I have just read online in a Spanish newspaper Marca.com that Banega is going nowhere according to their president, they Valencia have just received a cash injection and now do not need to sell their players, we shall see!

Interesting reasons given Lee. Who knows whats going on?

I agree with your penultimate paragraph. We’ve all seen it all before. Who would have thought that when last season finished we would be in such a mess at this stage on the 2009-10 campaign? Utter shambles.

On the subject of transfers, this article suggests Elm is of to AZ Alkmaar.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12874_5509726,00.html

In what may well be connected news, Valencia have managed to secure another loan with which to tide them over:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/8671052

One wonders whether them getting that money has encouraged them to hang onto Banega? Half a billion euros in debt though!

Nothing that happens Everton regards transfers shocks me anymore. The board and management are as bad as each other. We get fed lies and we are so depserate we beleive them. Least we can ride our moral high horse how we never poached anybody who cares that the standard of football is poor or we’ll never win a trophy we still have our morals. Nil satis nisi optimum not anymore

Here is what happened with Banega... the same was with Wagner Love last year:

"David Moyes is fuming after his move for Vagner Love collapsed when middle men failed to deliver. The Everton boss was told CSKA Moscow would let the striker go on a season-long loan for about £2.5million, and the deal was set up with owner Bill Kenwright’s approval. But Everton’s transfer jinx struck again when they were told they had been misled by one of the agents involved. Moyes is furious he wasted a week chasing the Brazilian and will probably go into the opening game against Blackburn Rovers without a new signing."

All this from Mr Pick Up the Phone and Call Me — because the manager is the decision-maker — not the agents.

Hear hear, Kieran. It strikes me that Moyes is fireproof in some quarters, when some of his transfer dealings in the past, particularly the bigger money signings, are not exactly fabulous.

He has tried to take the moral highground and in doing so has left us scrabbling around and inevitably spunking a load of money in last minute panic buys. Why wasn’t the price quoted two weeks ago, because it has been clear for months now that City have coveted Lescott?

To be honest, I am sick to the back teeth with the whole management team and board because they are clearly in each other's pockets. If Moyes gets the transfer cash, I hope he spends it better than the Rooney cash. Personally, I doubt it.

I’m always amazed by the amount of posters who come on here and say "I have it on good authority" and spout some bullshit about us signing players. What happened to all these so called ’medicals’ that were taking place at the beginning of last week? Perhaps one of these people, Richard Dodd, Suzy Whitehead or Peter ’Family Guy’ Griffin would like to shed some light on this one?

Have Valencia just pulled out of the deal and want to save face by not admitting to any contact in the first place?

Have we been duped again by Jorabchin and Pini Zahavi? Have these guys lied to us about a player’s availability to get us to sell Lescott? If this is the case, we should pull the plug on the Lescott deal immediately.

Moyes never spoke publicly about Wagner Love until after the deal collapsed. He is on record talking about Banega. He has even mentioned the figures and the type of deal involved. Moyes cannot be complicit to these lies that we were in for Banega but the deal was never likely. I can’t see any manager being complicit to that amount of bullshit.

Maybe it’s time for a boycott of the next home game. Maybe, just maybe they will start to see a bit of sense.

Lee, I’m totally mystified as to why you leap to the conclusion that the "lies" are coming from Moyes and/or Kenwright. Are you seriously suggesting that anyone in their right mind would make up such a scenario and apply for a work permit based on a total fantasy?

If there are any lies being told my money is on the Valencia end of the saga.

Well... after today's game, enough is enough! I will not be paying any more hard earned cash to watch that utter shite. I am frankly quite sick of the whole club from top to bottom.

Before I pay to watch another Everton match the following will have to have changed:

1. 4-5-1!!! Now I understand perhaps packing the midfield against the top 4 but Burnley away!? C’mon! Pathetic negative tactics that I have had more than enough of. It's no wonder every single striker we have had struggles to produce anything on their lonesome.

2. The shambolic transfer policy! I’m not expecting to spend millions but please just replace whoever is sold for starters! The squad is at its thinnest I've ever known and weakest! Playing a defence of Hibbert, Neville, Yobo, Baines is quite frankly a joke!

3. The Club start treating its fans with respect and stop the lies. I think it's disgusting most of the PR that comes out of the club. Why are we expected to continue paying to watch matches when not a single player has been brought in that the fans might want to watch all summer?

Disgusting and I for one have had enough.

I get the feeling that Valencia have screwed the club over. I can’t see how Moyes would have dug a hole for himself like he did if there wasn’t some substance to all of this. I feel that the club attempts to sign quality on the cheap has destroyed the club's reputation.

If I was looking at all of this from the perspective of a partisan football fan I would say that the club is a bit of a joke. The management have to see sense. They lack something very critical in these days of big business football. Fools cannot prosper!

Depending on what is really happening, if we have been screwed by Valencia and they are lying, we should expose it also we need to stop being so naieve. If the player's agents have screwed around with us, this makes us as bad as City if we have not contacted the club first. Either way, we have been shown up to be transfer fools yet again.

Last sunday, Liverpool suffered an in jury leaving them with one centre-back; by Wednesday, they had bought a Greek international who was coming in as 4th choice but cover straight away. We kicked Lescott out of the squad last Wednesday and have since played 2 games and now it seems sold him — and yet we have not brought anybody in. Shambolic club.

Banega, Naughton, Senderos. Lies, Lies and more Lies. Blue Bill is taking the piss out of all of us, Moysey included. For the first time the look of frustration and anger was evident in Moyes's eyes during his interview after the Burnley game. I am not a betting man, but I truely believe this will be Moyes's last season, if he does not leave before that. Well done Blue Bill, you have well and truely fucked it up this time, you lying, cheating prick.

The anger and frustration that most of us are feeling must pale into insignificance to what David Moyes must be feeling. He must think he is pissing in the wind. What he has achieved during his time here, and over the last three seasons especially is nothing short of brilliance.

I do not buy into this Blue Bill and Davey love-pact thing, I firmly believe this Lescott business and failure to to agree one new signing could very well be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

I pray i am wrong because who is out there to replace DM, who will come in with zero money to spend??? I think it is frightening that Peter Reid is back in town, Full of respect for Peter but...

I feel that the Lescott "deal" represents good business if the figure of £24M is correct and that money goes into the kitty for Moyes to spend. £19M profit in three years isn’t too shabby.

However, I firmly believe that something is truly rotten to the core at our beloved club though. As reported in the comments above, it does appear the Rasmus Elm is about to sign for AZ Alkmaar. Now I’m in Sweden at the moment visiting family and have just been to see HIF vs GAIS game, and any league has to be better than the standard I saw tonight (less said about the ref the better! Clattenburg / Poll combined and x 10!) but surely to God ANY team in the Premier League has to be more appealing than AZ? Why does no-one want to sign for us? Oh, that’s right! We’d have to bid for them before they could reject us!

I now seriously doubt that we even have a transfer policy. I agree that the stalling on the Lescott deal was done, but not by BK, by DM. Don’t get me wrong I don’t believe a single effing word coming out of BK’s mouth, but i think DM is scared of being found out. If he has the money to spend then he no longer has any excuses. Of course none of the money from the Lescott deal would find it’s way to the kitty anyway.

I also find it a little rich that we are talking about reporting City to the FA. It wasn’t Hughes (I think) that first mentioned City’s interest in Lescott at a press conference, It was Moyes. Trying to generate some cash to spend perhaps?

As you can see from above I have had one to drink so I’m going to bed.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum has long been a millstone hung around our collective necks so it’s either time to change the motto or time to change the way we do things. COYBB!

I’m not arsed about Lescott anymore. He’s on his way so I don’t give a fuck.

What I’m struggling with is the total piss poor conduct WE as a club have in terms of concluding deals.

Scrub that; MAKING deals.

Some bastard's head best roll if this Banega debacle is true.

Right, I’m off to trap my bollocks in a wood vice. It’s got to be less painful than what I’ve seen and heard today.

Lionel - Just to let you know that there is a considerable queue for the wood vice with waiting times estimated at 1-2 hours.

Go back 12 months, we were in the same position, we were on the verge of selling our most valuable asset, but not adding any new players to the squad.

Weaknesses in the team were apparent to all, but no moves. Last minute we bring in several has-beens or never-wassers then trumpet a €15M capture we had been tracking for 2 years — yeah right! We possibly paid £4M max for this guy and were seriously overcharged.

This season we have 3 of our best players out long term, but have done absolutely zilch, feigning outrage at City for their underhand approach for Lescott while trying to boost the price, but again doing nothing to line up a replacement.

The Banega farce became apparent to me when the work permit was okayed and then Moyes comes out with, "We hope to speak to the player in the next few days" ??????

I expect Everton to complete at least one signing this week but I don't think it will address the clear weaknesses we have in the squad or in the boardroom.

The Cup Final was an eye opener for all Evertonians with a clear targetting by Hiddink of our right side, but we expected that Moyes would learn the lesson and resolve the problem. Well, we expected too much.

I think the drip payments we love so much for transfers are no longer acceptable to clubs in the current financial climate which is why we find it almost impossible to see any transfer through to conclusion.

Lionel & Michael, don’t bother — we didn’t get the wood vice. Everton were in the market for the vice for a month and the news was all over the Echo but it was bought by a German and the original owner says he’s never heard of us and was unaware of our interest.

If you look at the statement properly, it seems clear to me:

"No negotiations with Everton exist or any other club for the loan of Ever Banega. This news is not true." Say Valencia.

They know we have cash from Lescott so why should they loan him out? They will want to recoup the €18M they shelled out and sell him rather than loan — probably want to cut their losses. He’s a bit of a gamble to buy outright, so don't hold your breath.

We've just been linked with another Russian winger, very left sided, 6 foot 1, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov at £10mill. Perhaps he wants Pienaar in the centre or right side. But then again its only he Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1208509/David-Moyes-rushes-Russian-lines-10m-Lokomotiv-Moscow-skipper-Diniyar-Bilyaletdinov.html?ITO=1490

Does anyone else think that the Banega story -http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5509075,00.html is a clever ploy by David Moyes and Co to get the work permit for the player and get his current club (Valencia) to come out publicly and deny any such knowledge of a deal? Maybe, with the promise of money for Valencia, Everton have demanded that Valencia keep quiet until a done deal to ward off other interested parties (Naughton deal springs to mind).

Jamie, could be a clever ploy — on the other hand, now he has a work permit it's open season for English clubs to come and get him. Now Valencia have distanced themselves from us, it invites others to come in and buy rather than loan, or at least to drive the price up.

I would rather have Fernandes anyway — and he's not Europa Cup-tied.

MIke, how vast is your knowledge of the Eredivisie? AZ Alkmaar won it last season, above the supposedly mighty Ajax, PSV & Feyenoord, so if Elm goes there he’s straight into Champions League football. He also stated that he would have more chance of breaking into their first team.

Also, Sean, Arsenal confirmed the Senderos talks, and Spurs simply beat us to Naughton. How are they lies? Now I get frustrated at the lack of positive transfer dealings coming out of our club, but to me, these suggestions of lies and fake bids are ludicrous and belong on other Everton forums with similar initials to our Chairman.

As for the Banega deal, it is crazy. But it has to be from Valencia’s end. I was under the impression a form of work agreement or deal would have to be produced to get the permit. Who knows........

Don't ask me why but I'm still positive this deal will go ahead. It may be complicated but I'm sure it will get done before the window closes. If I'm feeling really positive, maybe even before the Wigan game.