Copenhagen reject Everton bid for striker

Team mate of one Lars Jacobsen, remember him ? Know nothing about him but would hope Martinez would at least consider our own youngsters before adding.

As a Dane with good knowledge of the Danish Superliga, I will send a kind thought to FC Copenhagen for their decision. He would not be good enough for Everton, especially with our dreams of Champions League. Aston Villa just did an excellent deal buying Okore – a youngster who I think is one of the best defenders in the world to come.

I'm looking forward to the new season – hopefully with some good transfers so we can be closer to Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea in the hunt for the two Manchester clubs. But the main goal must once again to be higher ranked than the RedShite from the dirty side of the river.

Greetings from Denmark – NSNO – COYB

With a 6ft 4" tall striker we could revert to hoofball. Wouldn't that make the fans happy? Not!

Could be another Lukaku or another Bendtner.....

I use those names as Lukaku is a big powerful young forward who scores goals and Bendtner is young, big, powerful and a forward, but doesn't score goals.... and is Danish. I know Lukaku is not Danish!!

A young and tall striker.

Hmm, I know this is a bit radical - but shouldn't we just try Velios a bit more before we go signing unknowns? He has premiership experience and has scored in the premier league. And won't cost us anymore money...

Jeremy #538, I shouldn't get too bent out of shape – think back to how many "up and coming" young players in Europe, particularly Scandinavia, have been linked to us on these pages down the years – and how many we actually sign?

Ulrik, our main target is finishing as high as we possibly can and get back in to Europe, forget what those dirty flannels do.

Thanks for the info Ulrik. I agree with Jeremy, we should see what Vellios has to offer after a run of games.

I don't have much faith in Vellios, has looked pretty limited and didn't score much for the U21s this year. McCaleny on the other hand...

Never seen this Danish kid but would hope for someone a little more proven if they are to be a main goalscorer next season.

Does anyone think Villa could be a competitor this season if they keep Benteke? Lots of point to make up but they have a good young side.

We need to spend real money on a striker, not keep hoping on potential whilst wasting a couple of million with each one. Scoring 1 goal in 2 for easily the best team in the Danish league wont compare to what he will need to do here. A lot of teams are aiming to buy strikers this summer, which should leave a few proven ones with their futures in doubt. Demba Ba springs to mind if Chelsea sign Cavani or Hulk. 20 goals a season costs money, and it is very rarely the sums spoken of here.

I agree with you, Dan, we need a proven goalscorer; if we need to spend £15-20M then so be it. Negredo or Soldado would be amazing.

I also think Mirallas will be playing up front this year. He was top scorer in Greece before he joined us but Moyes turned him into a workhorse winger. I can't see Martinez wanting him to do that as much so he should flourish.

Ulrik (529). We're on the same side of the river.

Spot on Dan (#555): We need to be spending big to get the real deal.

Maybe this Cornelius has got potential but why don't the club spend what money they have on a proven striker who has played at all levels? I'm not talking about £30M but if we want to get the likes of Negredo then we have to be prepared to pay for them.

Should we be spending big on a bloke who is top scorer in the Danish League, unproven yet?

If we are going to spend £8-10 million on a player, shouldn't we be getting someone more proven at the top level.

Yes, Ross.

If Kone and this Danish guy are the best strikers Martinez can find, then we are royally fucked.

I sort of feared this before Martinez came. He comes and applies the same lame standards to his new job in a top 6 club.

I fear the worst with Martinez, because he has yet to prove anything at top level. If he does go for Kone then he is no better then Moyes in finding strikers, and the whole point with a new manager is to find one that will improve the club squad for sure.

Martinez has not got the nose for top talent, but if he does he needs to aim a lot higher then this. It seems to be old stories being recycled. Martinez should take his time in signing people. Use the scouts and look at Norway U-21 side, I think there are one or two decent players there.

Like some people have already said, what's the point in buying a young guy like this when we already have young strikers who don't get a game?

Waste of money.

We can't afford a 20-goal-a-season striker either, so the best we can hope for is Jelavic remembers how to kick the little round white thing into the big rectangular white thing at the end of the grass field.

I hope someone's been having a word with him about it over the summer. Maybe buy him a table-football set to work on his reactions.

Jeremy #548, we have tried Vellios, which is why he didn't even make the subs bench last season.

Vellios isn't good enough.

I'm all for signing good young players but not if the financial impact is to the determent of the first choice eleven.

What about Chris Long?

If you are talking of young Everton strikers, he will be ahead of Vellios and McAleny next season.

'Sources in Denmark' enough said.

Duffy scored more than Vellios last season for the Under-21s so why not put him up front???

If we're scouting Scandinavia for strikers, I'd prefer Altidore. He scored more goals in a better league (Eredivisie).

The Eredivisie is the Dutch league, which isn't part of Scandinavia. If we're being pedantic, which I am!

Didn't Altidore go to Hull when they were in the Prem and was pretty dreadful?

1 goal in 28 apps if you want stats

We need to forget about this useless Greek statue that is Vellios, if he can't do the business for the U21's how is he going to make it in the first team?

McAleny looks like a much better prospect though-and I think he's our best youth striker.

People keep banging on about on about getting a proven striker from one of the top leagues, the reality is though, we just can't afford to splash our entire transfer budget on one striker, we need to be taking a chance on someone like Jele Van Vossen, who would cost round about 5 million. Aston Villa paid 8 million for Benteke, we should be looking to find something similar in the 5-8 million bracket.

Well, just as Victor seemed to benefit from a decent run in the side, I think Vellios should get a fair go too. I'd always preferred the look of him to Victor to be honest, and if the big Nigerian can come good (sort of) why not the Greek? I really don't think he's been given a fair chance yet.

Chris, i'm all for giving Vellios a chance as long as he starts doing the business for the U21's . Like i've said McAleny has been the far more impressive of the two in the U21's and should get the nod in front of Vellios.

As an American that has tracked the progress of Altidore, he wouldn't be a bad mid price option at striker. Has been absolutely banging them in for AZ and has scored in 3 straight for the national team to qualify us for the WC. His finish in that 4-3 thriller against Germany was top class. He's a much better Altidore than the one that struggled mightily with Villareal and Hull as a youngster. I am starting to doubt whether Fellaini will actually leave now. Heitinga does look like going for real. In this case, I keep thinking that our best move would be to buy Diame and Moses, and move Mirallas to striker. Diame still has a release clause that is rumored to be as low as 3.5 mil and Moses is now even further down the pecking order at Chelsea now with the purchase of Schurrle. They bought him for 9 so I can't imagine us having to pay more than that for him with Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, and De Bruyne all vying for action too. Diame would view us as a step up from West Ham and would likely accept a move. Moses needs first team football. Martinez can offer both what they want and he's a former manager of both at Wigan. Pretty sexy potential teams eh?

Howard

Coleman Jags Distin Baines

Diame Fellaini

Moses Barkley Pienaar

Mirallas

OR

Howard

Jags Alcaraz Distin

Coleman Baines (wing backs)

Diame Fellaini

Moses Mirallas Pienaar

Peter. 2 exciting line-ups.

Here's a better line up (IMO) -

Howard
Coleman, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines
Fer, Gibson
Mirallas, DeBruyne, Pienaar
Lukaku

Fellaini swapped with DeBruyne and Lukaku at Chelsea.

More cash (if we have it) on squad depth and quality

ESPN. Laudrup to PSG? Many Spanish clubs are broke. Exodus of players to England.

Paul that's obviously an amazing lineup that we'd probably win the league with! Only problem is that there is absolutely zero chance Chelsea would part with Lukaku at this point, let alone swap him and DeBruyne when they can just buy Fellaini straight up for 23 mil. For Chelsea, that's cheap. They bought Oscar for 25 and he isn't half the player Fellaini is. Lescott is awesome but he's now over 30. Not to mention the whole outrageous wage problem we'd have. After all that, where would we even come up with the money for Fer? We'd have to sell Naismith, Osman, Anichebe, and Heitinga all at once to free up a conceivable amount of cash to afford him. I wouldn't have a problem with that really but I doubt RM is going to be so drastic in his changes in year one. A man can dream though :)

Jimmy 596, Martinez has not opened his mouth hardly, never mind signing a player and yet your slating him because of some source claims which are probably bullshit.

Give Martinez a chance Jimmy. He's one of us now

Agreed. Norway have a few decent under 21's. As do Spain, Italy, Holland and Germany. The football has been terrific.
One lad who really impressed me was the German attacking midfielder, Sebastian Rode. A fairhaired 22yr old with Eintracht Frankfurt who moved across the turf like an iceskater....He'd look good in blue.

Julian Draxler of Schalke?

Would be a great purchase Ross, think he's on a long contract at Shalke, only 19 years old and one of the best young prospects in Gemany. Wouldn't want us to pay over 10 mil for him though. Plenty of re-sale value with him only being 19.

Can't understand why people talk about using Vellios he is dreadful,that's why he couldn't get a game. I can see him getting offloaded this window, just not good enough.

Jermaine Defoe is available

Well Mark, if we are to challenge, we need to pay these fees. Defoe would be good, although he is nearly 30 but he is a natural goalscorer.

Zaha on loan?

Didn't know Defoe was for sale Peter? Think players like Defoe and D. Bent would be a great short term solution to getting us a 20 goal a season striker, but father-time is creeping up on them and they would need replacing with no re-sale value available. I would prefer if we signed players who are in their mid twenties or younger.

I would be happy with Defoe, even for a couple of seasons

Mark #715
Vossen at Genk is perfect - under 25, loads of experience (even in Champs League) consistent scorer and relatively cheap I reckon

Parker is for sale too. Could he be short term as well?

Bas Dost of Heerenveen is it? I'm not sure but he is a good striker. Maybe a few Championship forwards too, Charlie Austin maybe?

Well, Ross, let's assume Fellaini and Heitinga are going to be sold for somewhere in the region of £26-30 mil for them both; with money left over from January and new Sky deal, I'm hoping Martinez would have something like £40 mil to spend. I think we need 5 or 6 quality players for us to compete top 4 and that's why I wouldn't want us to spend over £10 million on a single player.

I'm down for Draxler Ross.

That's right Paul, Vossen has a great goal scoring record, I know its only the Belguim league but Benteke and Lakaku had to start there too. Vossen is also on the fringes of a tremendous Belguim International team. Has been in the squad before

Going by the potential Felli money and the Sky money, I'd like us to sign or consider:
Draxler
Zaha (loan)
Bas Dost
Martins Indi (Feyenoord) He can be a long term replacement for Distin
Fer

McManaman and Maloney are possibles, probably likely.

Pablo Aimar is free, any takers?

How about this, Raul is free. He maybe 35 but class is permanent isn't it, look at Henry.

Keisuke Honda is out of contract as well, he has left CSKA. A quality player, we should consider him.

Saviola as well is free. Didn't he score against us in the Europa?

Sorry to jump in again, but David Villa will probably be on his way out from Barca now they have bought Neymar. As he is 31 he'll probably be cheaper, maybe £8million, should we take a punt, show our ambition?

Please no Ross! We don't want to go back to the dark days of Walter Smith signing the likes of Gazza and Ginola who were 10 years past their sell by date. Lets forget about the geriatic's and sign us some up and comers rather then down and outers

Lets look at the up and comers:

Zaha
Redmond
Ince
Draxler

Maybe give Charlie Austin his PL break. If Honda is to leave CSKA for free, we should snap him up, have you seen his free kicks on Youtube?

Redmond? tell me more, don't know anything about him. There's lots of talent about we will just have to trust Martinez and his scouts,more then likely he wont sign any of the names we've mentioned but its always fun to speculate

Nathan Redmond plays for Birmingham Mark. In his first full season he scored 7 goals and he is only 19. Could be one to look out for. Pearce picked him in the Euro Under 21s. Swansea are looking interested in him so if we want him we have to move now.

Ross Edwards - well aware that its fastasy football here but yo uknow Julian Draxler of Schalke is 19, coveted by many, and valued close to €20M. That's out of our league I'm afraid for someone who is playing CL. Forget it.

Ho hum hard to make this up.

Our resident Oslo reporter reports (596):

If Kone and this Danish guy are the best strikers Martinez can find, then we are royally fucked ... Martinez should take his time in signing people. Use the scouts and look at Norway U-21 side, I think there are one or two decent players there.

Little but of Scandy bias and griping creeping in here, perhaps?

I love Denmark, Lurpak and all that.

Oh, by the way, what you say about Martinez is dreary drivel. As Harold said, give him a chance. But there is more is more going for him than that.

Poor guy hasn't even sat in the hot seat and our Norwegian Blue is off on one already.

You haven't studied RM Jimmy. You are spouting shite.

How about giving the new gaffer say a day in his new job before slagging him off.

Jeez

Paul, Jeez indeed! Jimmy, if Bobby is no better at this stage than Moyes in spotting players (Fellaini, Baines, Cahill, Distin, the Jelavic of old and Gibson), I'll be well on the way to being satisfied.

From what I have gathered, Bobby has an extensive database of players whom he has been monitoring for quite some time. Among these there are likely to be players who would have been too expensive acquisitions for a club like Wigan, whereas at Everton this might not be the case. I do not expect there to be any panic buys. Bobby, by the way, will soon be heading for the Confederations Cup; hopefully he pick up two or three South American magicians while he is there. I would be very surprised if his trip does not have any ulterior motives. Maybe Kenwright will follow suit as soon as as Bobby has identified his targets, and Bill's next press conference, where our South American magicians are unveiled, will be a spectacle like none other:

"If only you Evertonians knew what tribulations your Chairman and Roberto had to undergo as we trudged through the treacherous swamps and jungles of Amazonas for seven days and seven nights to find our men. We wrestled with anacondas stronger than alligators, our heels were gnawed at by rodents larger than Luis Suarez, and on more than one occasion we were on the verge of being devoured by tribes of cannibals shouting, 'go home, this is kopite territory!' But Roberto and I persevered, and this I have to tell you all: it is epic struggles like these that make your Chairman...err...this club so special."

Al "Among these there are likely to be players who would have been too expensive acquisitions for a club like Wigan"

Wigan's nett spend over the last 5 years is near enough the same as ours.

if we are talking the Mersey, every side isthe dirty side, and as mentioned... we are on the same side!!! Thanks for the info on the Great Dane though. He can stay on his side of the Pacific!

Ba, Cisse, Benteke — all strikers who were bought cheap through good scouting, came in and scored goals in the Premier League! The strikers are out there and that's why a manager is paid his wage. As much as I liked Moyes, he never managed to find us that one striker to make the difference. Let's hope Martinez can. I think Kone in a decent side that creates chances could be a big success.

Hopefully the talk in this thread about Bendtner is a joke.
That guy is only trouble in and outside the field. Last weekend he threw Beer Glasses in a danish disco after some other guests. He is also at the moment just started a half years of exclusion from the Danish national team because of drunk driving

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines
Mirallas Gibson Fer Pienaar
Moses
Jelavic

Take the cash for Fellaini, get Fer and Moses in.