Everton make loan approach for Chelsea's Ugochukwu

Can we get linked with names I can pronounce please?

The lad from Verona sounds like a sneeze n all.

These gossip mongers just seem to pluck names out of a hat to see if they get lucky.

Either that Col or they're playing Journo scrabble and they all wanna win!!

We need him here, not at the Olympics. We also need to get in a left-back to compete with Mykolenko, who may not be fully fit come the opening game and a right-back.

Patterson is injured and Dyche doesn't rate him, obviously. Surely we can't be planning to start Coleman and Young for more than 10 games each.

We haven't got a decent third keeper either. As it stands Keane and Holgate are the supporting centre-backs, god help us. That means we need at least one centre-back.

Only McNeil and Harrison can play wide. Our best centre-forward wants out and our midfield has only been strengthened by a young kid from Villa's reserves. He's not Onana's replacement, so who is coming in?

Good shout, Jack.

We need at least a left-back, a right-back, someone who can score goals (even if Calvert-Lewin stays), a midfielder to replace Onana, and a pacy winger who can cross the ball.

As usual, we've got the typical alphabet spaghetti of people we are allegedly interested in, backed up by clueless reporters without any real facts.

If we don't strengthen these positions, I think we could find ourselves struggling again next season with a very thin squad, especially if we have any injuries to contend with.

Never mind… we look to have signed some promising youngsters for the future!!!

Jack # 4, at the moment Transfermarkt independently rates us as having the 16th best squad in the Premier League. Once all the transfer business has been done we'll still be there or thereabouts as we'd have to spend about £30M or £40M net to improve on that.

That's not going to happen so the squad will remain riddled with major weaknesses. But I am hopeful that we will have a better-balanced squad overall than last season – and with a few more players who could develop over the coming seasons too.

Robert,

What makes you so hopeful that we'll have a better-balanced squad than last season based on our progress thus far? I hear lots of names floated about as usual, but not much evidence of any progress in remedying any of our obvious deficiencies.

There's always the chance of course that things are happening behind the scenes that we don't know anything about… but I'm not holding my breath.

At the moment, it looks like the same old same old.

There's 7 weeks of the window to go.

We will end up stronger at the end than at the start of the window.

Current first team likely to play v Brighton as Calvert-Lewin likely to have left.

Pickford
Coleman
Tarkowski
Branthwaite
Mykolenko
Harrison
Gueye
Garner
McNeil
Doucoure
Beto

Subs:
Virginia
Young
Keane
Iroegbunam
Ndiaye
Chermiti
plus 1 from Holgate, Maupay, Onyango or Lonergan's ghost.

On the face of it, Everton still have many problems to resolve.

We have some new names and there are some old ones who need to show a bit more than last season.

The sad fact is that we will still be a mid-table team that will struggle in many games.

I think Dyche has done well in his first couple of seasons with little monetary backing but he is not the Messiah so we cannot expect miracles.

I can't see much wrong with that selection, Jack. Worrying to note that only Harrison is one of this year's “new” signings. That doesn't seem a stronger squad to me. One or two injuries and we are goosed!

So it would appear we still have a lot of work to do, with very little money before this window closes. Will it happen? Who knows, but I'm not being swept along by the euphoria of possible new owners in the face of reality.

We may have movements behind the scenes which we mere mortals are not party to; I sincerely hope so because things are not looking good at the moment.

Still a few weeks to go, I know, but our track record doesn't fill me with confidence.

Like many others I want to see us succeed but the damage embedded for decades, but especially under Moshiri, into the club by a self-serving shit owner(?)/chairman will take seasons to even eradicate, never mind improve from.

We've been infested with the football equivalent of Japanese knotweed, for years. For non-horticulturists that means nothing healthy can begin to grow in a garden because of a ravenous destructive weed.

Dyche and Thelwell are doing all they reasonably can given the horrible mess they've now fully realised they're in (other top clubs/agents having years and years ago sussed Kenwright out as the pseud he always was), so I just hope that Friedkin has us fully sussed out too and is still willing to invest beyond the likes of the legend that is Ugochukwu.

Jack (4),

Patterson seems to be back from his injury. The training video showed him running around enthusiastically.

I am worried about Mykolenko's injury.

Stu # 7, I expect that by the end of the window we will have signed at least:

- a new right-back
- a wing forward with some pace
- a midfielder to replace Onana

With Ndiaye already in, that alone gives us better balance that last season – and more attacking options.

Obviously additional players will be needed if Calvert-Lewin and / or Branthwaite go – but they will be replaced.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm making it quite plain that we're likely to finish the window with about the 16th best squad in the division – which is likely to over-perform again and finish about 12th / 13th (possibly one or two places higher).

The issue is not really where we finish next season (since nothing of note can realistically be achieved next season); it is whether we are building the foundations for a decent finish in season 2026-27 when it is more realistic to see us start competing.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the we've supposedly made a loan to buy offer for Napoli's Lindstrom as well. Now seeing as we already have Harrison on loan, we can only get one other loaner.

Have we enough keepers for the bench?

Clickbait headlines seem to be getting worse:

£4m Everton arrival, Celtic star joins, Swift sold – West Brom's transfer window predicted

I'm struggling to find any mention of this nugget in the article... but the clue seemingly is in the URL: … a certain Michael Keane to West Brom?

Robert @14,

You confidently make assertions that the key deficiencies in the squad will be filled by the end of the window without providing any evidence to back up your statement.

The point I'm trying to make is that, based on our performances in recent windows, we will be scratching around for on-loan or out-of-contract players at the last minute who do not necessarily give us the skills we need, while good potential additions seem to be snatched up quickly by other clubs.

I realise financial prudence is paramount at the moment and we should not make the same mistakes of overpaying for players who prove not good enough as we have done in the past.

I think Ndiaye is exactly the right kind of player profile we should be recruiting for the future but only time will tell if he is going to provide us with more attacking options. I'm thinking Danjuma here.

I agree, our squad will be around mid-table but it looks very thin to me, especially when you look at Jack's likely first team above.

Next season is critical for the club as we must be in the Premier League for the opening of the new stadium. Hence the importance of recruiting players for positions where our needs are greatest and not see them snapped up by other clubs.

We've lost Lonergan, Godfrey, Hunt, Gomes, Danjuma and Dobbin as regular members of the matchday squad last season.

We need quite a few in before we are at least on an even keel with last season.