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Should we really sell the Yak?
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Yakubu has been at the centre of plenty of media speculation recently linking him with moves away from Goodison, but should we sell him?
Lot's of fans I have spoken to said they would take £5/6 million for him, but personally I think this would be terrible business. He had a great goalscoring record up until his injury and Moyes has said it might take him about 6 months from the injury to regain his fitness — so surely next season he could regain his form and, if he does, he is surely worth the £12 million we paid for him plus more in the current market.
I still believe he is the best striker at the club; if we sold him, what goalscorer could we sign for the £5/6 million we would recoup? And apart from Saha, who has well documented fitness problems, we would not have any proven Premier League goalscorers in Anichebe, Beckford or Vaughan.
Anthony Millington, Posted 07/06/2010 at 10:18:11
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You will note that all the speculation in the papers lack one important thing.......any relevant quotes from either Everton FC, Moyes or the Yak.
I can see Moyes looking to get shut but he is still a proven natural finisher and one of the better players upfront in regards to hold up play. Unless Moyes has a replacement in mind, I can see him selling unless he does his usual good business and rapes someone to the tune of £13/15m
Beckford is not his replacement, he is a cheapish gamble
I can see Moyes looking to get shut but he is still a proven natural finisher and one of the better players upfront in regards to hold up play. Unless Moyes has a replacement in mind, I can see him selling unless he does his usual good business and rapes someone to the tune of £13/15m
Beckford is not his replacement, he is a cheapish gamble
The problem is his injury. At his age whatever that may be it will be hard to recover! Moyes may feel he will never fully get back to being capable of 20 a season. I'm not sure either way. Perhaps worth keeping him to January and seeing what the situation is then.
Keep him. I actually think he was alright last season. And we aren't exactly flooded with strikers. At worst he'll chip in with eight or nine goals.
If we got £10m plus, I'd get rid.
Not sure what our money situation is like, but a swap plus paying an extra few million pounds for Carlton Cole sounds good to me.
We're going round in circles here on TW ... did you hear that Pienaar is delaying his contract negotiations??? What do we reckon to that revelation?
I say keep the big fella. Don't care how old he is, we wouldn't get a good offer, and wouldn't afford a younger model.
I say keep the big fella. Don't care how old he is, we wouldn't get a good offer, and wouldn't afford a younger model.
He may have returned early last season but the best was never going to come from him for a long time after that. Towards the end of the seaon he looked like he might be getting back to form. I'd keep him, he is the best finisher at the club and he is as strong as they come. Unless we get £10-15m for him (which is unlikely), there is no-one better for £5-8m-ish as has been mooted. Feed the Yak!
£5-6 Million will buy a shot-in-the-dark Championship striker or mid-table foreign import.
I'd keep him and see how he does in the first half of next season. It's a difficult injury to come back from and he could always be sold in the January window, knowing that the fee wouldn't be vastly reduced.
No brainer, give him a shot.
I think if we got anywhere near £10m then Moyes would get rid. Moyes has already said he wants to sign a top striker so it would make sense to get rid of our most saleable striker to bring another in. I've heard behind the scenes Yak has already told Moyes he wants out so maybe his departure is on the cards?
Defo keep him. He's a great goal scorer and I was pretty impressed with his touches near the end of the season. Saha is a great player but we cannot rely on him to be injury-free and Beckford should not be thrown in at the deep end straight away.
I would think that Moyes will see how he shapes up in the World Cup. And, unless he has already made his mind up, things will move after the tournament.
Whichever way you look at it, I am sure Moyes will have things in mind?
I'd rather we kept everyone. The team has really started to look cohesive and able to compete. Selling a Yak here and Pienaar there, etc. We'd just be going round in circles when we actually have a great crack of lifting some sort of trophy next year. Yaks not just a proven premiership striker, he's a proven premiership goalscorer and those are hard to replace at any price.
Even if he is older than his birth certificate, he's still younger than Saha, and while Yak "may" be crocked, Saha IS. Keep em all!
Even if he is older than his birth certificate, he's still younger than Saha, and while Yak "may" be crocked, Saha IS. Keep em all!
What were those quotes about where he reckoned he had a deal to join Spurs but that never happened because of his injury?? The thing is he got that injury at Spurs in November 2008... I'm afraid, Yak, that transfers don't happen in November — can anyone shed any light on this?
Jimmy Hacking, I agree with you. I thought the Yak, even half-fit, looked ok. I certainly think he's better than Saha. No-one is going to pay enough for him to fund an adequate replacement.
I think we should show some faith in him and keep him for next season and he may start scoring again, and if he can prove his fitness, we would be in a better position to sell him next year at a higher price if he doesn't hit form.
Stanley Matthews was playing at the top level when he was 50 — we should be proud to have an Everton player who may well be about to match that achievement!
Andy (13) Agree completely. I'd go so far as to say that none of the guys we have want to go. They know next season could be special.
By the way, that Yak actually blew his achilles and is back moving like he does is still a bit shocking. In the States' pro league sports, that injury usually means, "Good-by and good luck".
Imagine the re-hab he went though? Makes it almost equally shocking to see him mocked often in here for being fat, out-of-shape, and (incredibly) lazy!
Next season is going to be a big one for EFC and the Yak will be a part of that. Keep him, keep him, keep him.
By the way, that Yak actually blew his achilles and is back moving like he does is still a bit shocking. In the States' pro league sports, that injury usually means, "Good-by and good luck".
Imagine the re-hab he went though? Makes it almost equally shocking to see him mocked often in here for being fat, out-of-shape, and (incredibly) lazy!
Next season is going to be a big one for EFC and the Yak will be a part of that. Keep him, keep him, keep him.
I think the best point made is the very fact that we couldn't buy a goalscorer even near his quality for £5-6m. We'd end up with a Samaras or something.
Although he's a big earner, he's certainly worth keeping to see how he goes after a full pre-season under his belt. If he's not back up and running, we can sell in January.
Although he's a big earner, he's certainly worth keeping to see how he goes after a full pre-season under his belt. If he's not back up and running, we can sell in January.
Our general style of play towards the end of last season was to use Saha and the Yak sparingly, usually given roughly a half each as the front man of a 4-5-1. We won't get anyone to replace him for the money so, unless he wants to leave (which I would be dissapointed in after we stuck by him during terrible injury), then I think we need to keep him and his experience will help Beckford.
Beckford is a replacement for Vaughan, not for the Yak.
Beckford is a replacement for Vaughan, not for the Yak.
The Yak is a natural finisher. He may appear half-arsed but that's his style. He holds the ball well and can find a deft pass.
If he's lost his speed then Moyes should change his style to target man a la old Shearer. Both have big bums too, great for shielding the ball and bouncing off centerbacks. COYB
If he's lost his speed then Moyes should change his style to target man a la old Shearer. Both have big bums too, great for shielding the ball and bouncing off centerbacks. COYB
We should keep the Yak as his strength and hold-up play is up there with the best of strikers in the Premier League, especially when fit. What he lacks in speed, he makes up for in strength, so he brushes past the best of defenders. And yes, we also lack strikers, having only two experienced who are injury-prone.
If we can get the Yak and Saha fit then next season should be a blast with goals coming left right 'n' centre. What we need is speed down the flanks which Donovan gave us. I would love to see him join us again.
Beckford is just a bet which I hope will come off for us; however, I don't think this will the case... although Moyes has proven his ability to convert lower league players into top class: Jags, Cahill, Lescott.
To Duncan McDine, I think the loss of Pienaar will be huge as he was a huge asset with the loss of Arteta. Next season, them two will be a perfect combination providing to the likes of Cahill, Yak and Saha. So hopefully he gets his contract sorted ASAP.
So I say keep the Yak and watch him dominate all defenders and score 20+ goals this season... IF fully fit!
If we can get the Yak and Saha fit then next season should be a blast with goals coming left right 'n' centre. What we need is speed down the flanks which Donovan gave us. I would love to see him join us again.
Beckford is just a bet which I hope will come off for us; however, I don't think this will the case... although Moyes has proven his ability to convert lower league players into top class: Jags, Cahill, Lescott.
To Duncan McDine, I think the loss of Pienaar will be huge as he was a huge asset with the loss of Arteta. Next season, them two will be a perfect combination providing to the likes of Cahill, Yak and Saha. So hopefully he gets his contract sorted ASAP.
So I say keep the Yak and watch him dominate all defenders and score 20+ goals this season... IF fully fit!
Best goalscorer we've had since Sharpy. He's going to have his first pre-season for 2 years after the World Cup, so he should be in shape.
Everyone also seems to forget that he was very rarely injured until his achilles went.
We'd never replace him with anything like if he went for less than £8-10M...
Everyone also seems to forget that he was very rarely injured until his achilles went.
We'd never replace him with anything like if he went for less than £8-10M...
Nope.
I love the way some people are so willing to throw loyal servants to the club under the bus, as soon as someone comes in with a half-way decent price, but when it is a player moving for money, we hear these tirades about disloyalty, mercenaries and all that sort of bull.
Keep Yakubu. He's still good for a few goals in my opinion, and would not be replaced for £5 million.
Keep Yakubu. He's still good for a few goals in my opinion, and would not be replaced for £5 million.
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1 Posted 07/06/2010 at 12:18:18
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He claims to be 27 but even Moyes admits he could be 37. There's no reliable way of knowing.
He returned from injury in August and played pretty regulary all season but only managed to score 6 goals.
Simply not good enough.