Toffeeweb - Talking Points

Lewis Holtby

This is an actual quote from Lewis Holtby who is a 22-year-old midfielder playing for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga:

"My father was born in England and has been an Everton fan since the age of five. He immediately infected me with the Everton virus! Since then I have been a Everton fan and have always followed their games."

I called a German friend of mine who is a Schalke fan, and coach. I asked him about Holtby, he reckons that he will be the next great product of German footy. He started at Moenchengladbach's academy then went to Aachen and then onto Schalke.

He has represented Germany at U19, U20, U21 and senior levels. Schalke have offered him a bigger contract that he has turned down. He has expressed his desire to play in the Premier League — with Everton.... he is a free agent in the summer.

Arsenal and Spurs are showing an interest in him.

Jimmy Daly, USA Posted 02/01/2013 at 16:54:01

back Return to Talking Points index : Add your Comments

Reader Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Kevin Hudson
600 Posted 02/01/2013 at 19:40:51

Jimmy,

He's also quoted as saying that he wouldn't rule out playing for Liverpool either...

Mark Tanton
602 Posted 02/01/2013 at 19:51:59

He won't come here. We'll do nothing about it, despite his availability. I didn't realise there were still Toffees who got their hopes up about such matters.

Gary Mortimer
603 Posted 02/01/2013 at 19:52:46

According to the sky 4 arse licking media, Lewis is an Arsenal fan - not Everton at all.

Brian Waring
604 Posted 02/01/2013 at 19:54:25

Bayern Munich are supposedly interested as well.

Paul Ellam
613 Posted 02/01/2013 at 21:02:14

If he really is an Everton fan then he will run down his contract and sign for us in the summer on an average salary (less than £90k a week anyway!)

We shall wait and see......

Jalil Noor
633 Posted 02/01/2013 at 22:02:44

Seems Spurs are in the lead to get his signature according to the papers

Aidy Dews
672 Posted 02/01/2013 at 22:52:12

Thing is, Holtby said all that ages ago, I think upon joining Schalke cos we first came to be interested in him when he was at Aachen.

Im pretty certain we'd be interested in a player of his quality but it will all boil down to what European competition we qualify for IF we even do qualify, and of course, money?!!.

Shane Corcoran
676 Posted 02/01/2013 at 23:00:19

Who's in the Sky 4 these days? Liverpool used to be and there was no way that was ever going to change.

Danny Broderick
682 Posted 02/01/2013 at 23:03:30

I'd love to see it,but it will never happen. We are not even in the running when the big boys show an interest. He'll get a bigger pay day elsewhere.

Danny Broderick
684 Posted 02/01/2013 at 23:07:32

Oh,and he is definitely an Everton fan, his dad is from Liverpool and a keen Everton fan apparently.

Dean Adams
706 Posted 02/01/2013 at 23:43:06

"We are not even in the running when the big boys show an interest" and I was thinking that Arsenal were interested in Mirallas!! Oh well I must of dreamt that one Danny!!!

Si Cooper
709 Posted 02/01/2013 at 23:45:11

Gary (#603) - didn't he say he was an admirer of the way Arsenal play, rather than he was a supporter of them?

Harold Matthews
769 Posted 03/01/2013 at 02:57:23

How can he be a blue if he's considering the other lot? I still want Odjidja, the skilled powerhouse from Club Brugges. Our little guys were murdered by the Tyneside heavy mob and, with so much at stake, battles will grow more fierce from now on.

By the way. Phil Neville. What a leader.

Mr Moyes will surprise us. His eyes and attitude are a dead giveaway. He not only knows who is coming — he's pleased about it!!

Sam Hoare
785 Posted 03/01/2013 at 08:10:29

I bet holtby goes to spurs. Daniel levy seems to be pretty canny at sniffing out good value and they have the wage structure to make an offer we will struggle to match. Shame, because he looks an awesome player and could be a huge star at Everton.

Our best hope is if spurs get mountinho instead. Surely he won't go to Liverpool, his dad would never speak to him again!

Steven Scaffardi
830 Posted 03/01/2013 at 12:46:55

I'm sure I remember Holtby (or maybe his agent) coming out a while back and saying he would not join Everton as he wasnts to join a club playing CL footy.

Robin Cannon
848 Posted 03/01/2013 at 13:54:26

If all other considerations were equal, then I can just about see a player using "the team I support" as a deciding factor when moving clubs. Other than that, though, I don't see why it would have any great influence.

It's still a question of people's careers. So they're going to take into account salary, professional opportunity (e.g. CL football), location, family preferences and a multitude of other things that are far more important than the club they support. Nor do I blame them for that at all.

Stu Smith
857 Posted 03/01/2013 at 14:12:06

Iv seen loads of reports were Holtby has gone on record saying he is an Evertonian. However, he is a young lad and will want whats best for his career, is Everton best for him? If we get a C.L place then yes but if we drop off out of European places then no.

There is also the other argument. I remember Steve Mcmanaman (SP) saying when he signed for City (after we had shown interest) and he said he didnt want to play for Everton as he was an Everton fan & didnt want to fail at the club.

Sometimes playing for your boyhood club can be harder as you want to do your best but we've all seen that some players just don't do well at certain clubs.

On the other hand we've seen players who play for their boyhood club perform fantastically... I.E - Speed (God rest his soul)

Yes Id like to see Holtby play for Everton because Iv read alot about him and I think he will be a world class player, plus there is the added bonus he is FOC. The lad has to make his own decision for whats best for him.

James Stewart
861 Posted 03/01/2013 at 14:58:19

Quality player. Very unlikely to end up here due to bigger fish sniffing around.

However, if he is an Everton fan he could push through for a move to us. We could certainly match the £50k wages he was offered to stay there.

Don't agree with the Mcmanaman quote. You only live once and if you get a chance to play for your boyhood club you would only regret it later in life if you didn't take it. I suspect most players these days don't have a club really though. Certainly not in the way we fans do.

Richard Tarleton
864 Posted 03/01/2013 at 15:12:44

It's Holtby's job and three things will determine where he goes. Money above all, the status of the club and finally whether he'll be in the first team or on the bench.Sentiment won't enter into it.

Col Noon
956 Posted 03/01/2013 at 18:43:44

Money talks - Bayern or Spurs bound. We cannot compete, thanks Bill keep up the good work.

Colin Glassar
039 Posted 03/01/2013 at 21:30:50

I would love to have him at Goodison but money talks louder than passion unfortunately.

Martin Handley
053 Posted 03/01/2013 at 21:53:39

Look if the lads available on a free then maybe just maybe we can offer him half decent wages, get him on a pre-contract and don't for we'll probably lose Fellaini in the summer for a big fee obviously so he could be an ideal replacement.

From what I've seen of the lad, he's decent and on a free definitely worth a go.

Brendan McLaughlin
055 Posted 03/01/2013 at 22:07:35

Weren't Arsenal reportedly in for Mirallas when he signed for us?

Gary Hughes
119 Posted 04/01/2013 at 01:24:58

I believe that Wayne Rooney fella was a massive Evertonian as well.

Eric Myles
137 Posted 04/01/2013 at 05:39:26

He's going nowhere according to his manager and agent

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1286764?cc=4716

Andrew Fair
263 Posted 04/01/2013 at 16:12:07

He has just signed for Spurs, will be there in July!

Christopher Kelly
301 Posted 04/01/2013 at 17:56:34

... And he's gone.

Another one bites the dust

Ray Roche
310 Posted 04/01/2013 at 18:01:46

As Matt says, have we actually been in for this lad? Just because he favours Everton and looks for our results some people think he should swim through snot to get here and then sign for a second hand Corsa and a packet of fuckin' Quavers. Dear Lord...

Liam Reilly
320 Posted 04/01/2013 at 18:35:37

He's just gone to Spurs. Signed a pre-contract to join in the Summer.

Jalil Noor
354 Posted 04/01/2013 at 20:17:37

Gone to Spurs... on a free.

Gary Mortimer
355 Posted 04/01/2013 at 20:11:50

Si (709) - he probably did - but the media jumped on it - let's face it, he wouldn't support "little Everton" would he?

I read the rumours that he's singed for the Spuds on a deal worth about £70k a week - there's no way we would match that for a "untried" youngster - not with our pitiful budget.

Andy Meighan
591 Posted 05/01/2013 at 17:29:37

Signed a pre-contract with Spurs... Some Evertonian he is!

Harold Matthews
696 Posted 06/01/2013 at 01:07:53

When I was a boy, Dixie Dean was king. Played for a pittance and broke all records. How times have changed.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.