper description matches what I saw:

An animated Everton supporter says to Mina: “You're going to leave us if we go down, aren't you? If we go down to the Championship you'll leave won't you? If we go down to the Championship, will you stay? No you won't.

“I want you to show heart lad. Show us a bit of heart lad. Be a leader. Speak out. All we want is passion. Show us a bit of passion.”

Mina then replies: “I will give my life for this club.”

The Everton fan responds: “Start speaking up lad. Show them that you are the man. You could be our captain if you speak up. Wear the armband.”

Mina then shakes hands with the supporter and a few others while a policeman checks in to make sure everything is fine.

In another video, an Everton supporter thanks Mina for coming out to speak to them and says ‘he is more of a man than any of them'.

It was an intense discussion, but not a confrontation, and certainly nobody had any rethinks.

Link

Too bad about his injuries. We were a better side when he was out there.

I'll never forget that last gasp goal against Wolves. I had to turn to those around me to asked if it was real!!

The original clip I saw was of fans banging on the car window and, when Yerry gets out of the car, they visibly finch and take two steps back.

Wait till Richard Masters finds out about this. He'll go mental.

Glad to see money being recouped by the club instead of another player of the Moshiri splurge leaving on a free.

Makes good business sense which is very un Everton of the last 5 years so a good positive to take from the move.

Best of luck for Atalanta, Ben.

Some say he had recovered having been ill, but when players are out of favour with Dyche, they seem to go this way. He is probably glad to have been transferred.

I seem to recall those fellas coming and going pretty quickly while it seems like Godfrey has been around forever.

Is Dean Haaland in disguise? No offense, Dean.

Ben Godfrey showed the world how to negate Haaland's 'supremacy', amongst other attributes.

Anthony Gordon sweated blood to keep us up. WE voted him player of the year. Even though he was the youngest member of the team he shamed his seniors with his effort.

When he didnt turn up or training it was because he was talking to Newcastle - after being given permission (encouraged) to talk to them. He couldnt get out quick enough.

From the moment his agent asked for silly money Gordon was the target of relentless abuse for months.
All clubs have a nasty element among their fan base who think they can abuse and hate upon players without anything coming back. Ours, somewhat bizarrely think they are still entitled to 100% commitment from the player they have abused.

People can hate and abuse all they want, but it's a bit rich when they get all outraged and bent out of shape when the player they have abused does not respond with undying loyalty to them.

Happened to Barkley. Happened to Gordon and its already happening to DCL - And he is still our player.

If you're brave enough to repeatedly call a man a gobshite or whatever, you kind of forfeit the right to be outraged if he returns the compliment by treating you like one.

There will be exceptions, but players who are shown loyalty and love, generally respond better than those who have taken dogs abuse. Thats life

I liked him, he looked great when he first joined, good but limited as a full back under Carlo and then injuries appear to have stalled his progress.

I've never liked a defender that needlessly dives-in and goes to ground rashly. We have a lot of them which I can't stand.

Godfrey started to do it more often which tells me he's not reading the game well enough and coincides with his loss of pace and form.

Regardless of what fans have or have not said about Anthony Gordon, he disrespected the club and staff in my opinion in his interview with Gary Neville.

Gordon as well as deliberately winding Evertonians up with his "everbody loved Gerrard" comments and the like, he never once gave any credit to the coaches, scouts, people behind the scenes who had looked after him since he was 12 or even the priest at St Luke's.

He acted like a child when all he had to say was "I'm gratefull for what Everton have done for me and the people who work there will always have my appreciation."

To be honest, Dave, most of us would give our right arm to play for the club we love yet these players are made millionaires and are worshipped but can't take a bit of stick. They're pros and should be above reacting to supporters.

Not for the first time on here and on this particular subject do I find myself nodding agreeably to your words.

Many seem incapable of recognising that there is a direct correlation between player discontent and the abuse thrown unnecessarily from the terraces.

It's for this reason that we will lose Calvert-Lewin this summer. Yes, he could sign a new contract but he has as good as said that the vitriol has stuck for him. We sometimes deserve what we get.

We need not only new owners, new policies, new strategies but also new expectations and new relationships with our players on the pitch. Here is to a new era and hopefully an end to this type of bullshit.

I don't dislike Calvert Lewin by the way but I don't see how a player who is paid handsomely and doesn't hit the net, thats his job for 2 months can expect a pat on the back, footballers take the praise when things go there way so if a player isn't playing well they deserve to be told its not good enough. I certainly wont be kissing the arse of any overpaid footballer who plays for the Club I love when they aint doing there job.

Cant agree with any of that. The vast majority of Evertonians are fair minded and passionate about the club and the players, but it is the abusers and haters among us who cant take what they dish out.

Wayne Rooney was greeted by the most toxic abuse imaginable when he came back To play for Man United. He hadn't disrespected the club. yet he had to listen to this vile abuse. Hilariously; The very people who where abusing him were incandescent with rage when he snarled right back at them with his star jumps and badge kissing.

You're right. Gordon was blatantly trying to wind up those who you say had given him a "bit of stick" ... or to put it correctly, given him absolute dogs abuse. They had ruined his time here long before he was asked to sign or Newcastle.

Abuse and criticism are two very different things, but Its a free country and if brave little soldiers want to abuse players from the terraces or on social media, they can hardly complain when the player returns fire. The haters seem to think they are allowed free shots. They don't understand why the player doesn't want to sign up for another 3/4 years of their abuse.

I'm yet to see the player who started it.

Fans don't make players sign or refuse to sign contracts thats nonesense them days have long gone, loyalty doesn't exist in football anymore.

You say a.player has yet to start anything, once a blue always a blue that wasnt on my tshirt and lets face it he was so badly hurt that he has his sons as Evertonians and came back to play, sorry you wouldn't do that if you were abused.

Lots of shite may be slung and horrible comments made but give them a big enough contract and ambition that other Clubs havent offered and they sign on the dotted line.

If you believe that fans have any influence on players signing contracts your entitled to your opinion but I don't think many would agree.

But I agree with Dave. However Anthony Gordon has apparently behaved, he tried his heart out for us until his head was turned. And even after his head was turned, he still made us £45m. Money that kept us afloat.

When he was sold, the club was too petty to even wish him well. Much of the fanbase have subsequently treated him like garbage. If there is ill-feeling on his part, I hardly blame him.

Personally, I'd rather we just moved on. There's no need for the rancour, on either side. He did well for us as a player, he made us a lot of money, and as Dave said, he absolutely shamed much of the senior squad with his heart and application.

I cant believe people think they can abuse boys from Crocky and Kirkdale and not expect them to come back. They did what is in their DNA. They fired back.. If you cant handle a return of service, don't serve the bloody ball.

Barkley, Davies and Gordon. All players who have taken abuse above and beyond. All players who were asked to stay on by the club and all players who decline the offer. The idea that they don't hear about the abuse on social media, or hear hatred pouring from the stands is for the birds. I would love to think DCL will buck the trend, but I`m not holding my breath. These boys will be multi millionaires with or without us.

Hate and abuse all you want, but ffs stop acting all outraged when the object of your abuse doesnt fall to his knees and beg your forgiveness

But never has it been so vitriolic as now, and sad to say, we have a sizeable part of our crowd who dish it out on a regular basis. A guy sitting behind me constantly calls DCL a 'lazy bastard', sometimes when the game is just 3 minutes old.

However, and this is not in mitigation, personal standards are much lower now amongst fans, there is an element of aggression, probably fuelled by alcohol and cocaine in the younger crowd, that just intensifies the hatred from the terraces.

I'll be sorry to see DCL go if he leaves. He fits into Dyche's game plan of playing with one man upfront, and is expected to put in a shift for 90 minutes, which is something he has done since he joined the club.

In a better team, he will score more goals than the very limited opportunities he presented with every week.

Abused no you don't go back somewhere you have been abused and not for a second do I believe any of these players did not sign a contract because of something fans have said or written.

If Rooneys transfer and reaction went around the globe that would be because he was a fantastic great footballer with the world at his feet, poor players no one is interested regardless of the shit they have taken.

Rooney, Barkley and Davies have made a good career for themselves and its because there from Croxteth, Huyton, and Kirkdale that they probably don't give a flying fuck what some dickhead fans type on twitter, ToffeeWeb or anywhete else.

As far as I'm concerned if a player does not want to play for Everton sell them. But I doubt they care about that either.

I wonder what standards they were? Every Club has got a few always have and always will so lets not pretend football was a much nicer day out back in the 70's and 80''s, 90's and naughties.