Rodwell is another matter... Sell him and we are small time again! No price would compensate for the loss of Jack Rodwell in my opinion.

Glad he got off. The tree hugging hippy got what she deserved, unless you want to believe Max Clifford's story.

If our broke chairman (or the power-men behind him) were to sell Rodwell, would even the `realists' be happy to continue giving the Board an easy ride?

What's the point in Everton training up these players to be some of the most amazing in the league to then sell them?? I don't see the point.

Most of this team is coming into their prime. It's time to win something, that will make players want to stay. What is the point of Rodwell going to Chelsea to sit on the bench?

We'll never be able to rub shoulders with the 'Sky Four' if we keep selling our best young players to them.

Peanuts hit the ground running when he came to us and in the 2nd half of last season everything good that we did cam down the left hand side, so get him signed up, Moyesy.

It just makes you love Arteta all the more, you never hear a dicky bird out of him or his agent and, when rumours do come out, he’s the first to say it’s all nonsense.

....£25 million for Arteta to Chelsea... please god no!

With so many players in their late 20s early 30s, this current team needs to achieve something (Champions League or a trophy) in the next couple of years or else we will have to start again.

We could sell Rodwell because he probably won't reach his full potential while the current group are at their peak and replace him with a proven player who can help us achieve something.

Or we can back the current squad to win something and break the top 4 and keep Rodwell and start building for the future around him, which I think we should do.

Now people are saying either start at £50 million to sell or keep at all costs to preserve the future. How fickle and how knee-jerk are both extremes? Prior to Man U at home was Rodwell useless? No, I would suggest.

Subsequently, because of his 5 or 6 minute cameo in that game against Man U (only 4 days after the Sporting Lisbon home game), plus his performances against Hull and Man City is he now a world class player? No. I would suggest,..... not yet.

I don't want him to leave, nor Pienaar. At the moment, Rodwell isn't world class, a yesteryear Gerrard clone (although I hate to give their players any credit, even if it is for deeds in the past) nor a second coming of Rooney in a different position; one day he may well be any of these....or not; truth is we don't know.

Why don't we just see what happens, instead of assessing players contribution, standing and worth on a match by match, or even incident by incident, basis. If you trawl ToffeeWeb contributions over the past 12 months then at some point there has been a debate, post individual games, to the effect that every current first team squad member should be sold..... or kept.

What is it, exactly, Toffeeweb contributors want (beyond the obvious of trophies and success) of their players to enable a more considered and rational longer term view to prevail, and more pertinently how do they thnk this should be achieved.

I suppose posts like these have to be discussed because there's always the possibility that in the background Pienaar's Mr 10% is working 24/7 to get him a move... but, at some point, horse trading your players to provide investment for the future leaves you with a problem with the present.

We do need some progress on the Stadium and on the investment front or we're forever going to be at the mercy of clubs higher up the food chain. I think this Summer will be a litmus test for the regime at Everton. For the first time I think we have a team capable of challenging for honours and I'll be gutted if the finances aren't in a good enough state to fight off advances from other clubs.

The ultimate derogatory put-down I can give though is to any Evertonian who doesn't recognise the class that managers the world over are seeing in Jack Rodwell. He's 18 FFS and wanted by every top team in the UK and perhaps Europe and we must keep him or forever be best of the rest chasing 5th place.

This is a key period for Everton, are we to remain forever small and in debt or can we use this very good squad to springboard into the very top level with a new ground?

The top sides hang on to their best players, selling only when they are finished, don't come up to the standard anymore or get a ridiculous offer (Ronaldo, Alonso etc). A lot of the players mentioned above never wanted to leave Everton: Ball, Speed, Ferguson and apparently Lineker.

The main criterIa for top players now is the Champions League, set up by the G14 group to enable the CL teams to earn enough revenue each year to poach players from teams not in the CL and the related sponsorships (and image right contracts) keep the players happy and unwilling to move to non-CL teams.

It's a vicious circle, The non-CL teams lose their best players to CL teams so the non-CL teams can't hope to qualify for the CL without massive investment. They then turn to youth developement, gain success through these players but, when in a position to break the cartel, the CL teams rip off their players. Classic.

There is no doubt in my mind that a Euro Super League is just around the corner, every team is jockeying to get into position to be in it.

I see each club keeping its own TV revenue, no international football teams, the PL becomes the CL, the CL becomes the World Cup, SA and NA, with the Final in Dubai City

Andrei and Bally seemed to have a connection (Bally was my fave of all-time, aside from Inchy and now Fella)

Craig, I agree with Ashley, he needs to either do more research or look back at history.

I think most people think the age that players reach their peak is late 20s or dependent on position, early 30s. We have a mixed age group but sticking to the thread about selling and noting the point a contributor made earlier, the game is won in midfield and in Jack and Fella we have potentially THE BEST.

Add in Johnny, Jags, Baines, Bily, Mikel, my fave Joey, and with the others we are not far away.

Priorities, a fast hard working goalscorer (obviously — and show me a team that are not searching for that phenomenon) a bit of clarity over right back, and, a bit more controversially a goalkeeper, then I think we could , just could be on our way. To what?

True selling clubs develop players and then sell them; sometimes it can be good business but selling your best earmarks you forever as a small club. Everton selling Pienaar I could accept as good business but not Rodwell.