I actually think thant Manny can be that man - I think given regular games he will prove to be just the person we need.

Yeah, Manny can be that player. I think he’s got more of the "box to box" nature than Hleb, although not as skilfull. But he’s more of an all rounder.

Apparently, Michael Bradley from Heerenveen is that type of player and one that Moysie?s closely looking at... watch this space!

Manny the Midfield General..?!! What have you two been smoking ?! Absolutely no way. Lightweight.. We need steel,not silk.

Whilst Fernandes is capable of the the killer pass, he also gets caught in possession far too often and gives the ball away too much. Not worth £12m that?s for sure on his showing this season so far.

That said, if he can get fit, sharpen up and we can get him for around £6m he?s probably worth signing based on waht we saw a year ago.

What Everton desprately need in midfield is some POWER to add to all those midget gems with their close control and neat football. Carsley has done so well, but he?s not up to playing every single match. Neville - don?t even go there as he?s a por paser and should only ever play in defence. I suspect Moyes knows this is the case, but finding a Roy Keane is not easy.

But he found Lescott and Cahill from the lower leagues and I?m sure there is somebody out there... let?s hope he identifies and buys the right player this Summer as it?s the key position in our team.

As much as I rate Fernandes he isn?t a box to box midfielder. Its not his style. He?s a deep lying play maker in my opinion. He drops deep, demands the ball of the ball four and uses his passing ability to bring others into play. We also need a player in his style and he?s the man for the job in my opinion.

Why is he not a box-to-box midfielder? Well he?s not lightweight at all so that isn?t a problem its just that he doesn?t have the energy or forward running power on the ball to be one. He likes to get hold of it and make the pass whereas box to box midfielders like to bomb forward with the ball at their feet.

Michael Bradley the lad at Heerneveen is a box-to-box midfielder and a player we should be looking at but he?s one for the future rather than one for now.

Personally I?d love someone like Diaby at Arsenal. Maybe that's a little unrealistic but you never know as he isn?t a regular at Arsenal. Fernandes and Diaby in the middle of our midfielder would be one hell of a partnership. Diaby isn?t the strongest defensively though.

Hargreaves ? defensive midfielder. Hleb ?wide player. Essien ? we tried to sign. Gerrard is the only thing between top 4 and mid table excluding Torres.

We WILL get the box-to-box player this summer boys and girls ? Moyes has tried to sign this type for the last 3 summers.

One player I have heard good things about and who has appeared on this pages rumour mill before is a young Belgian midfielder called Fellaini. He is an international with 2 goals in 5 appearences and is best described as a tall (6'4") box-to-box midfielder.

I'm sure that playing in the Belgian league will probably mean his price would be considerably lower than that of a player at a higher calibure club. Mind you what do I know!

This will no doubt be attributed as FM nonsense - but one player I saw last summer who I thought was brilliant at a small club and would therefore be cheap was sold in Januaryfor £10m! The player in question was a playmaker called Ederson who recently left Nice to join Lyon. If this transfer had not have happened I would be making more noise about him.

Felliani looks absolutely exellent from what little I have seen. At 20/21 and 6’1’’+ scores goals and build like a brick wall. And wont cost 10million+.

Brown from Celtic also looks very good, however with the experiences of Petrov (villa), Miller (man u) and Ferguson (b’burn) that would be risky.

Bradley will be a very good player, however again the problem of adapting after playing in Holland. Kuyt is an example of that, it also took van Persie and Babel a long time to settle.

Manny isn’t the man. He would be a good luxury player, put he is weak on the ball and sometimes tries to look good rather than just do the job (7 shots against Chelsea). Another loan or 6million, any more and there are better options. We need steel aswell as flair.

Kallstrom, best of the bunch so far. Will do a similar role to Carrick or Scholes. Sits in midfield and without any glamour or flash keeps the ball going forwards into dangerous positions, and helps out defensively reasonably well. Isn’t small with being particulary tall a 5’11’’. Has World Cup and Champions League experience but still looking to prove himself. At £6-10million would be a bargain and would quickly become our best player. Captain material also.

We need 2, not just 1 or these players, but it is essential and with one of these 2 (I’d prefer Felliani & Kallstrom) we would be greatly improved.

Manny may not be a midfield general but I definitely think we should keep him. His delivery against Chelsea was much better than Arteta?s of late and now and again he has shot as he can really strike the ball. He showed his pedigree against Chelsea and is coming back to form and nearing his fitness and will improve towards the end of the season, unlike everyone else at the moment. But I think we need a few big signings now not digging up the lower leagues... yes, it has proved sucessful before but we need someone who can step in with a reputation and command the midfield in my view.

Fernandes is the only footballer we have at present who can bring Arteta and Pienar into the game.

His Pass to Osman V Derby was a rare moment of sublime quality given our last several (sub) standard performances.

Defensive midfielder for me with Manny given a free role.

Hleb is rubbish in a decent passing team, be awful in a lesser one.

Dream on, guys... we?re getting Brian Howard from Barnsley and the way it's looking we?re gonna mess up on Pienaar and Fernandes.
What happened to the "he?ll be signed within the next 48 hours" crap last Tuesday???

Fernandes is a box to box player, albeit without the tempo and drive we require, by that I mean he drops deep to collect the ball from defence and looks to sprays passes around, and going forward again he is able to pick a pass, to me Cahill is a box to box player if played in a 442 and he definately has drive. I would have Arteta & Pinear as our dribblers, with Cahill providing the drive and tempo, and fernandes provide the class, Vaughan & Yak up front. That’s a side that can win games.

Obviously requires them all to be fit and in form but heho. If we can add to that with any of Kallstrom, Fellini, Bradley, Arshavin I would be happy, better still if we can get them all!

Also re RB what about Chimbonda, I think the general feeling around Spurs is that hes on his way out, I’ve always thought he was a good RB and in my opinion way better than the two we have, any thoughts?

Paul Henshaw - Moyes ain’t gonna sign him. Tradition of this club is to be linked to every player, and at transfer deadline day when the season has lareday started, loan in someone we will never buy (Ferrari) or struggle to find 2 million and take months to secure a deal for S Penuts.

We should have signed Diarra before he went to Pompy, situations like this are the difference between getting to finals (Pompy) and always nearly men (Us).

At the start of this thread it was stated ’ if we can only sign one player’. ONE PLAYER?? ARE YOU HAVING A LAUGH??. We need at least seven new players in the summer and we are going to need four four just to bablance the numbers when Gravesen, VDM and possibly one or two others move on.. One player?? MADNESS

Doesn’t matter if we do sign a midfield maestro, Moyes will switch them to the wing (Arteta, Fernandes, Osman) to accomadate Neville an Carsley in the middle!!!

Manny won’t end up costing what he did before, and end up the player we need. But we need 2, not just one!!

I know we need seven players but if we could only sign 1 player it would be a box-to-box midfielder. Your right Tony we do need a lot of players but if we only sign 1, that's the type of player I?d sign

You?re right Mike. We need two not only one. Infact we need two teams of the same calibre in order to be consistent. We do have one and we need to make lots of signing to get the other. Just have a look to our squad, when Arteta is injured there is no one to take his boots, same for Cahill, Lescott, Yobo and others....

C?meth the Hour, C?meth the man "ANTHONY GARDNER" Errrr sorry I mean Micheal Branch, Danny Cadamateri, Mitch Ward, John Spencer, John Collins, Mikel Madar, Francis Jeffers, Tobia Linderoth, Le Tie, Gary Naysmith and sadly it?s beginning to look like the most expensive flop of them all ANDREW JOHNSON. Guys as you can see recent years have always incuded so many top class Match Winners!

So apparantely we're linked to this 20-years-old bloke, Owen Garvan. He's 6 feet high an plays in centre-midfield for Ipswich according to wikipedia. I never saw him play or read any stories about him so I really have no idea if he would be a good signing. Come end of the season he will have played about 100 matches which is a good sign at the age of 20 of course.

Anyone here seen Ipswich play this season? Is the lad any good and could he become the midfield genereal we're needing so badly?

We need 1? We need 3 players! Very, very important areas. 2 CMs and a RB. There is a system being played in Everton. I know for some it might be boring, but to many, it might be the most effective. I believe Moyes has build a team around Cahill. Which means the strongest formation would be a 4-5-1. We definately need better CMs to accomodate this line-up. Guess, Cahill would be a definate starter..so who?s gonna support him in midfield?

We need a solid midfield general who is also a good box to box player. He doesn?t need to be an attacking midfielder, someone who can be tall, strong, dominates midfield, moves forward when required and able to spray passes to dictate play. He is going to be the heartbeat of the midfield.He is not just going to sit back and defend like Carsley. He is going to be the motivator to bring the ball forward and most importantly keep possesion in the opposing half. Of course he will have to do Carsley?s role of breaking the opposition?s attack, but not pumping the ball forward... but moving forward with the ball and identifying teamates on dangerous positions.

Many of you might think such a midfielder might not exist..but I?m talking about players in the mould of Gareth Barry, Anderson, Mascherano, Hargreaves, Obi Mikel, Geremi, Maniche,Veira,Pirlo and even Gilberto Silva...

We need another midfielder to support this player..someone who can track back to defence if this player goes forward..or to move forward to support the attack. This other CM should be able to mete out responsibilities the midfield general wouldn?t be doing such as...accomodating the two flank players. Being the ?link? between the midfield and attack. And also acting as the central playmaker.

I believe we have two readymade players in this position. Osman and Fernandes. I?m not degrading these players, but if we are to step up to the next level, we really need a better midfielder. I have said before that I find Osman as the most improved player this season. I still say it. But Osman would not be able to provide steel when the other CM moves forward. He is able to accomodate central midfield, due to the fact that Carsley remains behind. We need 2 players who are able to move forward as well as track back in central midfield. Both players with a good understanding and timing. Players who can do both jobs as an attacking playmaker and sometimes as a defensive lynchpin..in the mould of Essien, Diarra, Gerrard, Van Bommel, Jenas, Flamini, Xavi...

I?m satisfied with the flanks, provided Arteta regains his form and Pineaar is consistent, but since we are using dribblers and not wingers in the flanks, we MUST need a wing-back... or else, there might not be much attacking movements to support the forwards.

Left looks ok to me with Baines, but right?....We just need a better RB, nuff said. Someone who is strong to support Yobo, Jagilka or Lescott as well as quick on the counter attack, to accomodate Arteta?s flick ons and dinks. The reason that an extra player doesn?t go into the opposing corner explains why we are so depleted in attack. The answer would lie with a RB, who would be our ?extra? winger. Look at Belleti, Sagna, Cicino, Oddo, Zambrotta, Alves, Micah Richards, Miguel, Glen Johnson, Maicon, Huyton and even Phil?s big bro Gary... Imagine how much of a difference a good RB can create...

Getting these 3 players might not solve all problems, but it might cement the problematic areas in our quest to reap another successful season. With a few loans, free transfers or introducing reserves at certain positions might wrap up the remainder concerns. Maybe another young striker to keep up the competition, another winger to give more attacking options and another CB to make it into Fab Four instead of the current three. And also imagine Osman, Phil, Carsley, Fernandes, AJ as squad players. Now that would signify ?the next step forward?!

I don?t think we?re as bad off as a lot of people would have us believe; keep Pienaar and sign Stuart Downing and Kevin Nolan. Baines, Gosling, Vaughan all having a good pre-season injury free and next season could be another step in the right direction.

Next step forward, 6 more years, good season so far, break the top 4. God I hate each of those phrases as its basically saying we're doing alright and content. Let's push on and get a round further in the FA Cup every year; let's loose to Shrewsburry or Oldham. Argh!!!

I know we were fighting relegatation not to long ago but we are always shit towards the end of the season and like the rest of you?s i am sick of celebrating 5th like its 1st or the semis as such. Some silverware would be nice but without the chance of Europe next year, this "great season" counts for absolutely nothing. But as long as we're making progress and heading the right way eh?

It’d definitely the three siginings for me;

Fernandes
Arshavin
The mystery midfield general (maybe Kallstrom)

I imagine that would cost a hell of a lot but I think it ticks a lot of boxes. Arshavin, especially as he can play up front, on the wing or in midfield. I think adding Cahill gives an excellent pot to pick your midfield pairings from. I wouldn’t be too fussed if we didn’t sign another RB because it would appear that Moyes (and a number of other people) thinks that Gosling is ready. You then have lots of options to pick from which is something even when we haven’t had injuries that we haven’t been able to do. Just think about it:

Howard
Gosling Yobo Lescott Baines
Arteta Kallstrom Fernandes Peanuts
Arshavin
Yak

Or

Howard
Gosling Yobo Lescott Baines
Areteta Kallstrom Manny Arshavin
Cahill
Yak

And think of the options on the bench!

Total outlay for this I reckon about 20 million which isn’t too different to last summers outlay.

COYB