Transfer Deadline Day

Can't see much happening tomorrow. Probably just a CB on loan.

Or 3 players in Paul. A forward, centre back and a midfielder that would then lead to Schneiderlin leaving on loan next week along with Basic, Bollassie etc etc etc

It will be another day of Zaha. The CB will be a loan move as stated above and the midfielder looks like being French.

Guess I won't be getting any work done tomorrow morning either.

Made me laugh David with the misspellings of those players...it's not easy is it...Basic, Bollassie, Mirallass, Tossunn, Scneiderllinn lol. At least we got rid of Mccarrtthhyy.

I think we’re more or less done. Just a few stragglers to be cut loose to reduce our wage bill.

Mike, transfer deadline day is a public holiday here. In my mind.

It sounds like Brands has got plenty of ducks in a row.

I can't wait to find out which players we manage to sign before 5pm.

Great coverage of the news and rumours by all our TW writers. Even if we can't believe the half of it :0)

Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Only one more sleep.

Think it will be a good day tomorrow expecting at least 2 more players to join Sidibe tonight. Maybe 3. Very decent chance Zaha will be one of them. Possibly a ball carrying midfielder (sanson or Iwobi or Doucore) and I think a CB on loan (Tomori, Kimpembe, Demiral)

Aaaggghhh it's here. The least productive and most exciting day of the year.

Benjamin

Basic was spell checker but l thought it looked better so left it. I'm hoping for a few easier names to sign tomorrow

Not been easy the last week. Its actually exhausting. I'm getting no work done and the house is a mess.

I’ve just seen Gareth Bale in ‘Lucky’s Blue Dragon’ opposite Goodison.

(He was getting half chips, half rice and curry sauce.)

Heard Coutinho on his way

Wide forward, centre back and some deadwood out please. Not much to ask for...is it? 🤞🤞🤞

Tony, was that Riquelme he was with?

Clever man Brands. We have spent net £23m so far.

It was a big queue Steve so it was hard to tell...

Muller was in that queue at the chippy too

The Reinier Jesus buzz has certainly gone quiet. Since he wouldn't be coming until January at the earliest, does anyone know if a potential deal would have to be finalized by the deadline tomorrow, or is there some flexibility there?

No to Zaha – we are his second choice... if that even.

Test out the Zouma waters, I wish he had the nerve of David Luis. Another forward needed, we have two kids upfront, one is unproven in the Premier League. If one gets injured, we are screwed.

Come on, Brands, it's not rocket science, we need a centre-half to dominate in the air to compensate for Pickford, plus another forward, or all the good transfer work so far will be pointless if we want to get from 8th to 4th.

Samuel Umtiti?

Kinda hope Zaha at that price is an old school style Dirk Kuyt phantom bid

Change from the days of Moyes scrambling to sign the likes of Jockstrap McHaggis, on a free transfer from Dunfermline.

Okay, so Moyes wasn't the answer to Everton's aspirations but he signed 2 of the best in the last 10 years or so in Cahill and Jagielka for buttons compared to what is being spent nowadays.

Kieran @25. Moyes didn't have Moshiri's money. But still had us regularly top 6.

Paul, it was a very different top 6, the big six was the big four, and he got us in the elite club just once in 11 seasons.

McCarthy sold. Sky say £8.5m decent deal for us that.

Tom/Paul

I wasn’t intending to mock Moyes. I actually felt sorry for the bloke. Every summer he’d be promised the Earth then have the rug pulled from under him. I remember one summer he was trying to get a deal done early. Didn’t pan out but by Mid July he was explaining we had money to spend then but now we don’t. As if someone had surprisingly garnished the clubs accounts in the interim.

Think Zaha will probably happen, but not at all sure if he is worth the money. Then again, he is also probably the best we can get and how much would we pay for a real tilt at silverware and the top6/4?

Defense seems a bit more of a worry, but I do trust Gibson to step up this season. Luiz going would condemn any Zouma move. A solid 3rd/4th choice on loan is what we need, so I do think the Smalling move wasn't the worst actually, something similar would be ideal, with hopefully Mina and Keane developing a solid partnership and Gibson making the step up to the first team squad.

I wonder if a midfielder is still in sight, after apparently dropping the interest in Doucoure.

Cant wait for it all to be over and then the frustration of Saturday afternoons to ruin our Saturdays once more.

If Onyekuru deal goes through for £15m then we are in net profit almost. Until the massive splurge tomorrow of course!

When do other windows shut? I heard the Premier League and the Championship are the only ones closing tomorrow. Hopefully Fulham get this Besic deal done.

Sam

Onyekuru going doesn’t have to be completed by 5pm tomorrow, of course ;-)

All in all I think this has been an excellent summer. The squad is being trimmed with quality additions (maybe even more) and a shift of the deadwood - while 6 first- team signings sounds a lot it creates some lovely competition for places. Yes the business seems hectic now but it seems planned with key areas being targeted rather than the haphazard spending spree two years ago (which admittedly brought in 3 key first team players in Siggy, Pickford and Keane (and I thought Rooney was a hit for the year he was here vs the money we paid)

Bring on tomorrow. Zaha and a CB will be a perfect window for me.

Steve, That's a bit unfair.

No other manager in the Premier League has got us consistently regarded and placed as top 6 with a net spend of around £1 million a season and buying some of the best players we have seen in recent times such as Coleman, Jags, Cahill, Lescott, Stones.

I know he turned bandit when he left but his achievements for the club should never be undermined.

Colin @ 23 - I mentioned that on Twitter the other day what a statement that would be...and not unachievable.

McCarthy gone.

Umtiti would be a hell of a signing - left pegger too 👍

Neil,
it would be some statement, players and the like are starting to take us more seriously.

I actually think that deadline day should always be on a Monday and be declared a bank holiday.

How you doing Neil, hope all is well.

I’m good my friend thank you... very much excited for Saturday and the rest of the season and hope to get across with some regularity shifts permitting. Hope you and yours are well.

In regards to Umtiti... I don’t think it’s unachievable and would be an immense signing. I’m damn sure he would t cost the maguire premium !!

Sorry for Chrissy and Gerry Ring who have long championed the lad, but pleased for James McCarthy that he now has clarity on his situation.

There have been some pretty ungracious words written about James in recent days. We do have some deadwood at Finch Farm. We do have some spongers contributing little or nothing to the cause.

James McCarthy does not merit being grouped among them. Never a player I personally warmed to myself, but his commitment and application (for me) could never be questioned.

His leg break accidentally getting caught by Rondon was horrendous, one of those 'look away now' incidents. I hope he is able to get a good few games under his belt in the autumn of his career so he can go out with a flourish, head held high.

Palace may not have wanted McCarthy seen as a makeweight foisted on them. So the Zaha deal may well go ahead on it's own tomorrow.

Someone's having a bad day!!!!

One of the advantages of being on the other side of the planet (perhaps the only one) on Deadline Day is that I get to sleep through all the last minute stressing and wake up when the dust has started to settle. It's all a bit like Christmas morning relly.

Hopefully I'll wake up to find a bloody huge box with a decent centre back in and another with a speedy R winger (batteries included)

Chris, there is always that to look forward to, but even if we don't get anyone else in, the side will look a lot different to the one that finished last season.

I do however think, there will be another couple possibly, but expect to see quite a few departures over the next two weeks, remembering of course that the European windows don't close till the end of the month.

I don't want us to pay an exorbitant sum for Zaha, I don't think he's worth it. Palace can keep him. I think he's overrated.

200k a week to lure Wilf...holy bananas.

So many more to get rid of before we make a final decision if a good or bad window

I think we still need a proven goal scorer and left sided centre half

Leaving it oh so late yet again. No doubt it will be another season "in transition" with the players "needing time to gel"

Ian #47

Why do you care? It’s not your money

As long as it’s legal (ie within FFP rules) and doesn’t impact us signing other players (and to be fair, it doesn’t seem to be) then why do you care?

I don’t understand fans treating Usmanov’s/Moshiri’s money as if it’s their own

I hope the club don't pander to Palace demands for Saha as he's not worth £75m let alone the £100m being quoted this morning after his transfer request yesterday, remember the last time Palace fleeced the club for one of their players (Bolasie) and it hasn't worked out well. Ziyech from Ajax would be a much better deal and playmaker in my opinion compared to the one trick pony that is Zaha.

A solid CB be it someone on loan or an outright purchase has got to be the priority you would think.

Would LOVE us to sign Zaha. Love it

Brendan I'm with you mate. Zaha is a talent but plays for himself and no other club is tempted. We are the only show in town and Palace are looking for absolute superstar money. He is not a superstar on that scale. Arsenal had it right at £40m max. People saying it's not our money are completely missing the point!!!!!!

I’m with kase. I would effing love us to sign Zaha. Better than anything we currently have, and that is the only way we are going to improve.
The only comparison to bolasie is the fact they both played at palace. Ability wise they are miles apart.

40 million gets you barely anything these days. Look at what Newcastle got for 40 million. Someone barely heard of.

I imagine we will have two more coming in and, hopefully, 4-5 leaving.

Off to work soon and will try and avoid keeping tabs on developing stories/gossip. I hope I’m pleasantly surprised when I get home after 5pm.

COYB!

Kase...because there is never an infinite amount of cash ( unless you are in east Manchester). £100 million can get two or possibly three top class, proven signings. Sure, Zaha would be nice but there are other areas that need cover / strengthening.

Spot on Brendan.

Luiz wants to leave Chelski, Zouma seems very remote now

The debate about value for money and the cost of Zaha needs to be seen in perspective IMO.
PSG raised the bar when they bought Neymar for £200M.
The question is, again in my view, is Zaha half, or less than half the player Neymar is?
Everyone must make their own judgement, but based on the Neymar scale, I don't think Zaha is over priced.

I too hope we don't roll over to Crystal Palace's exorbitant demands.

The 75m we have offered is more than fair [ Arsenal valued him at 55m ]. There seems now to be no other serious bidders other than us , maybe a sign we are overpaying.

The player has been told he can leave if a competitve offer was made and the player has handed in a transfer request.

In the end Palace's best outcome is to agree to our offer which is fair and let the player go who clearly doesn' want to be at the club. The alternative would be detrimental to C Palace's season, Zaha's motivation, lower morale and flirting with relegation.

If ever we are going to stick to our guns it is now, no need to overpay and be shafted. If they don't play ball walk away and keep our 75m for future investment. [ps. not Iwobi]

Additionally I wont be crying into my pillow if we dont sign a player whose first choice was to play for Arsenal . Would we be just signing a mercenary who would want to be somewhere else when the going gets tough?

100m now being talked about on Twitter ! That’s ridiculous money really! 1/5 of the stadium cost !

70m is more than fair! Throw in Bolasie ( I’m sure he’d like to go back) and all should happy!

My prediction today is Sanson, Tomori and Zaha. Which will leave is with a very well balanced and threatening squad. Looks good!

I wouldn't bet your house on it John!

If Palace want more than £70m for Zaha then how about we swerve and go for the talented Ismailia Sarr and piss Watford off in the process!!

Sanson is a decent player but would prefer someone more athletic in the middle. I’d happily take Iwobi for £30m but £40m is overpriced for him.

Tomori loan could be useful but they’ll want to keep him now Luiz is leaving. Umtiti or Kimpembe could be high profile loans. Or Soumaoro is still available and is fast and strong and very capable.

3 more players in today? Buckle up!

Talksport saying we could bid 25 million for Rojo.

Wouldn't it be great if this time next year all of the clubs, players and agents agree not to spill their guts to Sky on a daily basis?

It would shut those smug, bullshit-peddling fuckers up once and for all!!!

Why don’t we go for Mario Mandžukić. Ok his age isn’t the best for our young squad but, he’ll team up well with former teammate
Kean.

I have said it before but I do appear to be a voice in the wilderness. Surely there is a talented CB playing in the Championship who could step up. They cant all be Ron Yeats carthorses can they ? I also struggle with the idea of paying any player £200k per week. That is approx £10 million, yes £10 million per year. Utterly outrageous. Probably if you combine the annual incomes of all the contributors to this forum we would still be £9 million short. Gone are the days of players signing for us because they were desperate to play for us. You have to seriously question the motives of any player who is reluctant to come here unless enticed by a kings ransom. Perhaps I am old school but I would far rather see us doing well developing talent and having the likes of Sheedy, Steven, Cahill, Jagielka etc at our core than fly by nights who may see us as a stepping stone to Utd or Chelsea or somewhere foreign and fancy. And seriously, is Iwobi worth double the cost of Lookman. I think not !!

I would give Zaha the swerve at any price he is a show pony who isn’t a team player and I think Bernard gives you far more. Some people are obsessed with getting new players, we already have some very good players who are starting to bed in and are making us a good team.

We need a centre half that is critical without buying yet another wide man.

Neil@68 one of the best CBs in the championship Adam Webster has already moved to Brighton for £22m. Another was Tomori who could possibly come on loan to us. Godfrey at Norwich was good as was Tuanzebe for Aston Villa and he’s back at United now. Not many others who could do a job for a PL team with top 6 aspirations.

Rumours of Bergwijn from PSV as a Zaha alternative. Really interesting young player with lots of potential I think. Guess he would cost between £25-£35m

Ed(69), I agree with that, at £55M ( Arsenal’s price) you would be taking a chance with Zaha, I doubt his commitment to any club never mind Everton, I’d leave this player and concentrate on a centre back and get another striker on loan.

Zaha spells trouble in the future to me.

Neil @68, good post mate, it's about time there was a reality check with regards to fees and wages as you so rightly point out. Thing is though, it is a juggernaut that seems to be gaining momentum, and the motivation for the majority players.

Totally unrelated to anything that has gone before in this thread,

but Lyndon, is the picture at the top the wrong person?

I would hope that today Marco Silva is working with the team, with the new guys coming in and getting everything set up for starting the season with a win at Palace.

Surely it should be a picture of Marcel Brands at the top of this article as he is the one making the decisions and doing the deals.

Be happy to get to 5pm without lumbering ourselves with any dead wood from Old Trafford

In other news... Spurs splashing the cash - Sessignon could be the best of their purchases, but Dybala is an interesting one because he must be absolutely destroying any pay scale they have. The Shite keeping it low key but, to be fair, they don't really need to add much and I reckon the PL is theirs to lose this season, as Citteh go for CL glory and nobody else has a prayer.

Alan, it was almost inevitable that we would be linked with Manure deadwood, while we have enough of our own to contend with, just hope and pray there are no silly last-minute deals, even as a temporary measure.

Dybala for Spurs is surely something to keep Poch happy. And he is a hell of the talent, him Kane and Son is some front 3.

With a brilliant midfield addition also, and Signing one of the best young talents in the country. They are consolidating themselves as the 3rd best team in the league. Can't really see any weaknesses in their team.

Surplus of centre backs at old trafford and we don't have enough! Taking the likes of Smalling and Rojo on loan would not be the end of the world while we wait for Zouma to realise he's better loved here than there. An experienced, PL-ready stop gap. Not inspiring but practical perhaps.

For me, what's making the transfer of Zaha difficult is the sell on figure. Just say, for arguments sake, we pay £100M for Zaha, £25M of that goes straight to Man Utd. That's one hell of a large chunk to lose. If we offer £75M plus a player, do Palace need to give united 25% of whatever is the value of the player we give ?

Neil @68, with regards to the centre backs, don't forget that Pennington is a top level centre-back in the Championship, so we can do better than that. If we're going for a championship centre-back then why not give game time to Feeney or Gibson instead, they will be better than some yard dog from the Championship or developing another Chelsea player for them.

I hope we take a leaf out of the Klopp playbook and pay what we have to if the player is exactly what we want, like they did with Allison, but hold fire if we can't get exactly what we want - like they did with VVD, waiting a season to pick him up. So, if Zaha was top of Brands's list and we know exactly how we will use him, then pay whatever it takes. Everyone else we're signing at the moment has potential to add value, particularly Kean, so it's swings and roundabouts really. I'd expect us to take a central defender on loan until we can get the player we want next summer, whether that's Zouma or someone else.

Sam (79) Spot on. Isnt that what Zouma was intended to be and look how that turned out. Yes, you can have an overarching principle as to the age and type of players you want in order to build for a longer term successful future, but experience within that group can be invaluable if only for a year or so. We should have no hesitation in bringing in a solid if uninspiring CB to cover as required. And at sensible money too !!

Sam, you're not wrong there. Zouma will be available next summer as unless he is sensational in the first couple of months, he'll be on the bench in no time, and pining to return to us.

Rob, good point that with the 25% thing to Manure, not sure whether it applies if there is a player exchange involved in the deal. You would think the less they have to give them the better for all except Manure that is, but they're not exactly short.

Think David Luiz has really screwed us!! Firstly of any small chance there might have been of poaching Zouma but now also of any chance of loaning Tomori who will surely be staying at Chelsea as 3rd/4th choice. Darn you sideshow Bob!!

Colin # 23 - shout of the day so far.
Looks like he has got the lot:

Samuel Umtiti

My guess is we will pay CP £65m plus Tosun valued at £15m = £80m. We can value Tosun at £15m because we took a hit on McCarthy at £3m., which will justify the low valuation of Tosun. CP will give MU £20m on that basis. The actual deal is really £100m - £65m plus £8.5m ( McCarthy ) and £26.5m ( Tosun ). This way CP save themselves £5m. If this seems ridiculous and it may well be blame my insomnia, chewed nals, greying hair, at the thought of the United 3 being targeted Jones, Smalling and Rojo.

I disagree on the Zouma/Luiz thing. Zouma was set to be first choice under Lampard and was never for sale all summer. Pie in the sky, fantasy stuff from us and the media. I feel a lot of people have wasted too much time & energy on the Zouma thing. He was always out of reach and it's been proven by them selling Luiz.

They sent Zouma out on loan to improve for THEM, not for us. We helped develop him for THEM, not for us.

As an aside, we have Gbamin who can easily play centre half if required so all the shouting for a centre half, while I agree it would be good to sign one, it wouldn't be the end of the world if we don't.

Part of me thinks that was always the thinking anyway - Gbamin was bought as a utility player, hence Everton trying to buy Dacoure.

Sam, I am surprised that Chelsea have let him go to be honest, he only signed a one year extension last week, and especially to Arsenal or any other London Club (no re-sale value at 30+ either)

Rob, Derek - that would make sense if the 25% is the “value” of the transfer. So if we paid £75m plus 2 players making it a £100m transfer, they’d still have to give Man Utd £25m.

That would make sense why they insist on cash.

I think a lot of good players come from the Dutch league Sam, and this Bergwijn has a very impressive record if you go on last season for a young kid.

Zouma should be a lesson on loaning premiership players, we developed him and Chelsea now reap the benefit.

We should have loan to buy deals contracted only from here on in.

Also Rojo if he comes will surely just be for cover, its time for us to develop and bed in Mina.

Laurie @ 87, what's he like without the annoying music?

Good shout though there, I hope Brands has explored the possibility.

Tony, Brands knows all about him, if he's good enough, I'd expect us to get him.

James @89, I never thought we would get Zouma but it wasn't exactly pie in the sky. It was about Lampards preference. There's every chance he might have preferred Luiz and Christensen or Tomori etc. As it is Zouma has impressed him. I agree that we have waited too long on it.

As for Gbamin, I think we will very much need him in midfield where we seem to lack anyone else with athleticsm who can tackle. He's definitely been bought as a 6 and said so much in his recent interview.

Top 6 clubs don't need to take loan players they can attract Loan to buy is all we should do, how many loan players did the top 6 have in their squad last season. Rhetorical question btw I don't have the stats. It show's our standing, that we still need to loan in without an option to buy.

Like the sound of this Bergwijn, I wonder if any moves have been sounded out, and Umtiti sounds good too!

Zaha didn't impress against us at Goodison last term. He was all flash, head down dribbling into dead ends, falling over at the slightest touch, making phoney appeals to the Referee. In fact very much resembling Bolasie, another media inflated Crystal Palace flop that we foolishly signed. Ironic how they show absolutely no interest in taking him back. This Zaha frenzy is fuelled by a handful of spectacular strikes. I believe that Bernard is capable of providing more for the team.
I hope Mr. Brands concentrates in these last few hours of the window by securing a quality central defender and clearing out the remaining dead wood, Bolasie, Besic, Tosun, Mirallas etc. Incidentally, could somebody explain to me who was responsible for granting Mirallas his last contract extension? Because to the best of my knowledge, it was signed when we were in between managers.

Sam - I mean it was pie in the sky once Lampard made up his mind, and said as much to the media a couple of weeks ago. Before that, I agree with you, but the media (and people on here) kept stoking it up even though the idea was dead & buried ages ago.

Zaha didn't impress against us at Goodison last term. He was all flash, head down dribbling into dead ends, falling over at the slightest touch, making phoney appeals to the Referee. In fact very much resembling Bolasie, another media inflated Crystal Palace flop that we foolishly signed. Ironic how they show absolutely no interest in taking him back. This Zaha frenzy is fuelled by a handful of spectacular strikes. I believe that Bernard is capable of providing more for the team.
I hope Mr. Brands concentrates in these last few hours of the window by securing a quality central defender and clearing out the remaining dead wood, Bolasie, Besic, Tosun, Mirallas etc. Incidentally, could somebody explain to me who was responsible for granting Mirallas his last contract extension? Because to the best of my knowledge, it was signed when we were in between managers.

James- yes, we have spent too long waiting on him it would seem. Thought perhaps there has been more going on we are unaware of.

Phil- excitement about Zaha is not based on a few spectacular strikes. He was the best dribbler in the league last year bar Hazard and created more chances from open play than Sigurdsson, Bernard and Walcott combined apparently. Looks like he's very overpriced but if he came he would guarantee to score/create 10-15 goals next season and we badly need those goals as anyone who has watched pre-season knows.

Zaha in our team will be a nightmare for the opposition. I'm going to be delighted if we sign him.

Smart money is going on us signing Rojo today.

if our window ends up being:

Gomes, Delph, Gbamin, Sidibe, . Zaha

and Rojo on loan.

Thats got to be a good summer No?

James, yes, sadly I have a feeling Rojo might come. Left footed, knows the league well and crucially Silva has worked with him at Sporting. United are desperate to shift and we might need a CB stopgap. I only hope that its a loan and not permanent. He's not the worst player in the world.

Sam 105. I think he left Sporting just before Silva arrived. Always injured. Wouldn't want him personally.

Phil #101

The Mirallas contract extension really was mystifying. I could understand maybe a couple of years to keep his transfer value up but 5 years for a player who was no longer a first choice was plain stupidity.

I'd give Zaha a wide berth. All bells and whistles but little end product. Maybe Brands will surprise us all with a signing out of the blue!

Rojo? Nojo. A red card waiting to happen. Not disciplined enough and liable to give stupid free kicks away. Any road, I thought we were done with United cast offs?

Grant 106, I didn't know that, I thought they were there together but maybe not. I wouldn't really want him either but a year long loan could have a certain sense to it if there are no other options working out today.

looks like Iwobi is going to happen . I'm so underwhelmed

Daniel (104) - have you deliberately missed out Kean for some reason - or is it just an oversight?

Phil, 101, it was Kenwright who gave Mirallas that new deal. It was unbelievable, he wasn’t even getting in the team. Not sure if it was between managers, but I recall Kenwright commenting (crowing) about it. By the way, getting rid of the dead wood can continue to late in the month if they go to Europe.

We’re being linked with Ake, Bournemouth CB. That would be good signing.

Dybala to Spurs off---might mean they go for Zaha.

With Ray #108. A nojo from me too. Ake, aye.

Where has this £100m valuation for Zaha come from? As far as I'm aware it's always been £80m.

Really hope these Rojo rumours aren't true. He's had 11 injuries since he joined United. 3 a season up until last season when he had 2. Surely there are better options than United's 5 choice CB.

Sam. (114), Here’s hoping.

Ake not for me...he lacks physicality and presence and would come at a premium.

Brands is massively overrated. Been obvious that Zouma wasn't coming for weeks and now we're onto Rojo. Joke.

Defence and midfield weaker. Well done brands

Is this a joke Ryan? I wonder what sort of window would make you happy?

Conor, true re-Ake he is small for a CB and would cost Mega!

Ryan, defence is certainly weaker currently but not sure about midfield. Depends on how good Delphand especially Gbamin are. Maybe wait to see how things pan out before you lay into Brands, who personally I think could be the best acquisition we have made in some time.

Ryan is joking surely. We are getting in some quality players this window and maybe more to come. Brands is doing a great job

Roho is positionally poor, makes bad decisions and as stated above, has had lots of injuries. Ake is a super athlete and would be a good replacement for Jags, plus he is very good in the air at both ends.
As for Zaha, Phil @101, I was at Goodison to see Palace last term and although he went down far too easily(and got the bird from our fans throughout), I thought he looked terrific and terrified the living daylight out of our defence. I would love to see him come on board.

Ryan: this has been a superb window on paper and our net spend isn't stupid.

Respect your opinion but one thing I am sure we agree on. We both hope you are wrong!

Ryan, how do you know Brands has been wasting his time on Zouma, has he phoned you every day to keep you up to date, don't believe the rumours that fly round, because they are exactly that !

If not Zaha then please buy Bergwijn over Iwobi.

A few saying they want Lozano but Bergwijn is what Lookman should have been.

He's 21, can play down both wings with ease, is direct, quick, skillfull, confident, unpredictable, a good crosser and passer with lots of energy and an eye for goal. He also tracks back and covers most of the pitch in game... what's not to like for half the Zaha money.

I think he could cope with the EPL after his displays against England and Barcelona. The latter of which may well come in for him at some point.

Lozano on the other hand reminds me of a young Mirallas (wide berth).

Getting excited now. This might become the best window in... decades?

Ryan, so let's just forget everything Brands has done. He's overrated because we can't get Zouma and there are rumours about Rojo? Let's wait until the window shuts and how the new signings do before passing judgement on someone who has completely transformed our transfer business and is regarding by many others as a class act (even non-Everton supporters).

IMO this is one of, it not the best transfer window we’ve had Ryan...

Ryan @ 119.

"Brands is massively overrated."

Worra belter!

Attention seeking by chance, Ryan?

Sorry Ryan #119. Brands for me is doing the job very well. Look at the massive numbers we wanted to, and have, shifted out (released, loan or sale) - tick against Brands. And you can't hold onto players who are unsettled and want to move, like Gana; but if they have to leave, you try to get a good price - another tick against Brands.

The players you bring in you want to be capable of challenging for a higher spot in the league (tick against all of these) and for small fees (tick against all that): Kean £25m!; Gomes £22m!; Gbamin £25m!; Delph £8m! All for little more than we recouped through sales.

What do you want, blood?!

Ans Sidibe! I can't keep up!

Conor McCourt @118

My thoughts exactly. Everybody comparing this guy to Van Dijk, but apart from their skin colour, nationality and height they are two very different levels of defender.

Ake couldn't lace Van Dijk's boots. Van Dijk is one of the best in the world, Ake isn't even one of the best in the league.

Very sobering how greedy some clubs are becoming. £75 Million for the possibility of potential. When Bournemouth get relegated he'll be a lot cheaper!

And I missed Zouma - you can't extend a loan if the other club don't want to.

Getting an £80m deal done for Zaha by 5pm is now beginning to look like a bit of a tall order.

He'd have to be having a medical by now surely?

Poor old Ryan. We all have "I'll get my coat" moments.

A medical can be done anywhere Iain it doesn't have to be at Finch Farm

Last day of last season we knew there were four minimum goals.

1. Replace Gueye - We've got Batman - happy with that.
2. Sign Gomes permanently - Done, happy with that
3. Sign Zouma permanently or get a quality replacement - Not achieved - we are weak here - Rojo is desperation, we would be better without him.. If anyone - go and get Tarkowski - he worked well with Keane.
4. Sign a top striker - Got Kean - Pleased we have got him but we should not drop 15 goals onto his shoulders yet plus we lost Lookman - he will need time.

Zaha is the next option - but he is a winger. He scored 10 goals in 37 starts all comps last year. DCL scored 8 in 22 starts last year. Is he worth £80 million?

So from 4 key goals so far we have delivered on two with CB still not sorted and striker open for debate.

Kean may be amazing which I'm sure we are all hoping but I'm not sure we can say our first team is stronger than last season yet.

Other player brought in are back up/cover, as decent as they may be.

I'll take cover in the dugout.

Remember when we could have bought Van Dijk from Celtic, but we decided to buy Funes Mori instead, and VVD went to Southampton instead

By the way, can anyone confirm how this window shuts? Does it "slam" or

Stats alone do not tell the full story of a players influence and worth. Zaha brings a lot more to the table than 10 goals and 10 assists for Palace last season.

Think outside the box a bit more.

Ake too expensive.

Rojo I actually think is a reasonable option. We need back up, hopefully Mina and Keane will develop into a solid partnership. And Gibson is also ready to step up and looks a talent (de Ligt was ready at 18).

So all we need is a solid back up, ideally left sided. Rojo is that.

And quite possibly we'll get Zouma in a years time too, so no need to invest heavily now.

Fair point James but we've not got him yet - I'm hoping we get someone.

Daniel (137), yes I know, but it would have to be getting going pretty soon. They're pretty involved these days, and I would expect it to take pretty much a full afternoon at least.

Yep Iain but this is a more professional club now. I think we are developing a v smart behind the scenes team who can match anyone.

And I say againas I have so often this is all part of a strategy to get us to our best team for decades as we open our new home. Step by step.

Enjoy the ride folks. It will be great. And for us on TW make sure you take the statins!

Starting to doubt the Zaha deal will happen now. Rumour that Palace are offering to up his wages and let him leave next summer. Also a few deals are falling through which might lead to Zaha going elsewhere. Can see us ending up with Iwobi and Zaha going to Arse either now or next summer?

Brands overrated. And I thought I said stupid things.

I'd be happy with Rojo as backup for Mina & Keane. Let's face it, the most likely scenario is those 2 are our favoured pairing for he season ahead and whoever we buy/loan is backup. Gbamin can also play there if needed.

Something in me water says we're still gonna go back in for Zaha today...

Dermot @ 136, Poor Old Ryan ?? He started it 🤐😮

Dermot @ 140, it depends on whose fitted the Window, Everest or Safestyle 😂🤣

Ian #144 "They're [medicals] pretty involved these days, and I would expect it to take pretty much a full afternoon at least".

Height. Weight. Cough. Fill that bottle over there ("what from here?").

Good point Iain the longer this drags on the less likely it gets

Derek: umm.I think in reality the window just pops along and at 5.00 it closes gently.

As for our friend.

FawltyTowers "The Germans:

"You started it"

Basil: "No I didn't. You invaded Poland". !

Just over 5 hours left so a fair bit of time. Would rather have Smalling than Rojo, who’s a walking red card. Also, if he’s leaving manu for lack of game time, we’re surely not going to sign him to be a regular starter so he’s not going to be happy sat on the bench half the time with us.

Don’t always get all you want. Had we been offered Kean, Gomes, Delph and Batman, with Sidibe on loan at the start, think most here would have taken that. Especially for Kean.

Also got rid of McCarthy, Lookman and Vlasic on perm deals and shipped out Tarasha, Sandro and Garbutt on loan.

Not perfect but not too shabby a window.
Still got the likes of Bolasie, Besic and Mirallas to ship out but can do further deals till the end of the month.

Brent (150). He'll need to do that thing when they hop over those little hurdles. Essential for the modern day footballer.

https://twitter.com/parkendblue84/status/1159396041776664576?s=20

Sky bias showing no limits

Andy Carroll in talks with Newcastle.

Yes, and the hurdles, Iain (sorry, missed the second "I" earlier). And what about a weight-lifting test to see if they can carry the loads of dosh they'll be paid?

Marcos Rojo, the walking red card has never been sent off for Man Utd.

He has only had one straight red card in his entire career. Back in 2014 with Sporting Lisbon.

Yeah, a red card waiting to happen isn't he?

This is yet another fan myth.

Brent...Zaha will need legs like tree trunks if the rumours of £200k p/w are true.

If Zaha's quality remotely resembled his ridiculously inflated price tag, then Europe's elite clubs would be competing for his signature. Why haven't Barca, Real or Bayern come calling? No show from City or Klopps crew. Arsenal backed out, Man Utd seem disinterested. I recall a similar drawn out situation when we were the mugs who eventually signed Bolasie, who everybody expected wonders of. I sincerely hope its not a case of history repeating itself. Brands has done excellent business balancing the books recently. I am not dead against signing Zaha, great if it included players plus cash. But not if it means being held to ransom for some crazy amount.

I don't want Rojo for 2 reasons-

1-with Minas injury doubts we need a player who tends to be available

2-with Zouma gone I have considerable doubts over our two especially as a pairing so our incoming centre half needs to be high class.

Mina we are all hoping will be a colossus this season but so far he hasn't stayed fit and not produced on his undoubted potential

Keane had a good season but I still feel that Zoumas pace and reading may have covered some of his weaknesses and I wouldn't be confident of a repeat especially as Mina won't complement him like Zouma.

IMO we should really be going all out for someone like Umtiti as I think he would complement both. I really think we shouldn't be looking at a filler in today.

James 158, he’s been yellow carded a lot and always looks like he’s a Millimeter away from getting sent off.

Official manu stats 22 yellows in 79 games. That seems quite a lot to me and suggests he’ll probably be getting a few for us (if he comes) which means he’ll be suspended a few games too.

I also doubt refs would treat him the same wearing our blue as opposed to manu’s red so yes, people can call him a walking red if that’s their opinion.

The clock is ticking. I just want a centre half now.

Dermot (140) - it is probably of the old "Sash" variety. At 1 second to 5pm the counterweight will fall off the rope and the top frame drops like a guillotine slamming shut and trapping any unfortunate heads or fingers that might have been protruding at the time.

Bloody hell, tell me we're not buying Rojo. Tell me it's just a loan?

No Rojo. He’s error prone.

Same old shite - Rojo lol. Expect Zaha for a month and get fucked with Rojo. Nothing changes.

59 caps for Argentina, he'll do as a backup centre half.

We have a matter of hours to sign one, so it's either him or a 45 yr old me with a titanium plate in my back, 3 knee surgeries, 2 ankle surgeries and a succession of debilitating injuries over my career.

You decide!

Thanks Hugh. Needed a decent assessment as I began to wonder if it was some kind of media/PL creation.

Glad I was wrong.

James Marshall, Rojo one red card? I think you're wrong.He was red carded against Chile in addition to your stat.
I am astonished if those facts are correct, only two reds.. I've watched him throw in red card tackles at United yet he has been given such leeway by referees that his luck must run out. And yes, I watch him as much as you do.

The fact that he's only got two red cards doesn't conceal the fact that he deserved more.
Maybe these (below) were ok in your book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4e1fybottM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zth74j6WpNE

Mal van Schaick

Rojo has played 73 games for Man Utd and only once has he made an error that led to a goal.

More fan myths.

If Rojo is our incoming CB then I can see the sense in it but the failure to get a high class CB to compete with Keane/Mina will qualify for Brands' first significant failure in my books. There should have been a solid list of available CBs with recovery pace to go to and either we have been incredibly unlucky with that list or the planning for no-Zouma was not sufficient.

Ray - 2 absolute stinkers those tackles. I never said I was a fan of Rojo, I'm just offering up some literal facts versus some opinions. Nothing further.

Why not offer £40m for Tarkowski, don't rate Rojo, no pace,injury prone, and with Mina also injury prone, a top centreback is essential. Silva should have been looking else where, we were never going to get Zouma, Rojo is a panic buy.

If we wanted an error prone Argentine defender we could have kept Funes Mori. And he wasn't on the Physio's table as much.

EVERTON IN TALKS OVER ROJO LOAN

Everton are discussing the possibility of a permanent move for Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo, Sky Sports News understands, having fallen short in their attempts to bring Chris Smalling to Goodison Park.

The Toffees did try to sign the Argentine defender last summer, but the deal feel through at the last minute.

James, we all are! I say he's lucky to get away with the tackles he makes, you don't agree and state some facts. Maybe he'd have received red cards in any other shirt, eh?

Why Rojo - There are others - Tarkowski, Umtiti, Ake - Bottom line - he is 5th choice at Utd and none of us wanted him last year. Tarkowski is available as Leicester are sniffing.

Rojo is decent centre half. Manu fucked him by playing him at full back. Wouldnt be my first choice but he has pace and a great left foot.

Ray, I'm posting stats of his, not of how bad his tackles are. Stop trying to draw me into some sort of 'my Dad's bigger than your Dad' argument!

And for people saying we should just buy various other players - maybe they aren't for sale? Maybe Rojo is available, lives in the North West and would be decent backup cover for Mina & Keane.

Given the transfer window ends in less than 5 hours...

James, I'm not trying to do anything of the sort, anyway, my Dad's deader than yours so that one won't work either.

All I did was make the point that he is a red card waiting to happen and showed two easily obtained examples of tackles that he got away with. And he wouldn't have got away with in another shirt. My opinion.

This isn't Saturday's Live Forum and I'm not looking for a fight in the Car Park.

I'll leave that to you and Phil! ;-)

It seems to be mainly Sky pushing the Rojo move and I wouldn't trust them much. Hoping we have a better defensive option up our sleeve but it is getting late. Certainly hope its only a loan and not permanent move.

Lossel - an awful goalkeeper
Sidebe - bad knee injury, not the player he was
Rojo - more arratic than Funes Mori: say no more
Delph - injury prone, average at best
Gomes - decent player, decent price
Gbamin - not as good as Gana
Kean - no complaints

Sold lookman and vlasic for poor fees

Actually, Ray, you're quite literally correct. He's only had that one red card (and one for Argentina), so he is perhaps waiting for the next one to come along any day. Yes he makes the odd bad tackle, yes he's not the best centre half in the world, yes he is available and nearby, therefore...

People can nit-pick all they like, it's unrealistic to suddenly pick a player out of the hat that you like the look of. Rojo fits because he's available. I'm not his biggest fan, I'm just offering a little balance to proceedings.

I irritate people because I don't go "HE'S FUCKING SHIT" all the time.

What would make you happy, Ryan?

Zaha not at training - could be on the Megabus to Merseyside.

Michael, he could be related to Emma Royd !! 😂🤣

Rojo is a decent enough stop-gap on loan. Silva knows him. He has PL and International experience. Hopefully he will only be called upon if we have injuries/suspensions. If he plays more than 15 games this season then it would be a surprise. He’s tough and uncompromising - but I’d have hoped for someone with real pace.

James, take the word “shite “ out of some people’s vocabulary and the Live Forum of a Saturday would be very quiet indeed!😁

And Rojo is at Finch Farm according to talkcrap.

Fellas while his first comment sounded daft considering last years window and how we have negotiated prices and pulled off major coups, Ryan has certainly argued his case well. I disagree with him especially regarding Sidibe and Gnabin (in time) but on that list he mentioned you couldn't nail him too much.

James, according to ESPN, Rojo was sent off 5 times in 2 seasons at Sporting.

"Rojo collected a staggering 15 yellow cards and four red cards during his previous two league seasons with Sporting - more than anyone else in the Portuguese Primeira Liga - marking him out as a man not to be trifled with.

Not only that, Rojo also saw red in the Portuguese cup against Benfica making it five reds in two seasons at Sporting."

I can think of 4 or 5 incident's off the top of my head when he should have been sent off in the Premier League.

* Reckless two-footed tackle on Gana
* Reckless two-footed tackle on Zaha
* Stamp on Hazard
* Reckless challenge on Willian
* Reckless two-footed tackle on Higuain

I doubt he'll get away with those reckless challenges this season with VAR in operation. He'll need to adapt his game (if he signs, of course. If he doesn't, I couldn't care less).

Rojo is not even our first choice at Utd, we wanted Smalling, wouldn't sell, so is Rojo not a panic buy? On the plus side, if there is one, he's left sided ?

Shall I repeat it for you, but more slowly this time...

Rojo. Has. Only. Ever. Had. One. STRAIGHT. RED. Card.

Did you get it that time?

Straight red, two yellows, you still get sent off. You're out of the game. It's not a difficult concept to grasp.

Just to give all this some more context, though I'm not sure what it really proves...

This time last year, you were all complaining about us potentially signing a Chelsea cast-off who'd just spent a year on loan and shitty Stoke.

Remember how that turned out?

Looks like the Zaha may be on at the last minute if Palace can get Chalov in from CSKA as a replacement.

They've offered 23m for him, if it is accepted I think Zaha will be signing for us at 4.59pm.

Taking a simplistic view if Saha was staying then surely he would be training with the others as normal? Le Tissier and Alan Smith next on SSN ready to spout their unique brand of shite on all things pertaining to Everton.

James

I'll take this opportunity to apologise for the other night. It was past midnight here in Aus and I'd had a small sherry with supper.

I didn't like you calling Calvert-Lewin ‘shite', but that's your opinion and I didn't need to bite like that. You have my apologies.

just read on soccer lens Rojo is costing £25 mill - that sounds a lot for a back up that played 6 games for man u last season and is their 5th choice. I think Mr Brands is finding it tough now that clubs have cottoned on to the fact we want to break into top six and we have money.

He has worked some magic for some players this window but clubs are now playing hardball.

Some rumour about PSV man Bergwijn. Nonsense, no doubt.

It's been an excellent window whatever happens now. This is a massive change of style and clout in the market for us.

Well I'm not massively impressed with Rojo but I would expect it signals a change in direction. I would imagine that Iwobo or Zouma would have been bought as a first choice. Going for Rojo would, I believe, signal that Keane and Mina are to be the first-choice pairing with Rojo providing cover. The fact it's a loan probably also signals our intentions to either wait for Zouma or someone of that calibre. Either that or it signals our intention to blow our remaining budget on Zaha!

Edit: Now it seems that the initially reported loan may now be a permanent deal, which means I'm talking shit.

Steve Ferns @81: Pennington is NOT a top level centre-back in the Championship - Ipswich got relegated.
Feeney & Gibson should probably go out on loan to the Championship to see if they can hack it.
Yard dogs - hmm, Norwich played like Man City last season. Key to that was the introduction of Ben Godfrey at LCB.
The lad is a Rolls Royce of a player, great on the ball, quick, athletic, good in the air. He's got the lot and he's only 21.
We should have been in for him two months ago, instead of hanging around for Zouma who, good as he is, isn't great on the ball. Football's moved on - show me a team who finished above us last season who don't have a ball-playing centre-half. Who do we have?
The lad'll probably go and have a shocker at mordor now I've nailed my colours to his mast, but he's only played 30 games in that position after converting from DM. Next summer he'll be much more expensive.

SSN saying Palace attempting to sign some forward (couldn't catch his name) from Leipzig as a possible replacement for Zaha.

Well in Le Tissier. Saying palace should keep hold of Zaha, just because they perhaps can't get a replacement for him.

Jean-Kevin Augustin apparently Rob

Cheers Jake. So that's at least two strikers palace are trying to sign today.

Zaha, strong, pacy, experienced in the premiership, prime age at 26, 10 goals and 10 assists last season, second best dribbler of the ball last season behind Eden Hazard, what’s not to want !?!? People on here saying we are better off with Bernard must be mad ! A forward line of Zaha, Kean and Richarlison is absolutely mouthwatering !!!

We’ve known for weeks that Zouma wasn’t coming and here we are at the fag end of the transfer window chasing another winger and sniffing round Smalling and Rojo as cover at CB. There must have been better options.
Totally underfuckingwhelmed!

Sky pay the premier league teams hundreds of millions. This is a big day for them. They'll drag the drama out until the last knockings.

Think there were many a defender we could have gone for Webster at 20 million would have been a good purchase, Dawson at 5 would have been solid and reliable back-up, ideal jags replacement.

Think we could have also gone for either Scharr or Lascelles from Newcastle, both very good defenders.

I guess we wanted to see if we could get Zouma, as sometimes continuity is something you can't really put a price on.

Honestly, we should have gone in for Cahill on a free. I think he still has the legs and might surprise a few.

Rojo? £25M?

Should have given Jags another 12 months, then gone after Zouma again

Agree Fran Lascelles is a good option

Well I said above “I just wan’t a centre half” but I would like to qualify that now by adding - but not if it is Rojo.

I like footballers who play it hard but I don’t like players that put their fellow professionals at risk with reckless challenges and that is what I see in Rojo.

If it was up to me I wouldn’t let him anywhere near a blue shirt.

It's alarming that we are behaving like we use to rushing around for a vital position with desperation. This is Brands first major cock-up and players like Sanchez of Spurs should have been sounded out to see if they were happy being second fiddle at their clubs.

Conor, have players like Sanchez not been sounded out? I honestly don't know.

Hell no to Rojo! Please no! Definitely not at £25m please be a bad joke!
Played 5 games last season, is a liability and would be dead money as they’ll be no resale value!
Rather give youth a go! Or bring in a loan to buy option.
Their must be hundreds of better options than Rojo!
If we’re that desperate I’d prefer to see Rhino pull on a shirt than Rojo!

I’ve a feeling Zaha isn’t happening 3 hours to go and no one hasn’t a clue where he is

I said it earlier because Silva had all his eggs in one basket, re Zouma, and more interested in Zaha, Utd can change a ridiculous price £25m because we’re desperate.

Hot head Rojo is either suspended or injured.

Says a lot when Man U would hold onto Jones and Smalling over Rojo

What a depressing end to the window

Looks like just Rojo today as our deadline day transfer :(

Zaha, Kean and Richarlison playing in our team at the same time?

Fuck me that's an exciting prospect!

Have we really improved?

Gana gone and Zouma gone.?

We've spent money to just stand still.

Can't see anything happening now apart from Rojo. What a pisser.The last time I felt this deflated was when Dean Saunders signed for Satan's Children.No doubt Jim White will be gleefully announcing that Zaha is staying put just before 5.

Its not happening no way now . Zaha is currently training with Crystal Palace.

If a medical was booked he wouldnt be anywhere near training.

Remember, Sky run the show as exactly that, show business. The later the deals, the bigger the drama. There's no reason why the Zaha thing couldn't be kept under wraps till the last minute, then they release it as a BIG EXCLUSIVE LAST MINUTE MEGA DEAL!!

You see what I mean.

As Uncle Bill used to say, "always leave em wanting more".

Graham, I was more than happy when Saunders signed for them. The muppet has been relegated with virtually every club he has been involved with, a real Jonah. I was hoping he would continue his losing streak with them

Daniel @226

Smalling, Jones & Rojo are all available for transfers.

No loans though permanent deals only.

Rojo. 7th choice centre back at manure and has missed 53 games in the last 2 seasons through injury. Sounds ideal.

Daniel @231

Where have you seen that? Everything I've read says the exact opposite. He hasn't been training with Palace at all.

Daniel #231, source please?

Sky Sports specifically says he is NOT training with them and the Palace website says nothing about it.

James, at the time I felt he was just what we needed and had apparently told H.K. that he would sign.It transpired later (and your comments confirm this) that we dodged a bullet.I think he may have done Paul Elliot of Chelsea with a career ending tackle at the Tin Mine ?

Apparently Zaha was at training. Just not training with the first team.

Still have some doomongerers here. The only player of note we have lost this pre season is Gueye.
We have signed a World Cup winning right back, Gomes, Gbamin, Kean who are all going to challenge for the starting eleven. We also signed a younger back up keeper.
Looks like we are going to sign an Argentinian international as back up centre half and we may still sign Zaha. Come on people what’s not to smile about.

Paul Johnson #240

well said mate, I think it has been a good transfer window, better than we have seen for a long time. If we get Zaha (which I don't think we will now) then that makes it a great window. Rojo will be a good back up centre half.

Rob - the kid they are trying to sign from RB is a youngster called Lookman.

Now if that were true, we would be up in smoke.

But Zaha - 10 goals last season. All of them away from home except one. Brilliant counter attacking but when teams park the bus at GP he will be useless. And if we are meeting our ambitions, then we will see all but City, Arsenal and Spurs parking the bus because to the rest getting a point off us will be as good as a win.

So 2 hours to make the jump from fighting it out with West Ham, Wolves and Leicester to becoming serious challengers to the top 6. Not looking great at the mo. The Centre Back situation is going to kill us unfortunately Rojo!!... should have kept Jags on for a year if this is the solution. Mina has too much to prove yet Not least he can play more than 4 games in a row in this league. We are one injury and suspension away from being in the absolute crap in that area. Underwhelming Big time today so far Time yet Its the hope that kills you... this is so Everton.

It doesn't look like Zaha is gonna happen. Talk about an anti climax if we just end up spunking £25m on Rojo. I'd have preferred Holgate and Gibson to understudy

Did Holgate move or is he still with us?

According to reports, Everton are ready to pay £25m for Marcus Rojo.

In other news, Everton have clearly never seen Marcus Rojo play football.

(not my quote)

Paul #240, understand your optimism but a little realism is due as well. We have significantly improved our depth, but not our starting 11 unless Zaha arrives.

Assuming Kean doesn't start Saturday, we will have two new starters to open the season, Mina and Gbamin. Are they better than Zouma and Gana? Certainly not at the moment. Is Sidibe better than Coleman? Unanswered question. We assume Kean will displace DCL and improve our attack, but he's 19.

And Rojo is no longer an Argentinian international. He was cut from their Copa America squad. Funes Mori was selected over him. Which tells you all you need to know.

Fran, Holgate is still with us.

We should have £5m incoming from Lukaku going to Inter so that's something...

Mike "We have significantly improved our depth, but not our starting 11 unless Zaha arrives".

Mike, do you really think signing Kean hasn't strengthened us up front?

Jim White “my friend “ that’s all we need never forgive Sky for getting rid of Natalie. Hope we’ll pull something out of the bag in the next 2 hours and not Rojo

https://mobile.twitter.com/MailSport report Zaha training in the gym at Palace. Could be nonsense or even complete bollocks.

I hope we don’t get Rojo or Zaha. If our squad stays as it is currently, i’ll be more than happy. We’ve got a striker who looks like he could be top drawer. We’ve got 3 midfielders in, so hopefully we’ve seen the last of Schneiderlin. We’ve also signed competition for Coleman.

We ended the season really well. We don’t need a dramatic overhaul. We just needed a decent striker, and maybe a different option in midfield. We’ve managed to offload some deadwood, hopefully we’ll get rid of a few more before the end of the European transfer window.

We look like a team who has a real chance of cracking the top 6. We don’t need anyone else now.

Breaking news Manchester City signed another player - they are so quick to get things done!

I am not saying everything is perfect but we did finish the back end of the season with only city and the shite outperforming us. All the talk then was that we just needed to add a goal scorer which hopefully we have done. So again tell me what’s not to like. Or did everyone think we were going to sign Mess and Ronaldo. So Mike with all due respect let’s all be negative and say that the players we have signed are shite. I am being realistic and if the players we have bought hit the ground running we have in my humble view enough to overtake united and possibly Arsenal and Chelsea.

This effin' transfer window is the absolute decadence of the game.

Fans getting hyped up then pissed off due to the 'victory' or 'defeat' of the window the need for a buzz.

At the start of July, most on here we're going mad at the links to wingers and defenders "we need a striker ffs" "if we only sign a striker I'm happy" and comments of the ilk were repeated.

Now, the failure to sign a winger who's been way over priced and a back up defender and suddenly it's the end of the world, we're shit again and Brands is crap.

Come on. We have an excellent new striker, a promising new midfielder, we have a quality competition for Coleman, we have international quality competition in midfield, and a premier league ready back up keeper.

Our squad: England no1. 5 international defenders, plus 2 highly rated young centre backs and an experienced ex-international left back in reserve.
3 international midfielders and one of England's best young midfielders for 2 positions in the middle. We have last seasons top scoring attacking midfielder. We have a Brazilian international forward, an Italian International forward, and an former Brazilian international attacking midfielder and an England u21 striker.

Our squad is much better than it was, we can challenge Chelsea, Utd, and Arsenal for 4th.

One more forward would be nice, but I am still excited for Saturday! COYB

If it's to be Rojo can he play as a full back? His signing indicates that Silva is running with Mina this side of Christmas. Hopefully, we have some luck injury wise in that sector.

Please somebody tell me Rojo for 25M is a bad joke??? As indicated above I would stick with Holgate and Gibson. Rojo has not played any real competitive football in 2 years. this has to be a p.ss take as I cannot believe Everton would waste that amount of money on a UTD reject. Duffy would be a much better option at probably two thirds of the price. Please leave this transaction well alone!!!

Brent #250, he's a brilliant talent, so he will definitely improve us, but we can't say how quickly. He's a teenager with only about 35 top-level games in his career, and he's new to the Prem, so there will be an adjustment period.

On the flip side, I really believe Gana's departure is a major blow. Never having seen Gbamin, I have no idea whether he can fill that hole or not. As for losing Zouma, I'm a huge Mina booster and I think he will develop into an improvement on Zouma, but again the time frame is an unknown.

So overall, no, I don't think we are starting the season with a better 11 than we ended it. Much better bench with the likes of Sidibe and Delph, but not the starters.

Mike, I personally believe we’re a better side without Gueye, if Gbamin plays like in his YouTube videos. In other words if he’s consistently at his best. Few players are that consistent though. Gueye was one of them.

Paul #255, I never said anybody was shite. I'm delighted with all our signings. But balanced against our losses, I cannot see what you're seeing, a starting 11 that's going to challenge for the top 4.

It doesn't look as though Everton will complete the Zaha deal. I've got to say, I'm not too bothered, because Everton have had a very good transfer window and Moshiri has shown how ambitious he is to move the club forward. I hope Bernard has a fantastic season, that will soften the blow of not capturing Zaha. Good work Marcel. In Brands we trust.

Steve, since you and I both have never seen Gbamin in a game, that's some seriously wild optimism, isn't it?

I would say flatly that no, we are definitely not "a better side without Gueye". And I'm pretty surprised you think so.

Danny and Paul- Certainly we have brought in quality but at the core of last seasons run was that settled defence protected by Gueye.

The club has unfortunately lost Gueye but replaced him well but in the centre half position we haven't been as proactive.

I have no doubt Gbamin will be a huge hit and Marco made all his defenders better last season so Rojo might do a decent job but in the short term we are much weaker defensively no matter how well they settle.

Of course if we sign Zaha to go with Kean we are going to be serious going forward but many Evertonians are expecting a top 6 finish this season and I'm not sure there is enough improvement for that to be realistic.

How many points did Arsenal finish ahead of us and they have bought well addressing some key weaknesses in defence while Pepe will transform them going forward.

Good to hear, we won’t pay the money Utd want, hopefully only a loan deal. The big concern for me, we’ll lack pace at the back which was Zouma’s strength last season

Christy how many top 6 teams have loan players in their squad ?

SSN reporting that Zaha is staying at Palace

Being reported that Everton refuse to pay 25m for Rojo.

Thank god for common sense.

No news on Saha or Iwobi but I will be happy with what weve done so far.

Disappointed Watford signed Sarr who should have been an alternative to Saha.

Zaha staying at Palace according to SSN.

Nothing to see here.

We are nowhere near the top 6.

Our main Striker is a 19yr old untested in the Prem. Compare that to the Gunners attacking force for example and even they finished outside the top 4.

Mike, you and I had opposite opinions about Gueye. If I was in charge two of your favourite players would be two of the first I’d have out the door, Sigurdsson and Gueye. They just don’t fit the system for me. Without Gueye Silva’s tactics will work better. And so the team will be better without him.

And yes, I may be wildly optimistic about Gbamin but I think I can rely on my man Brands to have done his homework on this one.

BREAKING NEWS: Zaha to stay at Palace.

ZAHA STAYING AT PALACE

Sky Sports News have been told by Crystal Palace that their business is done and Wilfried Zaha is staying at the club.

He will not be signing for Everton in this window.

fuck it thats me done see you all

Zaha definitely staying, Zouma never coming, why did we not move on, the very same as Koeman waiting on Giroud, centreback should have been sorted weeks ago a huge cockup

Believed for a moment we might make the transition. Same old shite and still talking about loans and what might have been.

Is there going to be a backup they'll pull out of the hat though??

(probably not)

Just don’t sign Rojo

Shame, really. But I doubt many of us really wanted us to spend so much money on Zaha. It would have been great to stick two fingers up to the rest of the league and the media and make a real statement. But was Zaha really the right player for that?

We need a centre-half for sure. Whether that's Rojo remains to be seen. I would also expect the lad from PSV to come in now as the Zaha alternative, as Silva wanted a winger, and perhaps he will be as good as Zaha, but costs a third of the price.

If we make those two signings, it should still be a very good window, particularly if we sell Besic. There's still two weeks to flog more of our surplus players to Europe.

Everyone should have their opinion but it seems certain people are pissed off about this window. I think Everton thought that Palace would soften when Zaha handed in his transfer request, but it didn't happen. As for a new centre back, this can be done in Jan. I think overall, people should be happy with this window.

I knew in my heart this wouldn’t happen. They weren’t going to sell their prize asset to us. I just hope we have someone else in mind.
Rojo for free maybe.

Moan moan moan. Reminds me of goodison when the fans get on their own players backs in first 20 mins after a few stray passes. We've had a great window, showed real ambition but fell short in a few deals when we werent prepared to be fleeced.
60m+ for zaha is hardly great value, if palace are too stupid to recognise this is last chance to cash in then more fool them.

Steve #271, as you know I think "systems" are overrated, and I know you have an abiding belief in Silva's, but I say players win games, not systems. And Gana was a player. He was the lungs of this team and I think he will be missed in ways we haven't considered yet. And I think you're out of your mind to believe his departure makes us better, but we'll see. I too have great faith in Brands that he has picked the right replacement in Gbamin.

Incidentally Siggy is not one of my "favourites"... I just defended him recently against the Bernard-in-the-middle idea, but I do believe we will eventually need an upgrade there. If we can find one.

Right thing to do, walk away, now just make sure we don't buy Rojo

I'm relieved that we didn't have to pay over the odds for Zaha and that saga is over. I personally believe our squad is good enough as it is now. A quality central defender would have helped, but if Holgate stays, his cover will be adequate, bearing in mind that Gbamin can cover in defence if needed.
If new signings transpire in the next hour, all well and good, but people screaming that we haven't done enough in the market this window are being unnecessarily dramatic.

well said Chris James - we don't don't know what goes on behind closed doors, Palace may have stuck to we want 100 million, Zaha is nowhere near that and good for Everton to hopefully have told them to do one, As Chris says if palace are to stupid to recongnise this then so be it. I also think they now have a player that will struggle to give 100% to the club. Its a been a good start with getting rid of some of the deadwood and getting some quality in, Most of us said it will take two or three transfer windows to get sorted and a quality team. This window has been a succes to me, definately with a quality striker finally.

It’s a blessing! We should having been trying to source a centre half instead of what was always going to be a fruitless attempt to sign an overrated marquee signing. He never wanted to play for us in the first place.

We have had a very good transfer window and Brands needs to be congratulated on shipping quite a few out as well as prising a promising Italian international from Juventus.

Can't say we're no better than last season:

Richarlison is a year older and wiser with the experience of Cooa America glory. He is now a seasoned international and will make further strides this year. He'll hit 20 goals, that I am confident of.

DCL has also developed further, at the start of last season was a bit part youngster, by the end was getting in the rhythm and proving an excellent cog in Silva's system. Big year for the lad.

Gomes has his confidence and fitness back and is ready to push on.

Bernard has a year under his belt and will be much the better for it.

Pickford will be better for being away from the spotlight, which did impact on his early season form post WC histeria.

Keane back to his confident best.

Coleman is fit, and we have international quality competition.

Siggy will be confident after enjoying his. most productive season.

Davies is a year older and wiser and some off the pressure should have come off his shoulders.

There is much to suggest the first 11 will be better, football is more than who you buy.

Oh, and one of Europes most exciting teenage strikers.

There is much to be excited about

Chris #282, why is it their "last chance to cash in"? Zaha's contracted through 2023, and the way player prices are inflating they might well be expecting to make more off him in January or next summer.

I think player for player looking at the team that did so well in the run in, the starting 11 look a tad weaker on paper initially.

Zouma is a Loss,
Gueye is a loss but Gbamin should be OK, however may take a bit of time to settle.
We all wanted a striker. Lost Lookman but got Kean - Kean a better player I think but will need time.

The big questions we will all want answered are:
Can Mina deliver what we all thought he could last year?
How quickly will Batman take to settle in?
Just how good will Kean be - can he get 15 goals?

Our other back up players that we have bought make the depth stronger.

Finally the biggest question - Have we improved more than Leicester, Watford, Wolves, Arsenal, Chelsea or Man U?

If we want top six we have to finish above 4 of those teams.

Question for discussion - which teams do you think we have improved more than?

PS - still an hour and 10mins to pull something out of the hat.

My concern is Mina and Keane, and just hope the other Keane plays up front, and doesn't get injured as then it DCL, Tosun and Niasse all over again (can't score wont score trio)

We’ve had a great window, but it could have been much better had it not been for the fact that some teams don’t want us to be a threat to the top six.

Why has no one gone for Neres or Ziyech? Bizarre.

Centre back cover? Back to the future? Joleon Lescott?

Oh wait! He's just re-signed for Man City as..."a loanee player liaison agent", whatever the frig that is.

And some on here complain about 'jobs for the old boys' at Finch Farm.

Thankfully just another hour of this nonsense to endure before we can evaluate what we will start the season with. Allow for a few hours for bureaucratic details to be hurdled over for any late, late signings. Didn't we all go to bed at midnight one year, thinking all the business was done only to learn on waking next day that Fellani had been signed?

Steve, you talk about the first 11 then mention 'lost Lookman'. Lookman was never anything more than a bit part player. I rate him, but can't say we lost.

With Lookman it will always be like what Brazilian Philosper Neymar said: "Saudades do que a gente não viveu"

Another £5m in the bank from the sale of Lukaku.

Bit of anticlimax to an otherwise very good window. Overall I am pleased that we didn’t fold and pay the ridiculous fee being asked for Zaha, I think to have paid it would have set s dangerous precedent and is simply not Brands way of doing things.

Reports around that we had deal set up with Chelsea for Tomori on loan but David Luiz scuppered that.

I still think we need a centre back and winger so we are not reliant upon Walcott and Holgate/Gbamin as cover. Time yet although looking very unlikely now.

Looking forward to the season and a lot to be excited about with some very talented players added.

Zaha may be contracted to 2023 but by then he will be 30-31. So losing pace and his value will only decrease.

Very happy that Rojo not Zaha are coming for the money requested. That also makes a statement - we are not stupid, we do not have unlimited funds, we will not be ripped off.

The real test of how well we have done will be come February if we are 4th and 11 points better than last season - then we did right. If we are 7th and only 3 points better = ah well, if only.

He'd better not score against us on Saturday...

Iain, Neres has apparently signed a new deal with Ajax, as for Ziyech I would have liked him but he couldn't agree terms with Arsenal was the last I heard.

Knowing Everton we always pull off a last minute surprise

Fran #288, if you're right that Richarlison banks 20 goals, and if DCL and the youngster Kean put up say 16 between them, that's definitely reason for excitement.

From Bernard and Gomes, however, I would expect only incremental improvement. They are what they are.

The X factor in attack for me is, oddly enough, Mina. The way he goes after free kicks and corners, I really think he's capable of a Lescott-esque goal output, and that would really change the picture for teams trying to defend us.

Fran, I only mentioned Lookman because he was our second highest sale value and described last year by Marco as the future.
Many see Kean as a Lookman upgrade, Which I agree with though he is a more direct striker from what I have seen.

I think we all hope Kean will be the striker we were missing last season.

The window. ‪You might want to look at this way. Perhaps Everton have been cautious in the market early on ensuring the outgoings roughly balance the incomings then were able to be speculative late in the window? That’s sounds like a plan? ‬

Mike, barring injury to Kean I doubt we'll see DCL getting much game time and nothing close to what he got last season.

I think we'll see similar numbers from Sigurdsson and Richarlison and hopefully Kean can hit the ground running.

He’s not playing for anyone on Saturday Jimmy due to his involvement in the ACN

Is anything actually going to happen?

I need a fix man. just something, anything!! I'll give up tomorrow I promise!!!

John P, that would make sense but IF Rojo is a purchase for what is being reported @£25M it doesn't make a lot of sense at all!

Bit of a damp squib today with many of us hoping that we don’t get Rojo!

Iain (306) - I'm the same!

Just a fringe player or two will do. It doesn't have to be anyone major. I can quit whenever I like!

I am a fan of Gomes, think he can really push on. With his physique and skill on the ball, he can be our midfield driver. Whilst Gbamin will be the more defensive midfielder by his side, with the capacity for forward passing. Think our midfield can be a real strong point. Add Deplh and Davies as back up, that is good quality. Don't think we could say as such with such confidence this time last year.

I am hopeful on Mina too. He looked excellent in Brazil this summer.

We also started last season with an injured Coleman and raw Kenny as our right back. Now we have a fit and confident Coleman and a World Cup winner. That is real improvement.

This time last year there were questions about Siggy, now there are much less and we know he is effective and will score.

Bernard I agree is probably at his peak, he's good for 5 goals, will stretch the opposing defence and make space for Rich and Kean/DCL. But an improvement on him will be priority next summer.

Tony (309)...I too can give up when I want. At least until January anyway.

Silly, but one player in Zaha takes me from Top 4 assault, to finish 7th at best expectations.

I'm gutted. I wanted this.

This signing, when viewed in the framework of Chelsea's Lampard team with a transfer ban, Arsenal with no defense, Man U being a mess, and Spurs pissing off Poch, is a disappointment to me - by any metric.

Yes, we didn't over spend. Yes, we probably should have walked away. But the message of intent would have been massive. It was exciting. And the prospect of a front three of Zaha-Kean-Rich was mouth-watering.

Our new barometer for the upcoming season is the Everton, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham race for best of the rest.

God it's just so disappointing.

How can anyone think this has been a good window?

We've lost our best defender from last season and as yet, not replaced him at all.

We've sold our best midfielder for a relative pittance by today's standards. Despite the buyer being one of the richest club's in the world. We've brought in an unknown quantity to replace him.

We've finally replaced our most prolific goal scorer in the premier league era with a 19 yr old who targeted 7 goals (!) this season when asked in an interview. That's less than DCL got last season.

We've dicked about offering Cenk Tosun to Palace for weeks when they've made it obvious they only want cash for their star player. Why didn't we just walk away days ago and pursue someone else?

We've let exciting young talents like Lookman and Vlasic leave without giving them a fair chance and then put in higher bids in for players that are worse like Iwobi.

Absolute joke. Anyone got Steve Walsh's number?

HOW about we make a 64 million bid for Dybala. Offer him the 6 million we would have spend on Zaha, plus the money received for McCarthey and should Tosun get loaned out, he gets what we would spend on Tosun's wages. Well him he has complete control over image rights, and a hat-trick vs Liverpool gets a bonus of 100 quid from every Everton fan to the charity of his choice.

Gotta be worth a try.

I think some on here are getting carried away in the deadline day madness. We have made some great signings in this window even without Zaha, and from the latest reports we will only be signing Rojo on loan or for a much reduced fee. He is only being signed as a back-up to Keane and Mina and not as a first choice. On loan or for a minor fee it would make sense, but even if he doesn't sign we have cover with Holgate and at a push Gibson. Someone above mentioned that De Ligt was playing in the first team at 18 and is now regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, so why wouldn't Gibson similarly raise his game if he is called upon. I still think we have a very strong well balanced squad. I also expect we will get Zouma in January or next year as once Rudiger is fit Kurt will be back on the bench. We may even get him at a better price.

I'm surprised we didn't have something else lined up as backup. The Zaha deal was always in the balance.

Jay #294 "Didn't we all go to bed at midnight one year, thinking all the business was done only to learn on waking next day that Fellani had been signed?"

We signed him? I knew I shouldn't have slept in so long.

I’m content that we didn’t get Zaha. Especially if it was for 100m.

Call me naive but I don’t think this was a Michael Owen/Alan Smith style bid. I actually believe we genuinely had the money available for this.

I’m still optimistic moving forward into the new season. We are most definitely a CB and goal scoring midfielder short.

However, Richarlison can play RW, as can Kean.
DCL can be a target man, flicking balls around the corner to the above pair. I think it’ll work.

Keane and Mina are solid. Holgate is not as good as he or some others on here believe. Gibson and Feeney are kids. Perhaps Gbamin is an option but our slow midfield needs him there.

No depth or pace at CB is gonna hurt us. Though Holgate will be delighted if things stay as they are!

Polish the turd all you want. 7th place at best.

Zaha would have raised that expectation.

Tommy - Kean has primarily played from the left or through the middle for Juve/Italy. He doesn't really play on the right. Your point stands though. We have a very fluid frontline, they can all play anywhere in attack in truth.

Sky are saying we never came back with a bid today for Zaha, so was there no one else lined up? As for our big spending spree, with the outgoings we spent very little.

Jesus, anyone would think he was Ronaldo.

I hope we have not all been played this past few days.

Grant #313 neither Lookman nor Vlasic ever had a single decent performance over 90 minutes for us and to get thirty six million for them was great business.

Palace got McCarthy off us, too. We should have found a different home for him, and insisted the only way we'd sell them a player is if they accept the Zaha bid / a Zaha bid / a mutually beneficial, fair Zaha bid.

Sam 319# I would say Holgate is probably as quick as Zouma, just not as physically imposing, but if we are talking about someone sweeping up behind Keane or Mina then it is more about positioning and reading of the game than blistering pace, although pace is obviously an advantage.
Anyway its looking more and more as if this is what we are going to start the season with, and lets face it if Mina comes good and stays fit then we may be worrying about something that will never happen.

Fran #310, agree with you pretty much down the line, although I'm less optimistic about Gomes' development as a playmaker than you and others have expressed.

We definitely have improved our squad overall... Brands has done his work well.

I'm just not sure I see it pushing us much higher in the standings. Yes, Chelsea and ManUtd are more vulnerable, but I think our fellow 15-game winners Leicester and West Ham have improved themselves too. Tielemens, Perez and Haller are game-changing signings.

Best thing is that the new players will have a chance to bed in. We face only two Top 6 sides in our first 14 games.

We will be fine in central defence. Holgate is excellent back up (I would be happy with him starting) and I think we have gems in waiting in Gibson and Feeney. Gbamin is a serious option too.

We have a very good blend available right through. We must back ourselves and we must stop flapping before we've kicked a ball.

There's still time for a last minute surprise !!

We left it too late and had no plan B.

Sums up the past 5 days even Kean signing dragged on.

Marcel Brands or not it’s a pretty flat way to end the window and we know silva doesn’t buy in Jan.

This is bitterly disappointing given the radical improvement Zaha showed last season at Palace, but it underlines the new reality that buying from within the EPL is fraught with difficulty as pretty much nobody needs to sell. It would have been wiser by far to have used the Zaha funds to acquire someone else from the continent.

Very disappointed with the outcome. It sounded like it was going to be a fantastic window, but has ended badly. Zaha and a quality CB would have had me dreaming of 4th or 5th, but now it's more likely 7th.

Look on the bright side guys. We've mugged them off with McCarthy

Anyone seriously think that Zaha would have been the difference between 7th and top six?

I had mixed feelings about "Zaha the player" possibly joining us, when the talk started that we might buy him. I was very negative on "Zaha the fee". So I'm far from miffed about not signing him. Very positive about the signings we've made.

And can't wait for the trip down to Palace on Saturday. A new season. New signings. Lots to be excited about.

Sam, your tone was telling. That lack of pace at the back will move the team back at least 10yards. It makes it so much harder to press as a team and transition higher up the park.

I’d persist with Holgate on pace alone.

Had a peak into first class and had a hope that we would sneak a seat, but back to economy with our sorry arses! Haha.

Not the greatest of windows, but not as bad as some suggest.

Silva's got his work cut out. With a substandard central defence will he be here by christmas?

Rojo... FFS!

Prediction 7th... 6th if we're lucky.

Had a peak into first class and had a hope that we would sneak a seat, but back to economy with our sorry arses! Haha.

Not the greatest of windows, but not as bad as some suggest.

Silva's got his work cut out. With a substandard central defence will he be here by christmas?

Rojo... FFS!

Prediction 7th... 6th if we're lucky.

I think we are in for a surprise as Silva expected 5 the other day and only 2 of those so far...perhaps a Zaha alternative. We have not heard from the manager so he must be busy

Some people on here are really gloom doomers, we have had a very good window and signed some very good up and coming players?
Whilst I wanted Zaha to sign, it is not the end of the world and I for one cannot wait to see our team settling down and playing and beating all that comes before us. COYB!

And so another potentially exciting transfer window turns into the same mediocre, falling short and not actually really spending any many familiar Everton story. Who cares if we got rid of some deadwood, that won’t propel us up the league, signing a player that contributed to 20 goals for a shit palace side would do, signing a decent centre back would do, another winger to cover the dross we have if our first choices are out would do !! Kean is an exciting signing but we are now going to have to rely on an untried in the premier league 19 year old to get us toward the top 4/6, disappointing!

We obviously had money to burn as our net spend so far is pretty low.

Strange how when Zaha looked unlikely no one else was in the frame

Where was the plan B?

The Euro deadline is still open so still a chance to get rid of some deadwood and thus recoup more money.

Jay Woods @ 332 -

We don't always agree, Christ knows.

I've never agreed more with you - bitterly disappointing.

You're spot on.

On the plus side:

BREAKING NEWS

Newcastle confirm Andy Carroll's return to St. James' Park.

Talksport have just announced Alex Iwobi is on his way to Goodison! Rumoured fee £40 million!

Praise Jesus, James Marshall! My prayers answered!

Welcome home Andy!!

Daniel,
This is the 4th or 5th post you have made expressing your disappointment at the window.

We get it, you are not happy.

Personally I think its a great window, getting rid of a lot of the dross, bringing in some quality players and refusing to pay silly money for players who are worth half of what their clubs were asking.

We have a lot to be optimistic about and with loan signings still available to us I am sure further reinforcements will be brought in.

Kieran, Zaha along with a Zouma equivalent CB may be the difference. 10 goals and 10 assists from Zaha and a solid defence will have made a huge difference. If Mina stays fit then we may be OK, but it's a concern.
My problem is that our business needed to be significantly better than Wolves, Leicester's, WHU, Man Utd, and Arsenals. I'm not so sure our first 11 has been significantly strengthened.

Looks like the Iwobi deal is on

God no. Another Walcott in Iwobi. Can't finish!

God I'm at wrist-slitting levels if he's the "consolation prize".

Chris

Zouma wouldn't be an improvement as he was here last year so he would have been a status quo thing as opposed to getting worse. Also, Zaha's 10 goals, 10 assists. Presumably he would be playing instead of someone else so you'd have to subtract their figures to determine the net change. So it isn't as if he would get 10 goals and assists on top of whatever the palyer he is replacing got.

Sam, de Ligt was also a kid. Gibson has talent, and Mina will prove a lot of people wrong.

Jesus people are depressed. Really fall for the effing transfer window bollocks. Over hype at its worst.

Our squad Ian quality. There are weaknesses, but there is quality all around the pitch.

Now it is up to Silva and co to get them working. Top 6 is a real possibility. As is silverware.

Fucking Bipolar this site. 1 week ago everyone going mad because Zaha isn't worth it, saying how weee overloaded on wingers.

Now Zaha doesn't sign and it signals the apocalypse is nigh.

3 minutes to go thank god. Now we can finally talk about football

Sam, de Ligt was also a kid. Gibson has talent, and Mina will prove a lot of people wrong.

Jesus people are depressed. Really fall for the effing transfer window bollocks. Over hype at its worst.

Our squad Ian quality. There are weaknesses, but there is quality all around the pitch.

Now it is up to Silva and co to get them working. Top 6 is a real possibility. As is silverware.

Fucking Bipolar this site. 1 week ago everyone going mad because Zaha isn't worth it, saying how weee overloaded on wingers.

Now Zaha doesn't sign and it signals the apocalypse is nigh.

3 minutes to go thank god. Now we can finally talk about football

Jay,

Can we still get loan signings? How long for?

Decent window but not going to break that top 4. only really Kean added other than replacements for people who left.

I'm happy we have got rid of dead Wood with more to go.

At least we been trying to sign players even with £70-80m bids.

Sadly it just wasnt out window in the end and the players we wanted who could make a difference just not available.

Glad we didn't go out and spend £100m on a few squad fillers.

Zaha would have been a game changer. Happy with the board.

Think Keane and Mina will be ok if they can both stay fit.
Holgate will have to be back up simple as that.

*makes noise of balloon deflating*

Ha ha, you can always rely on M and M to pull a surprise or 2?

Can't believe some of the negative comments on here, yes we missed out on Zaha but I reckon we could do what the RS did with Van Dijk and pick him off in the January transfer window and thank god we didn't get Rojo !! lets bid our time and get the right targets.
We are getting a good group of young hungry players at Everton and I think top six is achievable if we pick up the right players in Jan.

JaC - for you my man.

I sing myself to sleep
A song from the darkest hour
Secrets I can't keep
In sight of the day
Swing from high to deep
Extremes of sweet and sour
Hope that God exists
I hope, I pray
Drawn by the undertow
My life is out of control
I believe this wave will bear my weight
So let it flow

Lots of love Jp 😂😂😂

Fran -

Zaha was a massive statement of intent. And he would have made us so much more potent in attack. He was the difference between excitement and hope, and another 7th place season of what could have been.

How do you say? Everton that!

Saying that's bipolar?? Nah. It's personal analysis and opinion.

And you can say that and still recognize it's been a good window. It doesn't inherently mean you're negative.

For me, at any rate.

Same as last year and the year before another top 8, early cup knockouts! It’s the hope that kills you. Not enough goals in our team.

Apparently they have Iwobi according to BBC

Hahahaha Sir John!!

TY for that. Talked me off the ledge!

Assuming we are not stupid enough to buy Rojo then when the sales are complete we will have zero net spend and reduced the wage bill... Probs putting on a great footing going forwards (trying to find optimism from today's disappointment). The season will rest on how quickly Kean adapts and lots of luck with injuries in the CB positions. In reality the diff to last seasons first 11 is Zouma/Gueye v Mina/Mbamin and DCL v Kean. Unless Kean rips the place up (big ask of a 19yr old)... I'm not convinced we have improved or that the options to change a game from the bench are much better than last year. Silva will be fuming. Leicester, Arsenal, West Ham & Wolves have increased the quality of their squads more than we have. That said Richi, Gomes, Bernard may all have stronger seasons. Nucleus of squad coming together... We might just have to be a bit more patient than the hopes that had been raised to get to the promise land. Let's not get on their backs if a few disappointing results come along... This is going to take time

Iwobi for 35-40 mil. We have lost the plot.

Is there a stadium update this week?

If we pay 40 million for Iwobi, I'm going to throw my laptop through the window.

I think Rich will get 15-20 league goals, Kean 10-15, Siggy 10, DCL 8-10, Bernard 5, Mina 5, Digne 4, Gomes 5

Think we're good for a good challenge for 6th.

A bit deflated to say the least, a top centre back was essential, all the crap about bringing in Zouma, we should have had a plan b, especially with Mina only playing 10 games last season. I like Holgate, but don’t think Silva has any faith in him. Awobi could be a last minute buy?

@ Jamie

Well hang on while I nip outside to catch it.
BTW could you throw out the charger as well?

Fran -

I hope to God you're right.

Frank - bril.

FUCK RIGHT OFF! We've agreed a fee for Iwobi.

Jesus, WELCOME SON LIGHT IT UP M'MAN!

We hoped for Zaha and ended up with Iwobi. Only at Everton... and no replacement for Zouma! Marco must be spewing.

Did we really, really just pay £40 million for a back-up Arsenal winger who can't find the back of the net??

Oh my word...

@368 JC, I'll meet it with a thunderous left foot and launch my pc into orbit lol. Jokers...

Now I'm just pissed. Is anyone happy about this? Genuinely curious.

Suppose it could have been worse... we didn't spend £90 million on slabhead.

Whether you like it or not, here's your starting 11 for Saturday:

Pickford
Coleman
Keane
Mina
Digne
Schneiderlin
Gomes
Sigurdsson
Bernard
Calvert-Lewin
Richarlison

0-0 my prediction.
Looks very similar to last season doesn't it? My guess is that Silva will be slightly disappointed with our business but hopefully we can get a couple of wins early whilst we bed in the new players.

Cannot blame Everton for Watford and Palace not wanting to sell us their players.

Had we had a Deadline Day bonanza of signing Gomes, Kean and the other players we brought in a few weeks ago, people would be saying what a great final day in the window.

A lot of surplus players have been moved out, we have added to the squad.

The only downside is not getting a centre-half in, but now leaves the door open for Mina to step up. I would rather that, than Rojo panic buy.

Overall, we have added a right back, three midfielders, a striker, and cleared out some on high wages just sat on their arses.

I would not be downhearted.

Fran #370, so you think we're going to score 70-75 goals?

Up from 54 last season?

I'd be careful about using the word "bipolar"... sounds like you're on the manic upswing yourself right now.

£35m deal sheet in for Iwobi... 😬

I bet if Iwobi is signed, it'll be filled with clauses and instalments. And it ain't our money anyway.

Iwobi and Bernard for left wing, who knows, maybe one of them will
Learn how to shoot.

On the one hand, I thought Iwobi was Arsenal's best player at Goodison this season. Having said that, the rest of them were utter dogshit. Nevertheless he was very good. But no end product.

On the other hand, I have yet to meet a Gooner who rates him. In fact they say much the same as they say about Walcott - he flatters to deceive.

So... is he an upgrade on Lookman? I reckon a fairly massive upgrade, at a net cost of £15 - 20m. Could be worse. And he's young, so we should be able to offload him in a couple of years for £15m or so. So he's cost us nothing.

Jamie #377, I don't usually comment on (or care about) what we pay for players, because it's not my money and it's all relative anyway.

But £40M for an attacking midfielder who scores one goal every 600 minutes is insane to me.

Jamie Crowley – why not? We bought Walcott! 🙈

Very disappointing. No CB? Sessegnon to Spurs. Why did we chase Zaha and end up with Iwobi? Our board is obviously clueless.

And now the Nigerian Walcott.

Arsenal fans will be laughing their tits off at us for funding their quite impressive spending spree!

Yes Mike. Yes.

Tim Locke - we'll assault the Top 4 and CL place with Iwobi and Walcott on the wings! Now pass that crack pipe over here! ;0)

Ahhhhh! See everyone on Saturday morning, full of false hope.

Nigerian Ross Barkley, with a bit of pace. Has some serious tekkers but relies on instinct.

Can Silva simplify his game? Better than many of us think.

I've a lot of Arsenal mates and they never question his ability just his decision-making.

I quite like Iwobi, I think I’d be happy if we’d plucked him for £20m. But because we’ve failed to find or land other options we are paying the same for him as Zenit payed for Malcom, a superior player.

However Iwobi is not Walcott, mainly because unlike Theo he has his best years ahead of him. I’m optimistic that he will be better than many in here will expect.

Zaha to Arsenal in January, thanks to funding by Everton, supplementing the deal with £40 million.

Outside of Van Dijk, Kompany and maybe Aderweld, every single center-half in the Premier League in recent seasons has been described by a high percentage of fans as "crap." This window we're linked with 3 "crap" Man Utd CBs, while people on here still ridicule ex Blue John Stones as "crap" not to mention Mustafi. Zouma was said to be crap until about Feb but now he is seemingly in that elite group of four players in the whole world at CB who aren't "crap."

Then we have Zaha who a lot of people on here were unhappy about paying £50 million for. The more the price rose, the louder the percentage of fans saying "sign him." £100 million price tag and it looks like we've about two-thirds saying to do it.

My point is, maybe we all just get caught up in hysteria and media-driven hyperbole. Maybe, actual football experts like Brands, and money men like Ryz have to see what makes sense from a football and business perspective when they negotiate deals? So maybe we should accept the hand we are dealt and get behind the new signings?

Mike, if Silva gets the team playing a season they can, I think 60-75 goals is a possibility. An average of 2.0 a game should be our target (76 goals) is top 4 is a realistic target.

Now we can't stop talking about transfers and get talking about Tactics and Silva again.

Let's get the ball rolling: Farke for Everton Manager.

I'm more gutted we didn't just go out and get the centre half we needed. Tarkowski would have been immense and about £45 mil. Should have been done weeks ago.

With regard to Zaha and Iwobi. We are in a crazy time with prices and we just have to pay up or walk away. Crystal Palace kept moving goal posts and changing valuation and we walked away.

I actually like Iwobi... (yes, I'll put a tin hat on) He's nearly 4 years younger than Zaha and will get better. He's hungry and an upgrade on Walcott and Lookman.

Let's not let a slightly disappointing last day overshadow a very good window. And now focusing on getting rid of the deadwood to inferior European leagues.

Iwobi is not a great goalscorer but holds the ball up very well, is skillful and creates loads for others.

Not a bad signing IMO.

Iwobi may not be to everbody's liking, but let's give M&M a bit of time at least to grow this squad in the coming months. A lot of young, decent signings in this window.

Zouma would have been great to have signed but, as Steve Ferns rightly pointed out, why not get a decent centre-half in on loan, way before the final day deadline came up? That's the biggest disappointment for me; however, let's see what we can do this season.

Massive gamble going into the season with just two centre-backs... We'll be relying on Gibson, Feeney and Gbamin.

One thing to be said for Iwobi, he's an outstanding passer in the attacking end. All those assists are no accident. But wow, what a price tag for two goals a season.

Karl,

We have Holgate.

Besic to Sheffield Utd. Good luck to him

Jeez, our brothers from across the pond have a bad case of pessimism today.

We will beat palace on Saturday and everything should be right again. (He ays with his annual dose of new season optimism...)

Paul Joyce twitter:

Alex Iwobi fee around £35million. Everton only made one bid for Wilfried Zaha of £52m which was rejected on July 28. Would have only gone to £60m anyway and Palace wanted more. Refused to do Marcos Rojo on a permanent.

Joyce twitter, usually on the money ITK.

Jesus, I thought it was a disappointing window when I realised we weren't getting Zaha which is a massive blow!! Now we've just spent £40 million on Alex Iwobi!!! Stinks of desperation, he's absolute garbage, worse than Bolasie!! My Arsenal-supporting mates are absolutely cracking up! 😔

If he signs I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s used inside, which is what Sam H, alluded to yesterday. No centre-half is baffling though because we have done everything very professionally during this window, and still left ourselves short in such an Important position.

Total insanity all of it! Would have been nice to hear that the brilliant Silva was in the process of turning the likes of Holgate, DCL and Davies into super-stars. I expect both He and Brands will be gone by Christmas and the BM project put on ice!

Forever Everton.

We are taking the Lukaku approach to the hole in defence. Scheduled to be plugged in summer 2021.

Can we give the lad a chance.

Iwobi - 9 assists last season, two more than Siggi, one less than Zaha. The Gooners might be laughing, but let's see how he gets on. I think he's an upgrade on Lookman, and an upgrade on Theo.

He's a team player, which Zaha isn't, and he's 23 so he's nowhere near his peak and he has resale value. And it's not my money.

I'll take Iwobi...not my preferred choice but comparisons with Walcott are lazy as is a totally different player and profile.

I think he has a lot of ability and his attitude is really good. Getting away from Arsenal will hopefully reinvigorate him like Gomes last season.

Yes, he doesn't score enough but has good assist rate and his cousin Jay Jay certainly improved with age so let's hope it runs in the family.

Centre-half is the worry but I'm glad we didn't do the deal for Rojo.

Scrambling at last minute to shore up the ramparts. Desperate last minute buys who are not good enough and it shows. Get in the market early, get your players and sit tight.
We have missed far better players for similar prices quoted over last couple of days. The overall window has been good but spoilt by last days.

Off-topic... Man City says Sane is having ACL surgery. Very likely kill his Bayern transfer.

Gary Carter @407,

"My Arsenal-supporting mates are absolutely cracking up! 😔"

Maybe so but remember when those insightful Gunners fans used to boo Ramsey every time he was on the pitch. He was a loser too but that seemed to change.

I dunno, we bought a young but experienced creative wide player who was Arsenal's most used player last season, and we didn't buy Rojo.

Could be worse.

They can talk. They sign Luiz. 😂

Actually, my Arsenal mate saying "Why are they selling one of their best young players?" Eye for goal, improving. Cracking signing. That's me done. Until Saturday...

Let’s try and make sense of this deal.

Deal sheet on the table according to SSN is £35m, we had a £30m bid rejected yesterday. £35m is half what we were prepared to pay Palace for for Zaha. Is Zaha twice the player Iwobi is? I don’t think so, which means we were being overpriced by Palace and walked away. Hey ho, we’ve saved £35m and got ourselves a winger to provide competition.

As for the player himself, was he first choice? No, obviously but all sources said he seemed open to the move if the bid was accepted as opposed to Zaha saying he wanted to go for CL football, which would have suggested he’d be off at the first sniff of a top-4 club. So we get ourselves a player who wants to be here, at least.

Skill/quality wise I think he’s a good player if not a top-end one. Will he provide another option for people to focus on? Yes, he provides a number of assists even if his goal return is questionable, but that means he does need to be marked closely which frees up more space for the likes of Kean, Siggy, Richarlison and Gomes. So actually having that option can be beneficial for us.

Overall it’s a risky signing at the fee quoted but such is the market and looking at some of the prices other players have been bought for, might just be decent value for money.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

£40M NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

BRANDS YOU IDIOT!!!

100% Panic buy...…………….Zaha to Iwobi Jesus Christ.

Mid table below Wolves and West ham it is then.

Given that we have effectively funded Zaha for Arsenal in Jan makes this 100x worse. I despair.

What did Bowie say "My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare"

Our second most expensive sig n ing in history. Read that again!

Besic to Blades one of the deal sheets pending.

@Derek 400

"brilliant Silva was in the process of turning the likes of Holgate, DCL and Davies into super-stars."

There are limits. Holgate, Davies and DCL have had two seasons to step up. They didn't hence the need for better players. We now have those for all three. Such is football. Can't wait forever. Sometimes facts have to be faced. Davies, DCL and Holgate are squad players only.

In the entire history of transfer fees, even in the inflated market of the last two seasons since Neymar's transfer to PSG, there have been just 12 players sold for £80 million plus - and one of those include Harry Maguire in this window. Just five players sold for north of £100 million.

Zaha does not belong in that exclusive band of players. Yet with the clock ticking, like some frenzied Black Friday Deal, some fans were salivating at the thought of signing him, howling for the club to pay whatever it took.

I'm personally glad we didn't.

I'll wait for the TW hysteria to tire itself out before reflecting more on exactly what we go into the season with, expecting more outgoings be it on loan or actual sales before all windows close.

But from what Silva and Brands inherited barely 12 months ago to where we are now, progress following a structured strategy is clearly evident to me, if not others.

I'm relieved we didn't pay silly silly silly money for Zaha, he ain't no Bale/Messi.

Good points, Michael and Peter.

Jay # 425

Well said, things were well and truly out of hand.

Iwobi, never had thought of him as a £35M player.

But his age has something to do with the price. At 26/27 he will be worth more hopefully, so it is an investment on someone who could develop further.

Brands and Marco must see the potential in him, he has never caught my attention too much as a top player.

Anyway, he is a blue now by the looks of it and he gets my 100% backing to come good for us.

Here's hoping.

I just don't know why was there not better options for that money? Unbelievable!

Let's wait and see for the breakdown of the deal (clauses, add ins, instalments).

And let's be positive. A fast and skilful winger, different to Bernard and a great deal of potential for our staff to develop.

How ways Zaha doing at 22/23? Exactly. All players can improve.

In Brands we Trust

…………..to think people complain about SIggy for £45M lol

I give you Alex Iwobi a player so good the Gunners couldn't wait to get rid £40M!!!

Daniel @421, get a grip! In context, every transfer fee is crazy, year-on-year the horizon changes, it's market forces.

Liam @422, 2nd most expensive signing on paper, but ask yourself what would Sigurdsson, Pickford, Digne, Richarlison go for today?

Daniel A Johnson #421 "BRANDS YOU IDIOT!!!". Get a grip man!!

D A Johnson (421)

Now calling Brands 'an idiot' it seems, I do despair of our fanbase at times, I really do.

NBC going to review our window after commercial break.

Be interesting to see how it's viewed by some pretty unbiased pundits over here.

Between 2013 and 2016 (up to the age of 23) Zaha had played 140 games and scored 13 goals.

Since then he has played 147 games and scored 31 goals.

Iwobi has 11 goals in 110 games - so a similar, but slightly better rate, as Zaha at the same age.

Let's give him a chance hey.

We seem to have ended this groundbreaking window in a weaker place.

Has Merson said Maguire deal spoilt the transfer window yet - No? I didn't think he would somehow. Welcome, Alex, if you do arrive. Do the bizz and we will all be with you.

He's ours now, so I'm 100% behind the kid and hope he improves.

Still think it's way too much money to pay for him, but hey-ho.

Someone explain to me how the team is better off now?

I'm made up with Kean but that's it for me, a sub Right Back, a cheaper midfielder than Gana. Delph is good but can we rely on him to play as often as Gana? Nothing against Gbamin but if he's better than Gana then why didn't PSG buy him?

Where is the Centre Half we desperately needed? Where is the centre midfielder he needed once the supposed bids for Doucoure got rejected?

It feels like Silva is another manager short-changed and everyone on this thread knew we had to spend up to £100 million to stand still and not lose anyone from the starting 11.

Has anyone who was watched Arsenal over the last few years leaned back and thought 'I wish we could get Iwobi?'

Anyone on TW?

Sorry but Iwobi for £40M — criticise me all you want — what a waste of fucking money... You are telling me Brands and Silva had all last season to come up with a transfer strategy involving Alex Iwobi… and no center-half alternative for Zouma ... ??? Fuck off!!!

Yes, Mike @415, terrible shame for the lad. I really rate him and Man City will be weaker without him.

Doesn't matter who it is, an ACL tear is a horrible thing to contend with.

Oh dear, someone has called Brands an idiot, how terrible.

This genius has just got us a 19-year-old striker and no centre-half.

Brands is not an indiot, I despair at some people's bizarre opinions!

Imagine if we had pipped Pep to sign Scott Carson? There would be a riot on here. RS, England flop, has been, typical Kenwright signing. Instead, old Pep is an astute genius while Brands is lambasted for signing young talents.

Steve #442 certainly not me.

The window has closed, we've not got all we wanted but I don't think we have bought any one that will not give their all for the club.

Time to big up every blue - make them feel 10 feet tall and give them unswerving backing.

COYB!!

Tim, I'd bet £100 no-one has. And I'd win.

Ah, Daniel A, I thought we were making such good progress with you the past few weeks. But you've had a relapse.

I hope it’s as sensible a review as Jay’s @425 Jamie.

One player short, is how I see it for a tilt on the champions Lge, and even if we swapped Iwobi, with Zaha, I still would have felt the same way.

It’s soon going to be 25 years since we won a cup, but we’ve signed a lot of players who have won things this summer, so surely we are on the right track.

It will be interesting to see how Zaha performs in the next few games, he doesn't strike me as a player like Gana, (mentally) hands in a Transfer Request but still plays his heart out. I would have like Zaha but not at silly money, be interesting to see how Iwobi fares, a player I know little about, but again it seems a lot we have paid for him.

Oh god no! No no no no!!

Joe McMahon,

Brands – aka "Jesus Christ" in your eyes – has left us with no Zouma replacement and sanctioned £40M on Alex Iwobi………

Hysterical maybe.

But at least I can call this for what it is — a right royal fuck-up!

Daniel 443, why worry mate the same folk all give Steve Walsh all the praise on the world until it dawned on them the "shrewd quality" he bought were a level below those we were selling.
Is Iwobi even better than Lookman?

No one recalls how Iwobi came on for an insipid, already-beaten Arsenal, in the Europa League final defeat to Chelsea and immediately and constantly caused the Blues all sorts of problems, including making it 2-1 with this beaut?

Link

People are so quick to condemn.

Daniel @443, I assume that last phrase was rhetorical. If not calm down - no idiots - just people trying hard to build our club and express opinions.

Team for Saturday then, folks?

Look at the players Brands has gotten us over the past 14 months and tell me you think we're not headed in the right direction.

No, we won't be top 4 this season, and no, we won't score 70 goals (sorry, Fran), but the progress is undeniable.

And Jay, after that game, you wanted us to sign him?

The horror, the horror.

We signed a 23-year-old, highly rated Nigerian international, who... OMG, still needs to improve his game

Wish we were Man Utd buying all those world class players like.

And my god, West Ham just bought that lad from Basel, we're screwed.

And Leicester, something talk about Leicester, they signed that Belgian lad whose mint on Football Manager, can't remember how to spell his name... but they are the best team in the history of the world now.

And Chelsea have got a strike force of Giroud, Pedro, and Abraham... how on earth do we even think we can cope?

And don't get me started on Arsenal... They signed a winger... who cares if we only heard of him a year ago and before that was a reserve player... he's the new Pele. And who cares that they sold their best player over the last 5 seasons and didn't replace him, they bought calamity Luiz, who Sky are telling us is better than anyone ever.

And Wolves, what about Wolves? (Seriously... what about them?)

Welcome Theo Bolasie...

I'm annoyed, Jim Burns, but get even more annoyed that some think Brands is beyond criticism.

When – not IF – Mina goes down injured, we will be royally up the creek.

I've always been impressed with Iwobi when I've watched him. Good dribbler with lots of pace and trickery. My only concern is that many Arsenal fans (who watch him week in, week out) don't seem to rate him. The lad has only just turned 23 though and he wasn't always regular starter - it's always hard to show your best football when in and out of the side and coming on with 20 minutes to play.

Really pleased with the transfer window we've had. We've signed players at good ages, for sensible fees... Only Iwobi's fee (if the transfer goes through) might seem a tad excessive. Would've liked to see us sign another centre-back but it will force Marco to give Holgate (who is a more mature player now) and Gibson more playing time. It will be interesting to see if they can step up to the plate. Thought Holgate had some excellent games for us in the past and people on here only seem to remember his bad games.

Fran, we signed a highly rated Nigerian International that Unai Emery couldn't wait to flog. I take his judgement of the player over yours.

I'll calm down. I'm suffering from PZS - Post Zaha Syndrome.

I think Iwobe can improve. Of course he can. He's young and talented.

The disappointment is seeing some of the big boys ripe to be picked off, and Zaha coming into a wicked front three with Kean and Rich, and making an immediate impact.

Iwobi will need time. And the window to nick the Big Boys may very well close.

That's my disappointment.

But I still do inherently trust Marcel. And we'll grow and improve through the years with him puling the strings.

Glass will be half full come Saturday. Let's punish a weak early season schedule and see where we go from there.

Cheers to all. Back to work.

I know I’m going to get a lot of hate for this but I’ve had my doubts all summer about getting this vital centre half position sorted.

Only Everton could have £100m to spend and over 12 months to try and get a centre half on a permanent deal. Instead we wasted far too much time chasing Iwobi and Zaha then panicked when we realised Zouma wasn’t happening.

The tremendous work done by signing Gomes and Kean has now been offset by our failure to land Zouma or another centre half of quality with pace. A very poor end to a excellent start of the window.

Honestly think the centre half issue will cost us 2-3 places in the league.

Expect City, Liverpool, United, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham, Wolves and Arsenal to be ahead of us.

Daniel is thinking about the team; Brands fans are thinking about something else that must matter more.

Great these debates.

My take is that it's been a good window.

Iwobi is better value than Zaha.
I'd rather have Holgate than waste £25M on Rojo.
Kean looks very exciting.
Delph will be the canny top-level pro we've missed since Barry.
Sidibe a canny year-long replacement; if he's good, we buy, plus we can bring Jonjoe back.
Gbamin looks a good replacement for Gana.

And there's the chance of more off the wage bill in the next week or so.

Silva wanted 5 players, Brands got him 6. The pressures back on Silva to deliver.

I think people here are forgetting that Alex Iwobi made 35 Premier League games and 11 Europa League ones last season, with a manager that has coached some of the world's best who played him. He ain't no reject!

He is a 23-year-old, already with a lot of experience at a higher level (more than most of our current players), with no injury record and his best years still to come.

It's funny though; people were arguing that Zaha's price tag could only go down, what about this lad's one?

I believe this to be a very smart addition that will be a profitable one; given the ratio of fee, potential and performance of the player. Who was Zaha at 23???

Brands should be judged on results on the pitch only and the ability to compete for trophies, beat top contenders regularly home AND away and produce a team that wins a trophy.

It starts on Saturday and time will tell.

Steve @ 461.

Is there a point to your question?

The opinions that matter are those of Silva, Brands and Moshiri as the underwriter of any purchases and recruiting the players to best serve both the short and long-term strategy.

If recruitment was decided by TW popularity polls we would have a squad of 120, of all ages and (in some cases) dubious playing history.

I'll leave those decisions to the more calculating, the better-informed honchos at the club, rather than a few dummy-spitters posting in anger on TW.

We could have had Messi Zaha for only £100M.

Only £100m!! Trips off the tongue as if it's peanuts.

As Daniel would say - Fuck off.

Jay #473 - amen to that.

Paul, Silva done an interview last week after Gbamin saying we still need 4 or 5. You know why too. He's lost Gana and the same quality hasn't come in.

The quality has dropped a level again and regardless of how good it is signing young players, usually they need loads of time and its another waiting game for Evertonians until they become good then sold and we repeat the process.

Sometimes I wander what it is that our fans want from a transfer?!

It's been a solid window for us with players who can cover a multitude of positions:
Gbamin - plays CDM and CB
Delph - plays across entire midfield and can cover LB
Kean - Striker or wide attack
Gomes - MF
Sidibe - strong RB cover
Potentially Iwobi - wide attack and MF cover

Some of the fees could be questioned but that's the market these days. Just because we have some money doesn't guarantee that we just go out and get anyone we want.

Can someone enlighten me?

From what I have ascertained from some fan comments on TW this week:

All Man Utd's defenders are crap.
Lukaku is someone no one would welcome back here.
Iwobi, like Walcott, is crap.
Delph is a loser, as is Stones.
Barkley was an overrated loser.

How is it then that the teams these losers play for finish above us every year? Is it because they play alongside other "winners" like Mustafi, Ashley Young, Giroud, Sanchez, etc? Or the every reliable positive influence Pogba? The prolific Pedro?

Is Gbamin any good as a centre-half if needed? He better start training for it, he will be playing there probably sooner than he anticipates. He must be ready to step in.

I wouldn't be too harsh on Iwobi before he has even kicked a ball. He has everything you want in a footballer except the most important thing ie end product.

But I would have the same reservations about Zaha especially for the fee quoted. Brands and Silva have backed themselves to eek out improvement in the player and with his age and experience I don't think it's a huge risk in terms of resale value.

I would have had doubts over Zahas team ethic and wanting to jump sooner or later. For me Iwobi has the right character.

He may not be everyone's cup of tea but he is an uncut diamond and that's the profile Brands promised

Daniel Johnson May not of put his point across without it sounding dramatic, but he is entitled to his opinion. If he like some others feel Brands has cocked up the centre half signing then fair enough. I agree with him as do others here.

He had 12 months to sign a centre half permanently and failed to do so. It's the exact same excuse people levelled at Steve Walsh that we needed a centre forward but he was too busy haggling over the signing of Gylfi. I think Brands has swapped the striker problem for centre half problem and replaced Iwobi with Gylfi in this window (figuratively speaking of course).

Those who disagree are fine to do so, but I love how everybody telling the doubters to stop whinging or crying are unable to justify why Brands failed to land a pacey centre half. Unfortunately right now unless Mina lives up to his hype then people like Daniel Johnson are right.

Let's hope myself and Daniel are wrong come May when we are bladdered after lifting the FA Cup with a Yerry Mina header.

Last post from me before the pitch forks come out and I blow my last remaining fuse BUT:
Have we really improved ?

Gomes – Retained so no change there then for the team.

Djibril Sidibe – Not back top his best since a serious knee injury and competition for Coleman, so will he even start?

Gueye replaced with Gbamin, we have lost arguably the best performing midfielder last year for peanuts and his replacement is a total unknown quantity in the Premier League.

Fabian Delph – talks the talk but likely to injure himself during the walk, a mouthy injury-prone squad player at best.

Kean – An exciting unproven 19-year-old who's going to be our goal scoring saviour? He could be worse in the Premier League than Lookman and Calvert-Lewin for all we know.

Alex Iwobi – an uninspiring Arsenal player no one really wanted and one they were happy to let go (must be a massive talent then). Yet we let Lookman and Vlasic go?

Zouma – gone no replacement and this is the travesty here where is his replacement. In fact his lack of replacement is a fucking disgrace…..Marcel hang your head in shame for this. When the glass man Mina breaks again we are fucked.

The squad hasn't improved at all. Mark my words, the lack of replacement for Zouma will kill us next season. So annoying as once again some teams are there for the taking but typical Everton we miss our opportunity to try and get in amongst them.

Good player with plenty of pace, can dribble and could cause havoc alongside Moise and Richi.
Don't understand those saying we are now weaker- Lookman and Vlasic didn't have one good game between them and Gueye was very limited despite his tackling ability.

Kean and Gbamin look super young players and great value. £35m for Iwobi less £5m from Lukaku sale so net of £30m seems decent to me. Brands has shifted a lot out with maybe more to go and in my view has done a cracking job.

Arsenal said no to £30 million yesterday, so I’m not sure you could say they’ve bit our hand off, although it’s yet to be seen if they’ve had the kecks off us though!

Not sure if anyone has posted this but good analysis on why Iwobi could be a very interesting purchase

Alex Iwobi vs Wilfried Zaha - why the Arsenal man is being linked with Everton

Steve Brown, 442
ME

Will he provide more assists and goals than Bernard? The answer is yes, obviously. Arsenal sold him to balance the books. Thats fine with me. We've bought him for now and for his potential.

Iwobi, Kean, Richarlison
Not bad. They will take time to gel, so what. 23, 19, 22. Next few years will be fun. Can't wait for the season to kick off. And to see how good Kean, Sidibe and Gbamin are.

Paul Bernard 481

To answer your question, Brands failed to land a center half because there was no one better than the players we have that we could afford, was available or was willing to join Everton. It is pretty simple really. Outside of Zouma who exactly is there that you would have wanted as a surefire 100% guarantee? Tarkowski has as many critics as fans. The Man Utd lot have been dismissed. Lewis Dunk? another supposed 45 million CB who is regarded by many as a donkey. City spent millions on Mangala and look at him? according to TW Stones is no better. Arsenal spent tons accumulating the likes of Chambers, Holding and Mustafi. Are they better than we have? I would say no. So yes it is unfortunate we have limited coverage at CB but we do have 3 CBs with PL experience, 2 of whom were expensive signings, one of whom is a highly rated young player. If they ALL get injured simultaneously, we have a 30 million pound midfielder who can play CB, as well as two under 23 players one of whom looks steady, the other potentially a future star. So it's not the apolcalyptic situation you portray.

Please don’t let this be true!

Arsenal must be laughing all the way to the bank after Walcott and now this!

Last season 1st choice / 2nd choice vs this season

Pickford / stek. Pickford / Lossi
Coleman / Kenny. Coleman / Sidibé
Digne / Baines. Digne / Baines
Zouma / Mina. Mina / Holgate
Keane / Jagielka. Keane / Gibson
Gana / Schneiderlin. Gbamin / schneids
Gomes / Davies. Gomes / Davies
Richarlison / Walcott. Richarlison / Walcot
Bernard / Lookman. Bernard / Iwobi
DCL / Tosun. Kean / DCL

Successful or not?
Weaker defence
Weaker midfield (although Gbamin is unknown)
Wingers the same
Stronger attack.

Daniel, maybe you should apply for Brands job then. You make it sound so easy it should be a doddle for you to get your fantasy football team together.

I don’t doubt your sincerity but perhaps things go on in the background that we are unaware of. Danny Mills was a revelation last night on ssn talking about all the shenanigans that go on during transfers.

"Expect City, Liverpool, United, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham, Wolves and Arsenal to be ahead of us."

I expect City, LIverpool and Spurs to be ahead of us, that is the only certainlty that exists.

Utd just sold their best goalscorer and now rely on the unreliable Rashford. Martial is a player, but then they are dependant on youth. Pogba is a quality player who doesn't want to be there. Then the rest of their midfield is average. They signed a quality, but very young and as yet untested right back, and Maguire, who is of a similar level to Keane. There are huge question marks over the tactical astuteness of their manager.

Leicester have signed well, but they remain dependant for goals from the ageing Vardy. Perez is a good player, but will never be prolific. So their difficulty will be can they score enough goals? Because we all know what Brenda is like, great going forward but weak at the back. They just lost their best defender and didn't replace him, that could hurt them badly.

West Ham? Hello? West Ham? If to do an Everton is a verb, then to do a West Ham is the superlative version. Haller? Know nothing of the guy, looks like a standard 10 goal target man. Anderson is Anderson, looks great on MOTD but wins very few games, there is a reason Richarlison was in the Brazil squad and Anderson wasn't. Then what? honestly, can't remember, apart from that Ukranian who was crocked last season. And they can't defend. West Ham hahaha.

Wolves? Why? Welcome to 2nd season syndrome. They'll do well to stay in the top half. We ahve improved, Leicester have improved, Wolves have? Did they sign anyone? Do you really think Jiminez will take his half season of good form for an entire season this time round? neither do I. Nah, not worried.

Arsenal...I'd say they are favourites for 4th, Pepe is an exciting signing (but there is a chance that last season was a flash in the pan - remember Cisse at Liverpool, stormed it in France, flopped in the PL). They have 2 great goalscorers, but no real system to accomodate them both. They lost Ramsey, their best player for the last 5 seasons, and didn't replace him and their midfield is still weak. Torreira looked great then burned out, so big question marks. Tierney is a good signing, but Luiz is getting older and, well, my time in Brazil always makes me associate Luiz with the dreaded '7-1'. And 'to do an Arsenal' is something I taught my students in Brazil.

You forgot Frank Lampard's Chelsea so what of them? lost their best player, signed a player who has no guarantees in his place. They have good players, but look weak and are there for the taking. Their strike force is the worst of the top-6, maybe of the top-9. Giroud, Abraham, Pedro, William - where will the goals come from?

So I think on balance, we have a good chance to battle for 4th, 5th, and 6th place.

I don't know if Iwobi will be a success but it seems like a lot of money for someone who wasn't a regular in Arsenals first team, I personally would have took a punt on Welbeck especially on a free transfer.

Well even though we really needed a central defender it looks like the only player we’re going to get through on time will be Iwobi.
Always only thought of him as a bit part player but must admit he does look a very good player on YouTube.
He’s fast and direct which will suit the style we’re looking to play.
Think again we have improved our squad this window. Just hope we can get a few moving out now before the European deadline.
It’s going to get exciting.
COYB

Colin just merely putting my annoyance out there...….its been a far from perfect window. We have spent money to arguably just stand still/regress.

Just my opinion

Give Keane and Mina some stem cells quick., organic goji berries, cod liver oil by the bucket.

Let them both be carried round the training pitch upon sedan chairs.

I'm begging you Marco, Just keep them healthy.

Jay @ 473. the answer is no then. You won't be alone as no Evertonian has ever watched Iwobi play and thought we should buy him. That is the point of my question, but the lad will wear a blue shirt so he will get backing from the fans (who by the way tend to know a good player when they see one, as well as an average one).

Nor am I sure that the anyone who ran the club for the last 25 years was a 'well-informed honco' - I could think of lots of other things to describe them as though. You obviously back Brands and Silva as the real deal, but deals like £40 million for Iwobi create scepticism.

Kieron how can you use points where some people think a certain player is a donkey?
Some fans somewhere might think Mina is, pundits might, its totally irrelevant.

Brands is there because hes got to know a list of players he can go for regardless of anything but the manager needing him.

Moyes had a far better system than anyone at the club now with less money to play with.

When we let Jagielka go I thought it was because we had someone lined up. In hindsight, sentiment or not, that was a poor decision on and off the pitch.

George

No fee but apparently Welbeck was wanting a 5 million signing on fee and a multi-year 120k a week deal. While I like you think he may have something to offer, I think the economic aspect considering his injury record ruled him out

Daniel (482) - Here is a post I just put on the Live Forum :-
"IMO - for what it's worth - no one has been bought in this window that was not already on the M&M list prepared before close season. I think Brands, particularly, is far too professional to make knee jerk buys, so I am of the view that Iwobi was on the list - just not perhaps first choice. The other thing I believe is that there was nobody on that list for any position, that M&M did not think could improve the team. So, I for one am happy and am looking forward to seeing the team perform in the coming season - particularly after they have had a few weeks training together and begin to gel. We are moving in the right direction - for once."

I would add too that I believe that if M&M truly believed that we needed a CB back up and it was clear that Zouma wasn't coming, they would have had other targets on their list and we would have got one or other of them - even if it had been the fourth choice name.

The fact we haven't satisfies me that they are happy with their choices and current back up available.

Time will, of course, tell us if they are right.

But, it is their jobs on the line and we must therefore leave them to make those decisions.

Zaha is a good player but overpriced at €100m. Question marks over his period at Man Utd and Cardiff. Iwobi at €35m is the better option for me. He made 51 appearances for Arsenal last season. A good strong fit skilful versatile player. Link I'm looking forward to seeing him in a blue shirt.

Paul @ 481.

Who is "telling the doubters to stop whinging or crying [and] are unable to justify why Brands failed to land a pacey centre half...?"

On the contrary, I read plenty of balanced posts acknowledging we have potentially left ourselves short at centre back. Brands is NOT getting a free ride on that one.

But in contrast to Daniel's strop (and if I was with a child throwing a similar wobbly in public, I'd be embarrassed) they acknowledge not only that failure (and it is a failure) but also the good work done in this window, and over Brands' 14 short months at the club, all the more so given the situation he inherited.

It's called balance, Paul. Daniel (and others) have not just tipped over the edge. They've plunged head first over it.

Paul Smith,

I use those examples because I am trying to find out who it is that we should have signed? Brands is under no obligation to sign someone for the sake of it. Yes if we had no CBs that would be a problem. But we do have 5 on the books with varying levels of skill/experience and a versatile CM. Ergo, he doesn't need to sign anyone if his list of availables includes no one who is a)better or b)affordable.

David 486, apart from you of course! If you saw if early then we will all take our caps off to you.

Daniel/Paul, it's all piss easy isn't it for you sitting up high, being fed Sky's bollocks

Get back to playing FIFA...

It pains me seeing football fans in awe of board members. And especially after Walsh.
2 days ago we got a 2nd bid for Dacoure rejected, so he wanted another Centre Midfielder of a good quality I am sure we all agree that was the intention.

Is everyone saying theres no other Dacoure in the whole of Europe we could have got for 35 million?

What happened to him wanting another midfielder?
How can Silva feel satisfied he got his targets.

Don't worry lads we failed to get the Rojo deal over the line, be back in January for him.😮😂😃😆

Daniel, we all have wish lists. I would’ve liked a top CB and another (proven) striker. I also wanted to see the back of players like Niasse, Tosun, Walcott, Cuco, Bolasie, Besic etc... as this would have released millions in wages.

Unfortunately, life isn’t so simple. I honestly trust Brands to get the best deals for Everton. Let’s sit back and enjoy the start to the season as we can’t do any more.

For those that think Iwobi is crap and Zaha is Pele, when Zaha was the same age as Iwobi, he had a lesser goal-to-game ratio, and Iwobi will have had far more games as a substitute than Zaha.

If Brands and Silva think they can improve Iwobi, and that he can become a top-quality player, then I am willing to trust them.

I will not proclaim him to be this or that, but the lad is young and shows good attributes, and his signing certainly has not weakened us (as some proclaim). Let's see what happens. But we certainly have options, we have a young team, with a lot of pace, and many players who offer different things. This is something I can never remember. Let's be positive.

This season is there for the taking

Kieran and Fran.

I don’t think it will be as apocalyptic as you think I’m trying to portray. Like Daniel and a couple of others, we leaked poor sloppy goals as a team last year. We lost our best centre half in Zouma and Our ‘destroyer’ in Gana Gueye. I praise Brands for swiftly going after Gbamin even if he is a gamble at least we addressed that issue swiftly.

My concern is that Zouma was not replaced or bought permanently. Therefore we are weaker in that area. Balance it out with improving our attack with Iwobi and Kean then I fully expect a few 2-1 or 3-2 defeats due to scoring goals but also conceding more than last year.

With that being said, in regards to (Frans comment IIRC) about who could we get better than Zouma, I’m sure if we wasted less time on Zaha which seemed almost impossible and put about £50m to £70m as rumoured from Zaha to a centre half, I’m pretty sure we could of got ourselves a tasty centre half, maybe even Zouma himself. Instead Zouma stays as Luiz seems to be going to Arsenal. That deal would never of happened if we went all in for Zouma.

Just my opinion of course. Your only defence now is that we all hope Mina does the business over the full season.

How clever Rennie. So original. I don't really know fifa but you seem to and I don't care for board members either.

I just want to see Everton clearly sign better players the manager needs. Not nurture and talk about how good they'll be in 3 years.

Been through all that Mr Brands Fan.

Daniel@466 and I would take Brands judgement over your, s!!

Really can't understand people's negatively on here. I think Brand has done a great job this window.A WC winning RB, a decent replacement for Gana. Gomes is back, Delph is an experienced player, can play numerous positions. Kean is one of Europe's brightest young players, and Iwobi has show talent when I've watch him. Let's give them a chance. COYB

Looks like he only cost us 28 million. Lets all calm down a bit now :)

Richarlison only got 5 goals at Watford some on here thought we were absurd and stupid and gullible to pay 45 million.

and now noone questions it.

George (492). He played 35 PL games for Arsenal last season, that's a first team regular in my book

Off topic who thinks Kean will start on Saturday? Or will he start DCL with Kean coming on as a late sub?

Steve Brown - Iwobi will improve our squad. He's probably slightly over-priced at £35 million, but he was a fairly regular starter for Arsenal last season, and I think he has the potential to do very well here in a squad where he won't be overlooked in favour of "bigger name" players like he was at Arsenal.

I wouldn't say he was ever a player that I wished was in our team, but if he does indeed come then I think he will at least be a good acquisition - and could possibly be an excellent one.

“Palace, who will have to pass 25% of any fee for Zaha on to Manchester United, were not prepared to lower their price to Everton's £60m ceiling even after the player handed in a transfer request.”

So let me get this straight.
Palace sell Zaha to Manure. Manure sell Zaha back to Palace and Palace have to pay a sell on fee, that wasn’t cancelled out by an original sell on fee?

Bend over, trousers down, sign this.

Paul 510

" Instead Zouma stays as Luiz seems to be going to Arsenal. That deal would never of happened if we went all in for Zouma."

How do you know that? Lampard said on day one he wanted to keep Zouma. He has been playing him in all the preseason friendlies. Luiz is older, and seeking a last big payday. It seems to me that Lampard actually plans to utilize Zouma and not just to annoy Brands as some kind of payback for not offering a ludcrious sum for him.

Rennie at 505 My opinion on the window has been balanced I think. Praise for Gomes and Gambin but C- for not getting a centre half after having 12 months to do so.

As for ‘playing fifa’ it is effectively brands job to do just that, for a hefty wage I might add. So those saying to trust brands are right but he isn’t bulletproof. We all agree we needed to sign Zouma permanently or replace him with quality and pace - Brands failed in this regard.

Brands job enables him to play fifa in real life and afford him the time, pay and resources to do it full time. So yeah I’ll get back to playing fifa, it seems we must all worship brands because you say disagree.

I thought we got rid of the Rennie ignorance when Uriah the ref retired. Seems not

I'm a fan of no one Paul, but I what I will do is be fair and balanced and give people a chance to prove themselves. If it works out you and the other coin-flippers will be on hear singing his praises.

You seem to want instant success, but that's very difficult these days unless you're in a select group of mega-money clubs. Personally I'd get much more satisfaction from nurturing young talent, and if it doesn't work, we can always go back to the great old days of the recently departed fat bastard.

The price is linked to his age and his resale potential if that ever arises.

Iwobi is 23, in 4 years time he will be the same age a Zaha. Brands and Silva think they can see his potential and improve him. So it may come good, I think we have to give them a shot of proving it rather than writing it off so soon. We need to have a bit of faith in the player and in the management.

Daniel A Johnson + Paul A Burns.
What does the A stand for ?
I can think of a name that links both of you.
I'm sure lots of others can too.
Your posts are so inspiring and insightful.

I think Mina is quality. In the Copa he just oozed quality when I watched Colombia. Keane is also very good. And I do have high hopes for Gibson, think he'll break into the team this season and establish himself. I had hoped Holgate would move on, and a reliable elder stateman had come in as back up. For me Dawson from West Brom would have been an ideal Mr Reliable back up for a small fee. Zouma, who knows, maybe he'll be here in January or next summer. But I ain't too worried as we don't have European football.

Our defensive frailties last season were down to woeful organization at set pieces, that was a problem of the team as a whole, which seemed to get resolved as the season progressed.

So it isn't ideal, but in Mina, Keane and Gibson, Holgate I think we have good enough quality and nothing to get depressed about.

So now it's down to Silva's coaching ability. From what I saw from the last dozen games of last season, looked OK to me. He clearly ditched zonal defending, which he either can't coach or the players can't do.

Teams don't evolve overnight, what an absolute car wreck of players he inherited, so let's be patient?

The poor players are being replaced, the old guard are being pensioned off and predominantly young, faster players being bought in.

I also think the lad Iwobi deserves our support, not abuse.

Good luck to all and everything Everton for this season!

Kieran Kinsella-sorry but there is no defending the centre back situation whatever way you dress it up. The two we are relying on haven't played together, both right footed, both have similar strengths and weaknesses.

We don't really know if they can form a partnership,one has to stay fit and the other in my opinion will have to prove himself without Zouma.

The only pace we have is Holgate and the club were talking about selling him for 8mil according to reports.

The only left footed option is a kid who Silva has described as not ready.

Options could have included Sanchez (sub at Spurs) or Umtiti who Barca want to sell or whoever Brands wanted had he not put all his eggs in the Kurt basket.

Dereck#507

I really did think that Man U PR department has duped Everton . It not for the want of trying.

Paul @ 506.

So...what are you suggesting, exactly?

That our recruitment this summer was all random?

That since they arrived at Everton Brands, Silva and their staff did not continually and fully evaluate their existing squad and identified how best to improve it?

That targets that fitted the desired profile were not methodically scouted, researched and approached in the desired order of preferred player?

That once approached any deal should be concluded immediately?

That there were just single targets, rather than fallback options, identified by the club?

That the recruitment in the last two days is just panic-buying of players who simply were not on our radar on Tuesday?

Because that seems to be what you (and others) are suggesting.

If so, it's not a theory I subscribe to.

It's been a good window. It could have been better.

We go with what we have.

Paul Joyce reporting that we only made one offer for Zaha of £52M turned down on the 28th July. Willing to go up to £60M max. Also we turned down Rojo deal as we only wanted a loan deal. If true I think Brands was right with both decisions.

No need for that, surely, Billy? It's a bit playground

Iwobi is just crap, a worse signing than Bolasie was, a goal every 10 games and so many Everton fans that want us to crack top 6/4 were whining that we were going to spend top 4 money on a player that contributed to 20 goals for a poor side last season that we unfortunately didn’t get !! Absolutely laughable and brands hasn’t done much better than Walsh !
Ignored our desperate need for a replacement for Zuma, put all the pressure to score on a 19 year old Italian kid that doesn’t even speak English who’s only competition is DCL whose goal scoring record is comparable to Tim Howard’s and then gone and given 40 million to our main competitors for Zaha on an absolute garbage player that Arsenal fans can’t believe we signed, never mind how much we’ve given them !! If this wasn’t Everton I’d say you couldn’t write it but unfortunately you can.
Another season battling it out for 8th to 10th place in the premier league !

Maybe and I hope. Iwobi was the Dacourea replacement who we didn't sign from Watford.

Truly gutted about zaha, its totally deflating. Probably a good thing not paying all that money for him actually you just get obsessed when purchasing things and go above and beyond any realistic valuation and the same happens when bidding on stuff on Ebay!

Happy enough with the squad we've got.

Just to put it into perspective, we've signed players from.
Juventus, Barcelona, Arsenal and Monaco this summer, not the worst places to be buying cast off's!

Anyway less of the disappointment of the final day, we all got carried away, think most of us will be happy with the squad. Think only team who stentghed really well was Aresenal out of the teams above us excluding spurs, city and liverpool.

Options include Sanchez? Where did you hear that? YOu think Levy will let go one of the most highly rated young defenders in the world go for cheap? Jeezus if these are the options you can think of, then that just proves the point of why it was hard to sign anyone.

Ake for 80 million? Dunk for 40? Would that really improve us so much? Why not trust Gibson as a back up?

"the two we are relying on haven't played together," The same would be true if we had signed anyone.

Bad deal this Iwobi one. This disappointment has offset any joy I acquired from the other signings.

Makes very little sense to me. Silly money for a rank average player. 5 goals a season kind of player. I don’t see that he’ll offer us anything at all that we don’t already have

Rennie @523, I was balanced in my opinion. I said brands done well but as Jay Marshall (I think that was his name) will back me up, I said on the Zaha thread that we should be using that money and time on Zouma to ensure that we got our man.

As Kieran Kinsella fairly asks, Lampard didn’t turn us away out of spite no, but what most managers do with most players is say they aren’t for sale because either A) they don’t want to lose them. Or B) they will sell for the right price, of which saying they aren’t for sale means we will have to pay a fair whack for the player in question.

As soon as you say a player isn’t in your plans you will never get what you truly want for them unless you really don’t want them.

Anyway back to my original point, Brands has done well but his hard work has been offset against the glaringly obvious gaping hole that we all (including brands and silva) agree on, that is we needed to buy or replace Zouma - which he hasn’t achieved.

A bit disappointed to be honest
Maybe the European window will improve things

We still need a left sided centre half and more importantly we still. Need a goalscorer

We have kean a young lad who may or may not adapt to the PL and appear to have put all out hopes on him

We still need to shift a good number of players off the wage bill

I'm not suggesting Iwobi is a great player, what I'm saying is don't swallow all the crap you hear on Sky and read in the rags, most of it is made up to generate headlines. I honestly believe the majority signings we've made since Brands and Silva came in have been much better than most of the crap that came before. So if that makes me a "fan" or "ignorant" then fair enough.

Just want to have a bit of hope people, give these lads a chance FFS

Gary Carter, Zaha contrinuted 20 goals last season. and before then? His goal to game ratio was the same woeful level as Iwobi's until 2 years ago. Iwobi is 4 years younger.

As I mentioned before:

Between 2013 and 2016 (up to the age of 23) Zaha had played 140 games and scored 13 goals.
Since then he has played 147 games and scored 31 goals.

Iwobi has 11 goals in 110 games - so a similar, but slightly better rate, as Zaha at the same age.

Let's give him a chance hey.

I ain't gonna proclaim anything, havn't seen enough of him (or Zaha) to trully comment. But the idea that Iwobi is crap and Zaha is God seem a bit OTT

Jeez this floor is covered in dummies and toys! 🤣

Further evidence of the difficult 'house cleaning' task that Brands inherited.

The legend that is Mo Besic has signed for Sheffield United. BUT, alas, just another loan deal - his THIRD in succession - rather than for a fee.

Kieran @487 Disagree completely regarding our search for a centre back. You say there was no one else Brands could get. For the last 3 weeks Zouma and Tomori were the only players mentioned. When Arsenal came in for Luiz yesterday, both them players were off the table. We had no plan B, that’s why we tried to get Rojo today, so you’d have to blame Brands/Silva. I see Iwobi now valued at £28m

glad we didn't get raped for £25m on Rojo tho tho. haha seriously. at least iwobi has played a lot of games and has talent.

Maybe buying Iwobi is a ploy to get zaha in january, they get iwobi and £35m and cenk haha

enough of writing iwobi off now will get behind the lad, was nice of him to want to move to us anyway no messing around there literally jumped at the chance.

So that's good.

cant wait to roll palace over on saturday! COYB!

With regards all the weight on Kean a fair bit will be on DCL too

I don't think Kean will be played through the centre from the off.

He will be introduced wide as a sub for a few weeks. DCL will be starting through the middle, the lad needs a good start and it may be the making of him.

I think many (including myself) feel disappointed because a truly outstanding window, if we'd got Zaha and Zouma (or another quick CB) felt in reach; one that could genuinely propel us into the top 6 or further.

As it is I think the window has been somewhere between decent and good. Only time will tell. But certainly we look short at the back to my eyes and the likes of Holgate and Gibson will have to step up when called upon.

As for Iwobi, he will surprise alot of you sceptics I suspect. He got 0.24 assists per 90 minutes last season which was one of the highest in the league. He works hard, is solid defensively and creates a good amount of chances. He's a probably a better (though different) player than Zaha was at the same age. PLus he has a huge amount of PL and European experience for a 23 year old. The price was too high for my liking but the player could turn out to be a very good fit for a team that struggles to create chances from open play.

Conor 528

Umtiti has had an injury ravaged three year spell at Barce so it is possible his wages relative to injury could leave us exposed. No idea if Spurs are willing to let Sanchez go but at least you have come up with some suggestions as opposed to others who just seem to want to spend for the sake of spending. As I said though, the CB situation is not ideal but if you can't get better then is it worth bringing in someone different who has other potential drawbacks. Would you trade in a low mileage car with a broken AC for a high mileage car with a dodgey transmission if you aim was to get a new reliable car, and the only new cars on sales were out of your price range Ferrari's?

Rennie at 540, I think your reply is for me? I’m a fan of brands just like most of us are, but he failed to get Zouma or his replacement when he technically had 12 months to do (Zouma was loaned so we knew we had to prepare to sign him or find someone else). My arrogant/ignorant comment was said because your response to my reaction of brands failing to replace Zouma was to ‘get back to playing fifa’. A really childish and pointless response. I think since then we can agree to disagree.

Peter, @ 531, I think we've done okay too, and maybe dodged two financial bullets there. There was always likely to be a limit on Zaha, and Rojo made no sense unless it was a loan deal. The only one I would raise an eyebrow for was the price for Iwobi but I trust they know a lot better than I do.

Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed. At least we've got a money to spend in Jaunary for the Europa League push for places.

Some disappointments in not signing some we should of done business for. At this rate we’ll have dcl playing centre half. Only time will tell on what we have and what we brought in.

I was not convinced Zaha was worth what Palace were supposedly asking. Not getting Zouma was a blow.

But I feel Mina and Holgate are under rated and this cloud has a silver lining.

The window is an 8 for me, especially as we managed to shift so many players.

Gradually we are making room to add more quality.

I wanted Everton to sign a centre back soI’m a bit concerned about that, although the lad signed from Mainz can play there, maybe that was one of the reasons we signed him.

Apart from not getting the centre back I think we had A very good transfer window.

Fans are having a go at Iwobi before he has even played for us, some quoting his lack of goals, well Richarlison scored five in thirty six games for Watford, not many would part with him now.

A few players have been sold on or loaned out, some most fans wanted rid of, a couple more will go before the end of August, again players not wanted at Everton for one reason or another.

Let’s see how the team/ squad performs this coming season and give them a chance before going all gloom and doom, we could be happy at the performances, although that is unlikely with a couple I could mention, definitely born on a Wednesday, full of fuckin’ woe.

Paul 549, I wasn't actually referring to you with the FIFA comment, it was towards the 2 "A"s, Daniel and Paul because they seem to know how all these deals and done and where these wonder players for peanuts live!

Paul B #537, sorry but you're just making unsupported assumptions there about what Lampard said when you ascribe all sorts of strategic motivations to it.

The fact is, Chelsea were already down two senior CBs before Lampard arrived -- Rudiger injured, Cahill released -- and were always likely to lose a third when he was hired because Lampard and Luiz famously despise each other. So Lampard's statement that he wanted Zouma to stay can safely be taken at face value.

It's also a fact that Zouma has always openly considered himself a Chelsea player and wanted to be a starter there.

I've predicted here many times, literally from the moment Rudiger went down, that there was zero chance Zouma would stay at Everton, and there was nothing we could do about it. I'm sure Brands gave it his best shot, but I remain convinced that there's no way he could have possibly "ensured that we got our man."

I think we have definitely improved our midfield, even if I thought Gueye was a very good player.

I think we will become more disciplined in this area with the Players we have signed, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Silva, has signed Iwobi, to also play in a central position?

I’m glad the window is shut anyway, and hope that Besic gets his third loan move in 3 seasons. We can’t get shut because they must be on very good money, and if the rumours were true Wilfred would have been on over ten million a year.

A sport we all love, a club we love even more, but fuckin hell, I honestly feel sick thinking about the wages most of these players are on. It’s truly sickening.

Sean @ 517 I stand corrected. Lol

To be fair, Iwobi can't really be called a crap player - he played 51 times for Arsenal last season in all competitions, the most of any of their squad. He's 23, his best years yet to come, and he looks a decent footballer to me. Someone asked earlier, did anyone see him play and think I would have him at Everton. Well, yes, I did. When he came on against us at Goodison, he looked the best man in their team, really lifted the pace and nearly got them back into the game. If someone would have said he'd be an Everton player next season, I would have been happy then, and I'm happy now.

The fee? Okay, well last season when we signed Richarlison, I spent an evening with a load of gooners who ripped the piss out of me about how much we overpaid. I'll see those same gooners in the next couple of weeks and they'll rip the piss out of me again. But not about Richarlison. They won't mention Richarlison, will they? And I reckon in another year's time, they won't mention Iwobi either. He'll do a job for us, in my opinion.

Iwobi deal is looking like 28M rising to 35 on bonuses now.

Iwobi has pace and a bit of trickery but that's where it ends. From the left he often has to check back onto his favoured right and things fizzle out. He has a poor scoring rate and I don't see him getting in the team ahead of Bernard. It's a lot of money for someone Beagrie-esque.

Brian @542 thanks for the explanation, I thought there had been an explosion on Mothercare !

I think the Zaha deal was primed but it was too late for CPalace to get a suitable replacement in. The tried for Chalov and probably enquired for Sarr and failed.

The fact that they couldn't get a replacement collapsed the deal.

My worry with Iwobi is that he might be just a speed merchant like Walcott, Traore, Atsu etc... lots of pace but no end result. I hope I’m wrong.

Tony @563 I think Palace easily could have got a replacement if they had accepted the offer last week which was plenty generous enough. I think CP really didn't want to sell for fear they'd be relegated (not to mention the PR of losing AWB and Zaha in the same window) and they leveraged the Zaha deal to get McCarthy from us.

From the analysis I read on the Echo, I think it was said that with goals, assists and second assists, Zaha had a part in 20 goals last season, Iwobi had a part in 21 goals. And several years younger than Zaha. So I'm happy to wait and see what he can do in a team that is giving him greater freedom than Emery allowed him within his system.

Derek #562, nah, my pram tipped over when my diaper came loose.

Michael #559, agreed, he's nothing resembling a crap player -- in fact I believe his passing skills will eventually move him into the starting 11 ahead of Bernard -- but the fee did knock me for a loop. However, the point you and others have made about Richarlison's fee is a very valid one.

Lev #566, yes, the Echo article (first linked here by Sam) does provide some serious food for thought.

We really needed a CB replacement but still a 7/10 transfer window for me. If we don't get major injuries in our defense, we have the makings of a very good team. 7th place - possibly 6th if Kean becomes our wonder boy.

Christy 544

"For the last 3 weeks Zouma and Tomori were the only players mentioned."

Mentioned where? In the press? Twitter? Apart from Silva responding to loaded questions from journos about Zouma who was here last year, I haven't heard anyone at Everton say anything publicly about any targets. I did hear it mentioned in the press that we variously offered just one bid for Zouma, that we had a second of 60 million also, that the second was cash plus Mc and Tosun, or that it was 70 plus Mc or Tuson, or just Tosun. Today I hear we had one conversation with them on July 28th and that was that. All these conflicting stories cannot be true. There was really nothing about the French RB until the day before he flew in for the medical. Likewise, Delph seemingly came out of nowhere. Therefore, it is safe to assume that we had other behind-the-scenes talks with other players that never made it into the papers as no deals were agreed. Meanwhile, every journo and kid on Twitter has been creating or extrapolating on the same few tired old rumors. Lack of public activity isn't proof of a lack of private, professionally conducted activity.

Colin@564 Iwobi is definitely not just a speed merchant. He may actually be better in the middle than the wing and is very creative and smart. As i've said above he will pleasantly surprise a few on here.

Gary@533, your post is one of the worst I have read so far today and there are some poor one, s!!I am assuming you wanted Zaha in, apologies if I am wrong about that, but your post is so overboard that anyone would think we have had an absolutely terrible window. Yes I would have liked to see a CB brought in, but it did, nt happen.
But, in my opinion, your criticism if the window in general is way over the top

I think the search for a new CB has been a disaster. Silva said we needed someone and Brands (for once) has failed badly.

Zouma was never coming back as Lampard rightfully saw what he did last year and kept him. To be dogging around bidding for people right at the last minute is pathetic when you consider the work that must have gone in to identify targets.

Gana and Zouma have gone with only one replaced. I really like Keane and Mina and hope that Holgate matures this year as we are going to need him.

Going forward we look really good but at the back something has gone badly wrong with this year's planning.

No worries George. It's an occupational hazard that I feel the need to correct errors. You're lucky I didn't get the red pen out and put the dreaded 'SEE ME.' Got to leave work at work!

Mike Gaynes @556, My assumptions are that we should of went all in upto £40m for Zouma before the window even opened. If that was our limit and Lampard legitimately meant it when he said Zouma was in his plans with Rudiger and Azpilacueta as centre half’s then we should of swiftly moved on and spent less time chasing Zouma and more time chasing plan B & C for Zouma/Chelsea’s rejection.

For example the whole Tomori rumour was IMO (or assumption if true) born from Brands being told Zouma was 3rd choice in which brands may of thought ‘okay that leaves Tomori as 4th choice’ so let’s look at the possibility of that deal then?

In any event I said maybe a week ago on the Zaha thread that we should put all our effort into the centre half situation. You can’t tell me that Rojo and Smalling were legitimate targets surely? More like panic buys to address the Zouma replacement situation.

Main points to take from this are:

Brands and Silva failed to land a centre half.
We wasted time chasing Zaha and then Iwobi (I’m okay with Iwobi signing as he can improve)
We reportedly had £52m on Zaha which would of gotten us a decent centre half instead
Every player has a price and most managers say their players aren’t for sale even if they don’t want them. Reason is that you will be offered lower fees for a player you don’t want.

Josh #568, I'd give it the same grade. Overall, I'm so pleased with the work Brands has done that I'm almost ready to forgive him for selling Antonee Robinson.

Almost.

I think this goes down as a very good transfer window that falls just short of being great. Zaha could have put us over the top, but Iwobi is a nice player (albeit one we overpaid for) who gives us options.

We're looking a little light in terms of pure firepower, particularly if Kean needs time to settle, but I'm not overly concerned. I also have every confidence that Kean will prove to be the real deal.

Most will fixate on the centreback situation, and draw comparisons to 2017. The difference is, we literally didn't have a starting striker heading into the 2017-18 campaign - we had an untested Sandro, an extremely green Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Niasse, who was still in exile, as far as Koeman was concerned.

Right now we have a good (potentially very good) pair of starters in Keane and Mina (you can argue how well they suit each other, but that's a separate discussion), and decent - not great - cover in the form of Holgate and, supposedly, Gbamin. A string of injuries and we could be in big trouble, but at the moment it's hardly a crisis - and last I checked, our defense wasn't the issue this preseason.

At the moment, our optimal lineup is looking like --

Kean
Bernard/Iwobi Sigurdsson Richarlison
Gomes Gbamin (possibly Delph)
Digne Mina Keane Coleman/Sidibe
Pickford

I mean, that's a pretty darn solid starting XI. We're better stocked at some positions than others, but Brands can't assemble a perfect squad overnight.

Well that window didn't end as expected!

Iwobi for £40m smells like a panic buy ala Walcott but will reserve judgement until he's played a few games. Still, can't say I'm doing cart wheels with that one and would be amazed if he was one of our main targets at the start of the window.

Not getting a CB in after having the whole window is appalling. They've known a CB was vital for ages and should have had multiple back ups incase Zouma didn't work out. Everyone knew about Chelseas transfer ban and Rudigers' injury so there was a fair chance we wouldn't get Zouma. The last day panic for Smalling and Rojo points to us having fucked up here.

Am really happy with Kean and Batman but not overwhelmed by Delph and Iwobi (combined £50m before wages). Not getting a CB in is criminal given we lost two senior ones over the summer.

Have Digne in my fantasy football team, think I may be revisiting that with Keane and Mina as our two CBs for the season. If we play a high line, any team with pace will tear us a new one. With those two at the back we'd better score more goals than last year!

Still also have Mirralas, Bolasie and Niasse kicking about...another 3 weeks to try and shift those I guess.

As Sam says @570, there seems to be a misconception on here that Iwobi is a winger. One of the gooner complaints is that he plays better for Nigeria than for Arsenal, but for Nigeria I think he plays more of a number 10 role, and he's said that he prefers the central playmaker position because that's his best position.

So maybe he's being bought to give a bit of competition to not just Bernard but also Siggi in the long run?

It took Zouma a while to show just how good he was, too early to write Mina off just yet.

Come January I see Everton getting Zaha and Daucoure, as long as we stick our bids in early doors instead of final weeks.

All in all not too bad a window, time will tell.

Kieran-like you I realise we have to go with what we've got but Brands has had plenty of praise and I'm sure he would admit he cocked this up himself.

For me the strategy was wrong not just the delivery.

I'm not all gloom, we have bought exciting youngsters but those predicting a fourth place finish now are the same ones who will be calling for the managers head when we are sitting seventh.

Fran- you believe we can challenge Utd and Arsenal yet the former don't have mourinho who had everyone down tools and Arsenal have improved both their defence and attack so you reckon our squad has improved minimum 15 points on last season.

I hope you are right

I don't believe Marcel Brands has made any knee jerking decisions. No panic buys.

He will have made up a list of proposed targets & backups & the prices he was willing to go to.

Some players were never going to be available ( Zouma ) that's why we were offered Tomori but that fell through when Luiz went to Arsenal. But is Tomori better than Gibson & Holgate?

Zaha would have been a good signing but only at the right price, talks of 80-100 million are far too much for what he is. Rony Lopez, Hakim Zyech, Steven Bergwijn, Hirving Lozano & David Neres would have been better purchases at less than half the price quoted for Zaha.

Alex Iwobi looked very good in Afcon this year. He is at the right age & he must have been on the list of transfer targets in the first place. We have yet to know the exact price we have paid for him. Remember they paid 72 million for Nicholas Pepe.

Only time will tell but I think we have had a reasonable transfer window & have dodged many bullets. There will be targets for January but that's not to say they will be available & at the right price. Samuel Umtiti was quoted at 80 million by Barca when teams were interested.

Iwobi for £28 million is sounding more and more shrewd to me. He can play wide or centrally, is very good with the ball at his feet, good turn of pace, relatively two-footed, with good creative vision.

He was one of the better performers in a very inconsistent Arsenal team last season. I think at this stage of his career he needs to play regularly, and I think he'll do well for us. If his presence means that Walcott plays less this season then I reckon that's already money well-spent.

Hold on, just think who we were signing a few years ago.
My impression is that its been a ok to good transfer window with a weakness at CB. I like Holgate but it leaves us a short of cover if both Keane and Mina are injured or suspended which is very likely at some stage during the season. As it is Jags would have been handy to have around for another year!
Silva wont be in a great rush to get the new signings onto the pitch, he will go with as much as possible with the players he knows well, I fancy.
We are still quoted as favs to finish 7th and I still fully expect us finish above Wolves, Leicester, West Ham and Watford.
There will be good times and bad as per usual this season but lets give the new players support and encouragement I think we are in for a exciting 9 or 10 months.

Anyone that is thinking this is bad read Sam hoare 485 then comment back, some of you really are being a bit stupid, have m and m made a bad signing yet. if the answer is no which it should be then why not trust them

I want Instant success Rennie? unreal you mate.
Near 30 years we've been waiting. And the irony of your fifa point is hilarious.
Thats all we are doing. Getting 2 or 3 years nuturing youngsters who we'd be amazed to get us in the top 4, then if they do or even if they are consistent two years we sell them on at a profit.

Great that for a fan wanting slow success or none at all, all you Brands fans must have calculators in glass cabinets and on the mantel piece at home.

Paul #574, and I assume the opposite. I assume we put great effort into the center half situation, because Silva was quite open about his belief that we needed one. And I assume Brands explored multiple possibilities that we never heard about, and couldn't find the right fit, both for the squad and for the price. Sometimes doing a good job means letting the bad deals for not-good-enough players go by. I'm glad he didn't panic and dive for some of those suggested here on TW.

People seem to think they we as supporters of our great club are entitled to sign every tom, dick or Harry. In reality we are nowhere near the truth of what is is going on between our beloved club. However, we as ardent supporters believe that the power that be know what they are doing for our great club.

So the window is over now and was great according to many. What are your predictions for where we finish in the table then?
7th at a push? 8th?

Depends if you do your buys based just on stats in a spreadsheet Steuart.

Paul 574

Your suggestion is silly. Firstly we couldn't go "all in before" the window opened as you can't buy someone outside the window. Secondly, when the window opened Chelsea were legally fighting the transfer ban. There was a belief, for several weeks that it may get overturned or delayed. Thirdly, there was the protracted saga of whether their manager would stay, then when he left the saga of replacing him. Then finally, the fact that Lampard would want to assess the squad before sanctioning sales. With all of that said, there is no way Chelsea would have given a definitive answer at the start of the summer. We waited, hoped, and found we couldn't get him or anyone equal or better.

I do believe that Chelsea and EFC both thought the zouma deal could be a go depending on the new manager.

I am sure there arent that many CBs that would fit us the way Zouma did last season.

I am disappointed and concerned we didnt get a "Zouma" quality replacement but otherwise delighted about what can be considered a very positive window.

I was disappointed that Gana went but at almost 30 and listening to the compliments that Gbamin gets we may have bought better and younger. He certainly carries more goal threat.

Up front we all went on about DCL's inability to put the ball in the net and brought in one of the worlds up and coming strikers who has been coached and played with the likes of Ronaldo.

We have also beefed up MF with the arrival of Delph and further enhanced our front options with Iwobi.

We have all gone on about Seamus getting older and losing the extra edge he had so we have brought in a French world cup winner as RB.

We brought in reinforcement as gk.

Well the transfer window is closed. On the 28th July Silva said we needed 5 players. My concern is we lost Gueye/ replaced by Gbamin. Zouma, no replacement brought in, will require existing player i.e. Mina to take his place.

The other players brought in Gomes we had him on loan last sesason, Delph. brought in for cover for midfield, left back ?. Sidibe, brought in for cover for Coleman, may replace him, and Lossl backup keeper. Iwobi if we sign him is another winger who is either a backup player or will replace Bernard or Richarlson. That leaves Kean who we all hope, me included, will provide us with. the type of striker that we have needed since Lukaku left.

So my concern is although we have improved the squad with some very good players, going on the last number of games played at the end of last season, we have brought in 1 player who will most probably get to start, and I player to play for someone sold. So basically we have the same team starting from last season minus Zouma.

Keith @ 587 -

Are we entitled to every Tom, Dick, or Harry? No.

Are we entitled to think we'll sign a player whose valuation has been met, and who put in a transfer request with his club to come to us?

Yes.

Are we entitled to think said player will elevate us above the typical 7th / 8th place? Yes.

Are we entitled to be disappointed when none of that happens?

Yes.

Thank you Keith! Have a great day!

"you reckon our squad has improved minimum 15 points on last season" I certainly do.

If we go through another spell of, what was it, 3 points from 10 games or something dreadful this season then Silva will be given his marching orders. So just an improvement of 15 points from not having that dreadful mid season slump is the minimum.

Utd don't have Mourinho, but do you really think Ole is gonna last the season? Once the new manager bounce had passed his tactical skills were there for all to see.

Utd didn't invest again, so they sell Lukaku and replace with Greenwood basically. Utd are there for the taking. Arsenal are favorites for 4th, but I think we can challenge them, and 5th place should be our minimum target and would be a great achievement with such a young team.

Only EFC can make a last minute signing last over 2 hours so far.

David 581,

Luiz only went to Arsenal today and was totally off the radar until the last minute, apparently due to a bust up with Lampard (if the rumour is true). We were apparently told a while ago that Zouma wasn't available so I don't think Luiz going to Arsenal has anything to do with us not signing a CB.

I'm 100% convinced at the start of the window neither Smalling nor Rojo were on any list of targets for a replacement CB. If they were we would not have been looking to sign them at the very last minute, especially as Manu already had 6 CBs before they even signed Maquire.

We cocked up at CB this time, for whatever reason, but no club can get every transfer right. Just hope Mina works out now given the jury's still out on him. Half a season to get through till the next window so he better at leat stay fit!

I would have considered Spurs possibly vulnerable as well based on their inconsistency at the end of last season, but Lo Celso is a brilliant addition for them.

Why’s everyone obsessing about Iwobi? We’ve got one of Europe’s hottest properties in Kean. One of the best young strikers in the world in Richarlison. A great balance of youth and experience. A World Cup winner etc...

Put things in perspective. Our last three windows have been great and we are going in the right direction, at last!

Just had three Arsenal fans laugh at me, Looks like we've taken two of their rejects in the last three seasons, atleast we didn't get sideshowbob. Reply was yeah but we'll still finish above you like we do every season. Sad but thats true.

So we're signing Iwobinio. I'm hoping my Arsenal mates are wrong and that he matures with us.

Looking back it's not a bad window. The players brought in are winners. I'm still made up with Gomes and Kean and I believe that Iwobinio will add something different.

Gbamin reminds me of a cross between a young Vieira and Olivier Dacourt.

As for defenders Moyse had it harder and made Europe with less so lets see how good Silva really is.

Fee is 28m with add ons rising possibly to 34m. So 40m is wide of the mark.

An initial 28m for a 23 year old who can improve. He is coming into his prime and may prove a few people wrong. Nobody saw this one coming in June, but Marco Silva and Brands must have been scouting him back then and see great potential.

Give him a chance.

Mike Gaynes I completely agree that it’s better we didn’t sign ‘anybody’ for the sake of it. My point is that we waited far too long and had wasted our time chasing Zaha when the centre half situation wasn’t sorted. Surely we can agree that we all (including brands and Silva) wanted a centre half 12 months ago when we signed Zouma. We should of went all in at least in January or made our intentions clear that we want Zouma and this is our offer in advance of the window opening. Kieran Kinsella I know we can’t officially sign players before the window so don’t try being a smart ass all your life. If you are naive enough to think that clubs don’t speak with agents all year around planning in advance then your missing the dirty side (or ruthless planning if you will) of modern day football.

Mike I’m sure you agree that we should of addressed the CB position well before even thinking of putting all our energy into Zaha? When we realised we weren’t getting anywhere it appears or I’m assuming again that Smalling, Rojo and Tomori were kind of panic buys. If you don’t agree then surely you can at least see why I think that?

I'm looking forward to seeing what Silva thinks is his best side. Probably won't be for a few games until he's seen everyone in training a good few times though.

Just seen its 28 mill so I think that's a good deal now get in brand's and Silva any one who thinks this is a bad window needs to look at perspective fine we didn't sign a CB but I bet you they have a plan and it will work I have every confidence lets believe in them

Paul Smith a friend just came up top me and said we have had the best window out of anyone and he supports Leeds not saying it's perfect but my prediction is top 5

Spurs have a quality team, Kean back to fitness, a Dembele replacement in Ndombele, Lo Celso is quality, and if they keep Erikson they'll be very pleased indeed. Sessegnon is a good signing too and will give them depth. They have 3 top quality centre backs, Foythe being injured is a blow, but that is the only weakness.

And they have a world-class manager. The top-3 is a closed shop this season, and if Arsenal get things flowing, the top-4 could be too. But Arsenal are Arsenal(their midfield and defence is still too weak I think), and the jury is still out over Emery.

Are we embarking upon a season where Kean lights it up, Rich pitches in with 15 goals, Siggy has his best season and bags another 15, Mina comes good and we're solid at the back, all the while improving the depth of our squad?

Or are we embarking upon a season where DCL misses opportunities, Iwobi just can't finish, Bernard delights but also can't find the back of the net, Kean needs to get up to pace and learn the Premier League way of life, and a 7th place frustrating year asking what could have been while the top boys are in a vulnerable position?

I'll watch the ride and cheer like an obsessed freak all season long.

Given the circumstances around the centre back position, I can’t help thinking we should not have been so hasty in waving Jags on his way.

Peter, would you really prefer a 35 year old Jags plays above a 19 year old Gibson?

The point is though Fran it wouldn't have taken much to extend him for 12 months just in case. When Jags played against arsenal he scored the winner.

paul Tran@ 470 Amen to you brother.

The point is that I would rather we play a very highly rated 19 year old than a past it 35 year old.

Zaha at £80M+ would have been a huge gamble, particularly as staying in London with Arsenal would have been his first choice. At least we put in a serious offer for him.
Iwobe is 4 years younger and at 28M looks to be a good buy, wants to play for us, and in a season or so could be as good as Zaha.

We weren’t prepared to go over £52m which was our only bid and they wanted £60 which we weren’t prepared to go to

Regarding Gbamin, he was bought to replace Gueye, and talks of playing centre back is crap because there’s no way Delph is good enough, when he’s injury free to play that role

Money in.

Vlasic - £13.5m
Gueye £30m
Look man £24m
Henry £14m assuming this goes through
McCarthy £8m or was it 3?
William's and the few loan fees we received about £10m?

between £85-£99m in. not 100% sure on the figures.

Money out.

Gomes £23m
delph £10m
Kean £27m
Gbamin £23m
Iwobi £28
Sidibe £2m loan
£113m
so about £20m net spend.

Not too bad considering we got a lot of the dead Wood off the wages as well and will continue to do so between now and end of the transfer window.

Gives us money to spend in January. Glad we didn't splash too much cash only players we don't need.

Hopefully buy zaha at a reasonable price in january but if its £50-60m he'll probably go to arsenal. Just need to perform now on the pitch.

paul Tran @ 470, what about the experienced Jags, experience counts for a lot in the EPL?

Christy
Delph is a better footballer than Gueye, Gueye is a destroyer. If we want to move to the next level we need footballers

It's all ifs and buts! It is what it is!

If it meant our wage structure being compromised and players unrest then leaving saha at palace then so be it.

Good luck to the new players and those who have departed. Funny how we have moved on from ten years ago. James McCarthy would have been treated as a "new signing" back from injury. I'm just pleased to have new players!

All starts Saturday and anyone else got this vision of saha scoring twice? Up the blues!!!!

C.B. position a major cock up but think it has been a very positive window besides.
Just need to blend these players in. Looking forwards to the new season.
Onwards and Upwards.
COYB.

Iwobi could well prove to be a ‘Richarlison’ (people moaning about price then too). He’s young, hungry, very well schooled, and will provide options on both sides of the pitch. Not as ‘exciting’ as Zaha it’s true, but Stats are better in lots of areas, including link up play and assists.

Gibson, Holgate and Feeney deserve a proper chance to be the next ‘stones’ and this will encourage others that there is a path available to first team too. If they don’t grab it, we’ll grab either Zouma or a genuine alternative in January anyway. Mina (if he stays fit) will shine and dominate, alongside the awesome Michael Keane.

Davies and Anthony Gordon both with a chance to play in the cups too, and Lossl will provide better cover than Stek here also. Coleman will HAVE to be what we know he can be, and Sidibe might push him out anyway (like Digne did to Leighton Baines - which many doubted last year too).

Gbamin could be a super star, Delph will add leadership and steel in the middle when defending a lead (and cover for LB if Leighton gets inevitably injured - as could Sidibe too btw!). I’m sure I’m not the only one who jumped in the Air when our Portuguese huggable hero Gomes said “I’m back” in my email.

Upfront we’ve signed a potential superstar in Moise Kean, and DCL is going to have to push on to stay relevant too. Hornby and Simms May push into first team picture, and unlike others I think Tosuns second year could show him for the goal scorer he is.

and having NOT spent £80m+ on a dribbler, we’ve kept a few quid back to add a few more in January too. Maybe Reiner Jesus!

Me. I’m buzzing. Can’t believe there are some moaning. Glass half full boys and girls, let’s get behind the boys and get back where we belong. #COYB

Fran#609. For one or two games, especially a big game - yes.

Half empty! Half full! Half empty! Half full!

Hey, they're our Fab Four.

Peter 608

I agree. I think they were torn but didn't want to commit to Jags before June 30th as they hoped to get Zouma. Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan. But it's a catch 22. In the past we've been burned with contract extensions we regret e.g. Hibbert, Mirallas, Garbutt.

It's also £28m on the drip, not all up front. Not a bad price when you consider Arsenal spent £72m on a player who has had one excellent year, and was already 24, and that excellent season was in the French league which is not always a good yardstick for the Premier League. He's never played in Europe either.

I'm not revising my position here as I made it clear that my winger hierarchy was Neres, then Malcom, then Pepe. I probably would have taken Zaha ahead of him. Iwobi is younger than Pepe. He's played 4 top flight seasons as opposed to 3, and he's proven in European competition. He's not a bad signing at that price.

Is the window a good one? Yes and no. I have said on here, time and time again, that I was concerned that we had a Zouma sized hole in our defence that was not getting addressed and so it concluded as such.

I think the team is much stronger than last season.

Gk - we have better than Stek and a teenager.
Rb - Coleman starts the season fitter and Sidibé is a world cup winner (would he really have gone is he was as dodgy as some above make out?) so definitely better than last season
Lb - Digne and Baines again, but with cover from Sidibe, so slightly better.
Cb - definitely worse, cannot sugar-coat this
DM - we currently have 2 with Gbamin, last season we just had Schneiderlin
MC - Gomes is ours, he is fit, he starts the season, we also have Delph and Iwobi (can play there too), as well as Davies
AMC - Sigurdsson, but I expect us to use the AMC less
Wingers / wide forwards - we are much stronger here, Richarlison is better, we've lost lookman who barely played and didn't do much, Iwobi is obviously an option there. If we really wanted Zaha, why was Walcott never leaving?
CF - we have Kean in addition to an older and better Calvert-Lewin and Tosun and Niasse are still there.

If at the start of the window you told me we could sign Moise Kean, but we'd need to spend big, how much would I spend? I would have said I would throw Zaha level money at him. This kid is going to be a superstar, I'm sure of it. And we got him for cheap. Forget the price, this player will singlehandedly transform the team.

Back to defence, Gibson has been rated highly for some time. The lad just turned 19. I rate Feeney, and that lad is 20 and was our u23 captain. The fact that Gibson seems to have leapfrogged him in the pecking order tells you something. It clearly shows Silva rates him. I was concerned that we denied him or Feeney the 4th choice slot. I expected us to get a top class centre-back and then for those three first teamers to fight it out and Gibson to be fourth choice, get a few games and often sit on the bench.

Gibson won't be third choice. Holgate will. So Holgate needs to step up now. I think he can. He's infuriating at times. But he is a talented young lad.

I've often gone on about Silva's coaching ability. Well here he has the chance to prove it. Contrary to popular opinion that has him as a kamikaze Martinez clone, he is actually an astute defensive coach. We did not concede many goals once we got playing well. At Estoril he concede about a goal a game, 1.44 - 1.02 on goals for and goals against. This was over three seasons. At sporting with a better side, it was 2.04 - 1.04. Then at Olympiacos (including CL games) it was 2.48 - 0.81. Then came the tough half season at Hull, 1.14 - 1.95 and the season at Watford: 1.46 - 1.81. Finally, last season for us, 1.55 - 1.33. Allardyce was better defensively, but he was 1.19 - 1.23. What about Koeman? He was 1.47 - 1.28.

Many coaches have said that they can coach someone to be a top class defender more easily than to be a top class striker. It's a fact that it's easier to spoil than it is to create. Allardyce built a successful career on it. Mourinho too (post Porto). Silva is a defender, not an attacker. He knows how to organise a defence. He can coach Holgate, Gibson and Feeney and improve them. One of them is about to get a lot of games.

Nathan Ake seems to be a name some of the disgruntled have thrown in, but would you pay £75m for him? Or £40m for Duffy? Or would you have paid £80m for Maguire. Let's go back to Duffy, he wasn't good enough for us so we released him. I'll stick my neck out and say Feeney, Gibson and Holgate were much better than him at the same ages. So why sign him, with his low ceiling, when we can develop one of these lads. Duffy developed because he played. Silva can mould someone like Gibson, who has more technical ability than the more old-fashioned styled Feeney.

I'm very disappointed that we lost Zouma. I have major doubts that Mina and Keane can play together, we need Zouma's pace. Mina is not slow, in fact I'd like to see Mina v Zouma over 100 yards and I wouldn't put it past the Colombian not to win. It's that initial acceleration where he struggles. Silva will be very aware of this, and either he plays the quick Holgate or he adapts his tactics.

There's also the Gbamin factor. Gbamin isn't here to replace Gueye. They're not the same player. Gbamin will not hunt the ball. He will play in Schniederlin's position. He will sit in front of the back four. So he can help the defence out meaning the lack of pace at the back is less of an issue. Gbamin is quick. He takes away the initial worry over the lack of pace as anyone getting past him will be facing a Mina who should be up to full speed.

In summary, yes there is valid concerns over the defence, but we can still be pleased with the window. Brands did not panic and spend silly money on anyone. He bought the players we needed, with one big omission. The onus is now on Silva to prove his coaching ability.

Luiz for £8m. Great deal if you ask me

How the fuck can anyone complain about this window.
Cast your mind back to some of the shite we've bought and the last minute panic buys.
Curt would have been a great addition but we are ok for CHs in Mina and 2 others.
Stop fucking moaning, you know nothing about the plans or vision M&M have for the club and the advancement of the team.

Eric@618, are you for real, "Delph is a better player, and we need to move to the next level ' Gueye is a defensive midfielder, what do you think Fernandinho does at City, a ridiculous comment.

Another thing on Nathan Ake. He is only 5'11". Let me say that in words so no one misses it, he is five foot, eleven inches. Or 180cm. He is far too small for the profile of centre-back Silva likes. Far too small, not even close. He's giving at half a foot on Mina. That's massive. He'd be murdered on zonal marking. Remember that was no longer an issue? It would be again.

The heights of our backups are less clear. Morgan Feeney is a tall lad. He's about 6'3" or 6'4". Gibson is over 6 foot, but not sure how tall. Holgate is listed as 6'1", but is that a recent measurement? Not saying he's grown recently, but this may be a figure from when he was a kid, and he grew since then. I met him once I was sure he was 6'2" or 6'3". Maybe he was just wearing heels though! Point is all three are bigger than Ake.

I cannot fathom the OTT criticism of Brands from some posters on TW today. Overall, we have appear to have signed some capable players. We didn't pay way over the odds for Zaha (£50 million tops would be fair valuation) and didn't cave in to Man U by signing Rojo on a permanent basis. In Moise Kean we have one of the most exciting prospects in world football with proven experience and goal scoring ability at the top level.

Whilst it is a disappointment not getting a centre back, I think we have dodged a bullet not signing Rojo. Holgate and the kids may now get the opportunity to shine. If they cannot perform to the required level, we can go back for Zouma without having the problem of another £20 million+ dead weight on the books.

Brands has also succeeded in getting some of our surplus players off the wage bill and has given us a more balanced squad. He isn't finished yet with more outgoing business likely before the European deadline.

Overall I'd say 8/10. Or would our whingers prefer to have All****yce and Walsh back?

Recken we will get a Malcolm in January for half the price of Zaha and possibly Daucoure, then see what happens with Zouma when the transfer ban is lifted.

Been a good window for Everton in my opinion.

Steve Ferns-great post really insightful.

Looks to me like Iwobi is almost a straight swop for Lookman. There was some disappointment amongst fans when we let him go. There seems to be no disappointment amongst Arsenal fans only joy at the fee. Hope he proves them wrong.

A fantastic window with Gbamin and Kean two exceptional signings. also if we manage to sign Iwobi here is a young 23 year old with bags of potential too
Yes we could have done with Zouma and perhaps another midfielder but we have quality and a well balanced team
We gave Arsenal, Chelsea and Utd a lesson at Goodison last season and we have improved our squad far more than the aforementioned.
Just be thankful for what Marcel has brought in.

Cristy, Gueye is a different player to Fernandinho. Gueye cannot do everything Fernandinho can, but Fernandinho can do 95% of what Gueye can do and then he can do a whole lot more. Fernandinho is like having an extra player compared to Gueye, because he can actually pass the ball and play a significant part in the build up of play.

Wow !!!

It is amazinng the controversies that always arise after a window closes. I agree that we may really regret not signing a top class center back. However with the type of players we have brought in hopefully we will spend most of the games in the opponents end.

I am actually pleased that we got Iwobi instead of Zaha. He is younger, appears to be more mature and could provide a lot of skill. I was impressed whenever I watched him play for Arsenal. Remember Zaha was a standout in a very ordinary Palace team, whereas Iwobi was amongst a group of very good players and he was still very capable.

One last suggestion, which may seem outlandish, why not try CL at center back. He can't score at one end, Perhaps he could stop them at the other end. He is fast, intelligent and very good in the air. I wonder if this has ever been tried in practice.

Lastly there are still far too many gloom merchants even before we have played a real game. I feel we have signed a number of young players with lots of potential. Give them a chance.

John (637) - We haven’t definitely got him yet!

I have to admit I'm disappointed that we've gone from Zaha and Malcom to Iwobi, but after looking at Iwobi's numbers he was actually one of Arsenal's most creative players. Lets just trust Brands. Apparently he's been looking at Iwobi for a while so we need to give him a chance.

That said, if we'd have got Zaha I think we could have had a decent stab at finishing above United and Chelsea. Now, I would say that we're still competing with Wolves and Leicester

I think it's been a good window. Shame about Zuma, that apart will be a good season.

Dave (483)

Well said son.

Steve @ 630 Good post but can I correct you.

Mason Holgate is 6 feet 2 inches. Morgan Feeney is only 6 foot 1 inch or thereabouts, or he was when I met him in La Manga, slightly smaller than me & I am 6 feet 2 inches.

Con Ouzounidis, Matty Foulds & Joe Anderson are all taller than Morgan Feeney.

I see that some are already starting to pine for Jagielka. Jags is still more than capable of putting in a nice shift, as he showed against Arsenal last season, but he can't really do it week-in and week-out anymore. If we had to rely on him for an extended period, I don't think we'd be any better off than just putting our faith in Holgate, or possibly even Gibson.

Well said Dave Lynch [628] some of the bitching and moaning on here today has been absolutely pathetic.

Given the circumstances (Zouma was gone anyway and Gueye wanted away) its hard to see how this window is anything but a success.
7 signings in, including an incredible prospect in Kean, proven quality from Gomes, Sidebe and Delph, youthful promise with Gbamin and Iwobi plus a small improvement in Lossl (over Steklenberg) is impressive.
Plus we've moved 20+ players on (and off the wage bill) including the likes of Sandro, McCarthy and Besic (and maybe more to come)
AND all done within a prudent net budget.

Yes it'd have been nice to have also landed Zaha, Zouma and Doucore and maybe shifted Mirallas, Niasse, Bolasie, Tosun et al (there's still time!), but the ambition on display and the shrewdness of some of these moves is so far away from previous dealings its unreal.

Steve, I know Fernandinho offers a lot more than Gueye, but the point I was making, he is a ball winner, like Gueye, but has a lot more to his game.

Thanks David. Feeney is listed as 6'3". I've not met him like yourself, and being slim he looks like the listed height.

Christy
Are you comparing Gueye to Fernandinho,
Yeah right, now who’s being ridiculous. And for the record I said Delph was a better footballer which he is

Shows how Everton are not even close to teams like Arsenal never mind Man City, may finish 7th with luck but the gap is huge

John Mackay hits the nail on the head. We’ve strengthened the squad depth (Gueye aside how many of those outgoing would be first team regulars?) with not much in terms of net spend. A very shrewd window from Brands

Echoing Martin @635, we've had a better window than most around us. Chelski (no one - obvs), manu (man who?), RS (bs other thanks Rocky's missus), spurns (more midfielders than is healthy), Arse (yes, Pepe but they lost Iwobi :). The Ws have strengthened but not to the same degree as us and Leicester remind me of Swansea a few years back, pretty and pointless. We have a younger, fresher squad that needs our full support so let's get behind them!

Lukas @648

What shows you this ?

Why the negativity ?

I am fully with Chris @644 and Dave @ 628

This is possibly the best and arguably most considered window I can remember

Cheer up please

I for one am looking forward to the start of the season & think the team will surprise us. We should support any of the players who pull on the Royal Blue Jersey.

We kept Jags a year past his sell by date & his defensive performances were very debatable. He was also on the short side & with age could not jump from a standing position like he used to.

Let's be honest, we underachieved last season with the squad we had. Did we actually turn up for a match between the beginning of December and the beginning of March?

Get rid of that underachievement and hope that the new lads improve us and that gap to sixth, never mind seventh, should close massively.

We just don't know. Mina could turn out to be a world beater this season and all of the new signings complete dogshit. Good on paper, but you just never know... We can only hope it all pans out.

As per John at 616,

Players that are now sold out were bought from Dynamo Zagreb, Charlton, Wigan, Villa, Eupen.

Players now brought in are from Juventus, Barcelona, Man City, Monaco.

We are becoming globally attractive and it's not by paying crazy wages, it's the vision, the ambition, the leadership and the belief. I fancy it myself.

Andrew @638, I assume he's filming a welcome video of the usual quality. Or he's not coming.

Neil #650, I would debate you on Leicester. They struck an absolute oil gusher selling Maguire and signed three really fine young players, so I'd say they had an excellent window and will be our most direct competition this season.

But we certainly did better than the rest!

He's not a ball winner like Gueye though. He's an all-round defensive midfielder who can do everything. He can sit and hold, he can initiate play in the deep-lying play-maker role, he can go box-box, he can hunt and destroy. But that's why he's a world class player, and one of the most under-rated of the last 10 years.

Gueye is a flawed player who needs another player to compromise his flaws.

I will say though, Gueye is going to be a great signing for PSG. What he can do is cover a lot of ground. PSG camp on the opposition penalty area and they are often hit with a sucker punch on the counter attack. Gueye sitting on the edge of the opposition box can smoother these counter attacks. If not winning the ball back, he can slow the opposition down enough for PSG to recover position.

For us, he had Gomes behind him, because he couldn't take the ball off the defence and initiate attacks. If he won the ball he had to get rid of the hot potato. Of course, he had a great season under Silva and suddenly showed qualities I didn't know he had and carried the ball well and even started passing better. But clearly this did not mean he could drop deeper take over the initiation role (since others don't like him being called the play-maker) and allow Gomes to get further forward.

Gbamin is meant (from everything I have seen and read) to be a good passer. He is also a tackler and he is quick. Therefore, he can sit deeper in the Gomes position and allow Gomes further forward. He can take the ball off the defence and the keeper. One of the things I will be looking for in the first game he plays is who comes central when we have a goal kick and the centrebacks split. Is it going to be Gbamin rather than Gomes? That would be a massive change.

Gueye often got forward to smoother attacks earlier. He was great at it. But it meant Gomes had to sit deeper to cover for this. But ask yourself the more important question, why? Why do we need a defensive midfielder closing down and tackling that high up the pitch? He's doing someone else's job. It looks great and gives great stats but that's a team deficiency for me. I want my DM sat in position and doing his own job, not someone else's.

So I am hoping Gbamin has that discipline. Sure, I'm looking forward to him winning the ball and surging forwards at pace. That alone will make him a firm favourite with the fans. A big favourite I bet. With great work rate and work ethic and this ability to drive forwards himself in a very aggressive manner, he is going to really endear himself to the fans. But he changes the entire dynamic of the side. Gomes gets further forwards and shows what he can do in and around the box.

People seem to think the Gomes of the Wolves game was a one-off. It's not. That's the real Andre Gomes. That's the guy I watched for a season and a bit at Benfica. He can do that week in, week out. He is very effective outside the opposition box and he can play telling passes and he can get past men himself. He can get assists and goals.

The issue is Sigurdsson, and how he fits in. If we forget him and play Delph, who is a good passer and box to box, then that's a hard-working and dynamic midfield. Davies also brings energy. And no one runs more than Sigurdsson. I just hope Silva can coach him into playing 10-15 yards deeper, ie level with Gomes and with Gbamin holding behind them.

Then with quick wingers, pushing on. Let's remember the pace we now have. Kean, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Iwobi, Walcott, and even Bernard. That's a lot of pace. Opposition defences will be dropping off and dropping deep. Which means if we do play 4231, then Sigurdsson will find a lot of space, or if we play 433, which I want, then Gomes or Delph can exploit the space arriving later and unmarked.

Opposition teams will be terrified of that forwards line. All of them, even the big 6. that is a strong forward line and pace you worry about.

Eric @647 I know Delph is a better footballer than Gueye, but you need a defensive midfielder in your team, and that's what Gueye did. My comparison to Fernandinho,, he's the ball winner, and breaks up play, at City, that's where the comparison ends, he can pass and attack as well. That's not Delph's game.

Can someone confirm if we have signed Iwobi?
There is a reveal pic of him doing a pose in our new shirt with the same background and writing used for all our other signings.

Iwobi signed!!!

Official twitter site confirms signing.

Woohoo

Just been confirmed Gordon

I think he's a very good signing. Welcome.

We’ll know all the answers by May 2020.

Now let’s crack on.

COYB.

Young Marco speaks very highly indeed of him, and that’s good enough for me.

Says "he was one of our main targets". Not sure I'm buying it but still could be a great piece of business on deadline day.

Christy
Delph can play that game as did Gareth Barry but they do/ did without expending as much energy therefore going unnoticed
Remember a certain Paul Bracewell

Confirmed on official club site also:

Link

Mike, look at Leicester carefully:

Gk: Schmeichel

Rb: Pereira
Lb: Chilwell
Cb: Evans
Cb: Morgan

DM: Ndidi
DM: Tielmans
AMC: Perez
LW: Maddison
RW: Albrighton

CF: Vardy

Back-ups: Praet, Justin, Mendy, Choudhury, Iheanacho.

There's a good side there. They're got 7 or 8 players you'd build a top 6 side on. But they're short. They're worse than us in defence. Wes Morgan is going to actually play. Now that's a major flaw in their side. Harry Maguire leaves a bigger hole than Zouma, and Mina is a much better replacement.

Man for man, I think I'd take our players over theirs more often. Then when you look at the bench, we're much, much stronger.

Sam argued about Iwobi playing centrally, and he may well have had a point. Maybe Silva wanted him centrally, like the RS do with Oxlade-Chamberlain. He came to the RS as a player who mostly played wide. That said, having not signed Zaha, I'd expect him to get more games wide.

Eric, agree but Bracewell had Reidy beside him and Barry had Macca.

Hi John [637] I haven't read all the posts, [646] at the time of my contribution.,there are so many poster's with so many opinions that it would be impossible for Brands and Silva to satisfy everyone, some of the signings have already been consigned to the rubbish bin, without kicking a ball.

It's not a wise thing to, and I'm speaking from experience, I questioned the wisdom of Everton in signing Roy Vernon following his debut performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers. I learned from that, not to be hasty in my judgement.

On a personal note, John, I sent an E-Mail to you a couple of days ago, I'm having a bit of trouble sending E-Mails at the moment, did you receive it?

Steve, I agree with Mike. If any of Arsenal, Chelsea or Man Utd stutter, I see Leicester as our main rivals for whatever place becomes available. We may have a marginally better defence but it's a matter of opinion re the midfield and attack. They finished last season well as we did and I'm not sure what big an impact the loss of Maguire will have. Toss of a coin, I would say.

I've just been for a swim and was contemplating Iwobi.

We have sold Lookman for 22.5m and bought Iwobi for an initial 28m.

He has more physicality than Lookman and probably fits the team profile better than Lookman. Silva must think he can operate in our system to better effect, with a bit of tuition. I think he is more of a team man and player too, not a prima donna.

When I think of it in these terms it seems a logical deal for a young player with good experience who could be improved and also slot into our system. he is fast, strong and will contribute both defensively and in attack. Lookman never really did that.

The proof will be if he can affect games with assists, or goals and at the same time be single-mindedly disciplined in his defensive duties too.

Paul@470, very good point, I'm with you,

Aside to Zouma who was a lone deal, we’ve bought or loaned players at least as good if not better than we had, or who’ve been sold or loaned.

Let’s hope Mina and Keane gel and blend fast, and we get lucky with injuries at CB.

Optimism is at a good level and so MS must now do the business on the park.

It could be we get a very good start and beat Palace after, what was in my view one of the most lack lustre preaseasons in terms of results in modern times.

Now for Palace.

Not an advocate of Zaha being the new Pele, and think at least Iwobi is a better signing than Walcott was, but stats can be used to "prove" whatever anyone wants!

Bear in mind that Iwobi played for a top 6 team that scored 73 league goals last season and had Aubameyang and/or Lacazette up front.

Palace are a bottom half team whose "strikers" failed to score a league goal in the first half of the season. They scored 51 goals last season.

%age goal involvement would be in Zaha's favour, plus opposition defence would always be most focused on him, and Iwobi would be a bit ignored with his poor finishing, defenders focusing on Auba instead.

We've signed Arsenal's 12th man as our biggest signing of the summer, so it's hard to imagine us overhauling them this season. However, glad we didn't overpay on Zaha, and wish Iwobi all the best here and hope he surprises a few people (including me) who doubt his end product.

Its been confirmed by the official Everton site, gutted !
Why oh why didn't we just have the patience just to wait until January and go for Zaha again.
Iwobi is no better than Walcott or Bolaise, until now I think we have had a solid window but this looks a very expensive mistake by Brands and the board.

It seems we are still considered a dumping ground for the top six, when will we ever learn .

Christy
Bracewell and Reid could both do it all which is my point, I rest my case

Steve @ 670: Morgan's not going to play for Leicester - it'll be Soyuncu, the Turkish lad.
However, like us I'm surprised they haven't signed another Centre Half.
Think we are similarly matched. Injuries will probably decide who finishes higher

Eric, it's a waste of time arguing with you, we beg to differ.

Chris, ok, don't know much about the Turk but wasn't impressed on the occasion he did play when I was watching. If you think the Leicester first team is on a par with our best XI, fair enough your opinion. I would ask though, do you really think our respective benches are similar? For me, we have 5 or 6 more players than them who can play first team.

Don't just take my word for it, look at transfermarkt.com and you'll see an unbiased view:

Link

£466m squad value, with an average player value of £15.5m. Leicester on £350m, and £11.0m. Interestingly West Ham are £310m and £12.4m. So less quantity than Leicester but more quality. Bournemouth's rating is surprising. Wolves squad is cheaper, but they are more competitive on the average player price.

What's notable is we are closing the gap on the big 6. But you can also see the average of the squad has gone up. In other words, more actual players rather than filling out the squad with kids.

A very good window and although the CB situation is disappointing it provides s great opportunity for someone to step up and show their worth.

By the way I am not convinced that Palace would have sold Zaha even if we had offered £100 m. They stated a number of times throughout the window that he was not for sale. Their stance has completely pissed of their prize asset though and I would be a little surprised if he plays on Saturday.

Anyway more than happy with Iwobi and hope he fulfils his potential.

Can’t wait for Saturday and praying that Kean and Gbamin get at least some game time.

Christy, we've moved on. Gueye is gone, Gbamin is here. Will Gueye show that he is a much better player than I give him credit for, playing with better players and at the highest level in the CL. When PSG are going toe to toe with Barcelona, and Gueye is showing his class, I'll happily hold me hand up and say you are right. I hope lad does prove you right.

Meantime, let's see how Gbamin does, and if i'm right and he allows Gomes to get further forward and show the attacking part of his game.

I hate repeating myself - but why does anyone think Iwobi was a "panic" buy?
As the picture now emerges, we only made one bid for Zaha of £52 M last week. Palace said no and we then moved on to another target - yes Iwobi - who we also made a bid for last week.

The shenanigans at CP seem to actually all revolve around Zaha wanting to leave to join us and Palace not budging on price. In the end - it seems that the deal didn't go through because despite all the faff in the press - we never went back and raised our bid above the £52M we originally offered.

Meanwhile, - again as I have said several times on this and other threads - before close season M&M made clear that they had a list of targets and that they would be pursuing them.

Obviously there would be different players on that list for different positions and if choice one wasn't available they would move on to choice 2 etc for each of the positions.

Given that we were at one time chasing Malcom from Barca and then Zaha from CP, before we made an initial offer for Iwobi, it is probably fair to say that Iwobi was third on the list for that position.

But, whatever happened, I am confident that M&M would not pursue anyone that they did not think would improve the team so, if Iwobi was on that list - he was there for that reason.

Finally, from what I have seen of the Brands and Silva operation, I cannot, for one moment believe that today, Brands turned to Silva and said, "We can't get any of our CB targets and CP won't sell us Zaha at a price we want - I know - lets make a last minute bid for Iwobi so that we can get rid of this last few million that is burning a hole in our pockets".

No folks - I firmly believe that Iwobi was on that list because M&M believe he can help lift us to the next level. and, in the end, they got their man - at what now seems to be a very good price

Steve Ferns, Now that we have added more pace upfront with Kean and Iwobi plus Richarlison do you think that may bring the best out of Sigurdsson? By that I mean that he will have more runners to play balls into space to. Just a thought.

Leicester also have Filip Benkovic, who was on loan at Celtic last season. I reckon he might well be ahead of Söyüncü in the pecking order. Obviously Brendan Rogers knows him well, and other than a period of injury mid-season, he played most of the season.

Christy
So you don’t want a midfield that can do everything which all successful sides have, Gueye and macca who you also mentioned have a common denominator which is relegation, Wow, all my favourite Everton midfielders have something else in common they are champions.

Neil @686 the balloons on Sky Transfer Night were saying much the same thing. By having so much pace and so many options up front, defenders will back off half a dozen yards and that will give Gomes and particularly Siggi more space to operate in. Perfect for a player like Sigurdsson.

Steve, I broadly agree that our squad is deeper than Leicester's, but if they're lucky with injuries (no Euro football, so not overburdened with fixtures, like us) they might not need a deep squad.

Having said that, Evans is notoriously injury-prone (see Mina) so either team could be playing a teenage or over-the-hill centre half in a few weeks, and then who knows...

A generous helping of good fortune never goes amiss.

They do also start the season with a settled team who are familiar playing with each other: 9 out of their likely starting 11 played together at the end of last season., ours is likely to be only 7/11 (well, perhaps 8, since Iwobi won't be starting, post AFCON)

It certainly will Neil. No doubt about that. Get Sigurdsson on the ball and he will have more options and so he can find the right pass and do a lot better.

My issue is the balance of the side and I'd rather take out the no10 (the AMC) and use a DM with two MCs. I'd like Sigurdsson to evolve into one of those MCs. I just don't think he's played well in that central midfield role as a number 8, going box to box.

@Hugh
I agree Iwobi was on not a panic and on the list but he was 3rd Choice is the point, I don't think Zaha would have handed in Transfer request yesterday if he wasnt aware we were still chasing his signature

We went for 2 top drawer attacking players and failed simple as, Now Iwobi has potential to become a great player, but we as Everton supports seem to spend our lives looking for silver linings when let down

Zaha would be a starter in any Top 6 side thats the type of statement signing( Mosh the bluffer) I would have expected from a team proporting to break the Top 6 and we failed

Is not to say there are some weak teams in Top 6 this year and we might get there but would be a shame if we fall short yet AGAIN for the sake of 20m or so

I am very disappointed we didnt get him and I believe we were trying till the end, is why the Iwobi deal nearly didnt happen and was soo late..

Think most of us would have liked Zaha, that said in the cold light of day we have done some great business.

Forward situation been addressed, Gomes deal sorted out, Iwobi in (most chances created in the prem by an arsenal player last season despite his limited minutes), Sidibe in to back up Coleman, Gbamin and Delph in for McCarthy and Gana, Llosels an improvement on Steklenburg, and a lot of dead wood cleared out (backing up as far back as Ashley Williams).

I'd have taken that before the end of last season. The only player we lost of any note was Gana and he wanted to go, everyone else we needed out and replaced with better.

Chris our team against Palace:

DCL
Bernard Sigurdsson Richarlison
Gomes Gbamin
Digne Mina Keane Coleman
Pickford

That's only one new player and only Mina coming in who was not playing regularly at the end of the previous season. Moise Kean will come off the bench for the first few games until he starts banging them in. Iwobi too.

I predict Gbamin will start as he looks very fit and ready and he's a key player. Delph might have started but he's likely to only be on the bench, if he is indeed fit enough to start.

Chris@690

"either team could be playing a teenage or over-the-hill centre half in a few weeks"

Have you seen Morgan play? He is the weak link already and was the player Leicester have been trying to replace, or rather, find a centre half so that they don't need to play him. Hence the attempts to sign James Tarkowski and the rumoured bid for Ake. Leicester WILL be playing an over-the-hill centre half from the get go.

Si Smith, you forgot Zouma. But other than that you are right.

Steve, I'm hoping Gbamin can be an upgrade on Gueye, that he can pass, and can influence us going forward, as well as tackle. I've never said Gueye was anything more than a ball winner, and I can't see that changing at PSG.

Michael #689, I must be a balloon as well 😬

Steve, I would agree that he doesn’t seem comfortable in that role and is much better suited to lone more advanced position. I like Siggy though, he gives 100% every game regardless of where he is expected to play. He is also one of the best finishers I have ever seen for a midfield player - makes it look very simple at times. However, he seems a bit lost in games at times and I think that is where we are looking to improve which is what I think you are alluding to.

To be honest, Steve, I never expected Zouma, the transfer ban was always going to kill us with Chelsea.

I was surprised they allowed Luis to go, if I'm honest he is a player I rate and at £8m I'd have liked us to take him but, with Mina, Holgate and Gbamin, I think we're covered for a partner for Keane.

Ray, I'd be shocked if Morgan starts for Leicester - he was sent off a couple of times last season due to his lack of pace, and he won't have got any quicker!
Pretty sure Soyuncu will start, and Andrew pointed out Benkovic, who i'd forgotten, cheers.

Steve, you're probably right re that 11. Was counting Mina as a relative new boy, plus expecting "Moyesie" to start up front, as young lads should always be fit.

Have never seen Gbamin - hope he's decent!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree Neil. I really like Gylfi Sigurdsson. He seems a nice guy. He's articulate and says nice things about us. He's as good a striker of the ball as I've ever seen. Great shot, great passing, great free kicks. He puts in a shift and covers the ground. He can turn a game in a heart-beat such as when he sold Maddison and then scored a screamer against Leicester.

The problem is that he has great moments of influence rather than great influence. Our highest earner and most expensive player, playing in the no10 role should be trying to do more. Demanding the ball and trying to make something happen. Sometimes games just pass him by.

Maybe, just maybe, he's going to be less heavily marked and will find more space and he will then start to boss games and do everything I moan he doesn't. But if he did, that's not just our best player, that's a truly world class player. So, clearly I expect far too much. I do accept that.

As for playing deeper, you're right. He also moves into space and lacks positional discipline which central midfielders need by moving away from where he should be, gravitating back towards the number 10 position.

Christy,

I suspect PSG have brought Gueye in for the champions league to try and compete with better sides as they are not on the same level football-wise. They don't need him domestically.

Interesting article in the Telegraph.

Eric, they do. As I said above, they get caught with sucker punches on the counter. This has been enough to lose games they absolutely dominate.

Gueye can take a position covering as PSG camp in the opposition penalty area. So, if they get dispossessed, Gueye can get across and make the tackle or hold up the attack for PSG to recover their shape. He's excellent at this. And I suspect it's this they want more than for him to hunt the ball in CL games. I will watch with interest to see where and how he plays in CL games against the big sides.

Steve, I saw some B roll of Gbamin saying he wasn’t quite there for this weekend. Fancy Schneiderlin to fill that spot first up.

JP, he's been flying in training. Looking very sharp, as apparently has Keane. With Delph injured expect Gbamin to start.

Meantime, Morgan is looking at a transfer to Turkey or elsewhere in Europe and so is unlikely to be counted on, unless Silva has done a U-turn after missing out on Doucouré and now wants Schneiderlin to play a significant role and has persuaded him of this.

Steve, as you know I am no great fan of Schneiderlin, and if there is any chance whatsoever of a move away even on loan, I would welcome it. I can't see any point of including him in the team against Palace or Watford for that matter, if that indeed is the case.

I would much rather see Gbamin in from the start as he is now an integral part of the future, and hopefully remains to be. That also applies to any other peripherals, who may be heading for the exits, we have been gifted a decent fixture list this time around let's take full advantage of that and try and gain as many points as we can.

MS is under contract with Everton and if asked to play he will do, and probably not let anyone down. Wouldn’t be adverse to seeing any of our new players of course but the less changes the better chance we have of hitting the ground running. I’m sure no matter what they say they all want to start.

Terrific window for us Blues. Sure we could have done with another top centre-back but Rojo doesn't come close to fitting in that category so glad we missed him. Exciting times and still a long way to go but this is a really decent start. COYB!!!

I make that 6 in and 27 out of which 11 are on loan. Still time to sell, or loan out, the likes of Mirallas, Niasse, Tosun, Omyekuri, Tarashaj and Bolasie.

Mirallas, Niasse, Tosun and Bolasie will all be big earners so the sooner they're gone, the better.

All in all quite a successful window which should have trimmed a fair bit off the wage bill with, hopefully, further reductions to come!

Interestingly, I see our squad as roughly 24-strong at the moment, which I know is right in Silva's desired sweet spot (I'm counting Tosun and Schneiderlin - even though he's been linked to a potential loan move - and assuming Mirallas, Martina, Bolasie and Niasse have no role to play).

1. Pickford
2. Holgate
3. Baines
4. Keane
5. Delph
6. Calvert-Lewin
7. Sigurdsson
8. Walcott
9. Digne
10. Mina
11. Tosun
12. Schneiderlin
13. Bernard
14. Gomes
15. Stekelenburg
16. Coleman
17. Gbamin
18. Davies
19. Kean
20. Richarlison
21. Sidibe
22. Iwobi
23. Lossl
24. Gibson

I have to say, that seems like a pretty solid squad, all things considered.

I think Evertons turnaround in squad since the 2017-18 is absolutely staggering, if you look at the players then you could hardly imagine what we have now.
A fantastic window, big money spent but only on young, potentially fantastic players.
This team is going to blast the top six wide open, were hard to beat have a well balance team ( which you cannot over emphasize) and frightening pace and options upfront.
I expect a lot of goals this season and excitement.
Well done Marcel Marko Bill, Farhad and all involved in the turnaround.
We are Everton and we are coming to get you !

Steve Ferns- I don't think Siggy is going to ever be the player you want him to be as he doesn't have the guile, flair or trick to be the player you would wish.

I agree with your playing in moments analysis though I disagree with you on his passing ability which for me is decent but not great.

I think the reason why fans will always be split on him is because of his special ability to strike a ball and win games. When he does that he wins games, when he doesn't he offers very little.

At Spurs he failed because they didn't played him in a 3 a lot of the time and so nullifying his main weapon and that's why they think he's useless and his confidence was shot.

Jer- Zaha would walk on to any top 6 team.. really?

Last years 6 players who played in his fav position: Sterling,Mane,Son,Martial,Hazard and Lacazette.

Not sure he would walk into one let alone any.

Neil@698, sorry, wasn't suggesting you were a balloon! Just saying that EVEN the balloons on Sky were saying it - Siggi should be rubbing his hands at the options he will have.

Steve Ferns at 701, I think Gylfi is far more influential than people realise. We seem to have a section of support who think he is our weakest link, yet he was the joint top scorer and got a few assists too IIRC.

Want to know the issue with Gylfi? He spends far too much energy covering Richarlison (Who is the lazier of the two) and dropping back to pick the ball up because as some posters alluded to even on this thread, Gana gueye's weakness was his passing. I mentioned as much on the Gana to PSG thread in January.
Please watch Gylfi and his tracking back more closely this season. He needs to be selfish in my opinion and leave the defensive players to their jobs, I mean how often is Gomes and Gana busting a gut to run beyond Gylfi? Not very much.

Finally id say that Gylfi struggles sometimes because he picks the ball up and there is only ever one man ahead of him (Usually DCL). There are so many factors that come into play in the Gylfi debate.

Can Gbamin be the next Yaya Toure or can he free Gomes to push forward a little more? time will tell.

Finally, that goal against Leicester was my GOTS. The turn and the conviction to hit the shot as sweetly as he did was a thing of beauty. criminally disregarded in the GOTS competition, especially compared to Salah vs Chelsea which has been scored a million times over by any left footed right winger.

Michael #713, I know don’t worry, just being mischievous.