Another week, another McCarthy story

worth every penny - a class act, proven in the PL, and only 22.

John, I agree on all points except for "worth every penny"! Roberto brought him to Wigan from Hamilton ( I think) for around £1M, 3-4 years ago so obviously they (Wigan) want to hang on to him, but £15-20M I think is a bit inflated! We paid that for Fellaini and they value him at £23M- ish!

Can't we give Wigan Osman and Anichebe plus a few bob to get the deal done?

As an Irishman, I've seen this lad a lot at International matches recently, and taken an interest in his career since Hamilton. Not the finished article, but has the potential to be a super player. Would like to see us buy him and Medel/Capoue if Fellaini leaves. Have watched McGeady even more times. Praying we don't have any interest. He's a headless chicken with no end product.

Medel. Too small. Too many cards.

McCarthy. Our manager's number one target. We'll get this fine player and he will improve us no end. I like Fellaini but his mind is elsewhere and he will go. McCarthy will replace him and Martinez will be delighted.

Well, that's my dream scenario and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Forget the fee. His market value and his value to Martinez and Everton are two entirely different things. We have excellent players but none like him. He'll make all the difference.

His market value is important. As is any players. You don't spend over the odds for a player. McCarthy is worth around 12-13m. Fine player, but at 15-20m you want someone who is seriously proven, or has the potential to become a superstar very soon. McCarthy will be excellent, and I hope we get him, but he won't be that level of player. We would still need another CM with more of a tackling and defensive mind anyway. The lad is better in a 3 man midfield and we needed another CM even if Fellaini stays. Preferably someone mobile. Cards that Medel collects are a minor detail. (Didn't seem to hinder Keane or Viera too much). Still solid, aggressive and not bad technically. Better player than Leroy Fer who everyone wanted.

I'd rather we didn't line Dave Whelan's pockets anymore. He is a shifty ripoff merchant.

Presuming this will only happen if Fellaini goes? I think if the money was there he would have already been bought. Unlikely we will do anymore business unless loans now. I am quite happy with what we have as long as we don't sell.

All players market values are particularly important to us as we don't have the money to afford them

I think McCarthy is a super player and will only get better. Can you imagine how easily he could keep Osman out of the side? A player who can create goals and take a decent shot.

Also, coming from Ireland, having him play alongside his international team mate Gibson on a regular basis can only do wonders for the Irish national team.

Is this guy that good? I know little about him and never stood out so I haven't paid him much attention when watching. We're struggling it seems to get £15m or Baines. Is he worth £15m plus?

Peter

Get the video of Ireland v England at Wembly recently. McCarthy ran the show. This guy could be as good as Roy Keane. We must not miss out on him.

He's always played well against us but £15m is too much esp if Spurs have lost interest

I agree with Gareth, he is a Fellaini replacement surely.

I would say McCarthy is extremely solid if not spectacular. He does not rake up assists or goals but keep things ticking along very nicely, rarely loses the ball and covers alot of ground. I would be delighted if he came but not for more than 10-12m. Paulinho was 17m to Spurs and he really looks like a potentially world class central midfielder.

At 8.9m Capoue looks like better value at the moment.

If this story has legs, I do worry about RM`s obsession with `all things Wigan`!

He seems a little bit limited in his vision of the transfer market and if all these guys are so good,how come they got relegated?

I will be saying the same about Moyes if he comes back for Baines and Ferdinand but, perhaps, both are cut from the same mould.

Baines and Ferdinand?
Don't tell me we signed Les while I was away?

Assuming you mean Fellaini, whilst I rate him highly I do think his mind is on a CL club and we cant really hold on to him should a good offer come in.
My worry is that Everton fold and accept less than his worth once his clause expires, as I am sure Moyes will offer less.
McCarthy will be a good addition but £15m?? madness!
I just hope we keep Baines.

I think the best midfield signing for Everton this summer will be the introduction of Barkley to proper first team duties.

Am I missing something here? McCarthy has never stuck out as something special whenever I've seen Wigan play. What's all the fuss about? Yes, I've read people speaking highly of him, but I've yet to see it. When he was first linked to us, I had a look at some YouTube highlights and even then I couldn't see anything to write home about. Sam Hoare's assessment coincides with mine at this point.

Of course I meant Fellaini, Mark ! Someone was talking about the Man U. man on the radio as I typed and old age just kicked in !

Nobodies that interested in Fellaini at the moment as far as we know!
The McCarthy deal will obviously be dependant on selling him or Baines.

Phil every post you make is anti Martinez or anti Wigan, most relegated teams have some good players, Wigan are no different.

They were good enough to murder us in the cup, I cant ever remember us being so outplayed & clueless as what to do, & they went on to be the best team in the final & beat city!

Hes going for players he knows very well, he mentioned he wanted players with character when he first arrived.

Martinez aint daft that pretty obvious, he wouldn't be buying Wigan players if he thought they would be a flop.

He seems to have given everyone at the club optimism for the future, were never going to buy ourselves a prem title, and with his desire to promote young players when good enough hes an ideal manager for us.

Lets get right behind him & wait and see.

Not anti, Ray, just a little sceptical. Everyone seems to have bought into `Smiler`s` early soundbites based purely on his Cup success.

Spending upwards of £15K on a Wigan player just because he has `character` don`t seem good business to me !

But then,he`s the one earning big dough so I`ll let him do the worrying.

I know your keener than most for us to do well Phil and are fully entitled to your opinion.

I'm going along with everything I see and hear about Martinez, people that are aquainted with him, have only good things to say.

I like the start he's made & the direction he wants to go, so we'll have to wait and see what the end result is.

I swear some people on this site would be sceptical if we had Mourinho in charge - they'd be all - well he didn't win the league at Madrid or the CL last season, he's obviously losing it. What's he doing at Goodison? He won't be able to produce a team on a shoestring, he'll be lucky to be here next season.

Whatever results Everton or Wigan had last season or any other season has no bearing whatsoever on the coming seasons results. They can be used as a guide against progress made but they are meaningless when the first ball is kicked in the 2013-14 season.

It is unusual for a manager to take over a club when they have a good squad with good professionals and therefore it is more important that the new manager adds to it with people he trusts and who are as good as or better than the existing players. RM probably also realises that whatever he spends this summer will have to last him for a couple of seasons and therefore he isn't going to have the luxury of taking a gamble on just any player.

The only thing that will stop RM from developing Everton into a real threat at the top end of the league will be the lack of depth in BK's pockets - RM will over time build a team to be proud of and at least there seems to be a plan in place for the long term, rather than the hand to mouth existence we have had to endure over the past 20 years.

"RM will over time build a team to be proud of and at least there seems to be a plan in place for the long term, rather than the hand to mouth existence we have had to endure over the past 20 years."

Sounds nice, but Martinez will soon find out that hand to mouth is all that Bill does.

He can only build a team to be envious of if he can afford to buy the best players or is extremely lucky with the "unknown youngsters", both in actually getting them and then keeping hold of them once they get really noticed.

Patrick 744. Sanity at last. Great post. Says it all.

As for my opinion....Martinez knows more about the mentality of professional footballers than all of us put together and he is going for people he can trust 100%.

I'm with him all the way.

I swear most have you have turned in `Martinez Doddys`!

Before signing up, I`m just waiting to see us get a few points in the bag. I am here to be converted but it has to be by results not pre-season soundbites!

Phil 754. Sanity at last.

Phil, we have a stronger squad right now than we had last season, upgraded reserve goalie, upgraded CH, added a new striker and brought in a potential superstar, whats wrong with people getting a little confident about the new season, don't think its got anything to do with being a "Martinez doddy', of course all this feel good attitude may change if we see the departure of Baines and Fellaini.

Sounds good Kevin but the people brought in are a reserve keeper and centre half (probably), a striker from a relegated side and an unknown quantity.

Only one is probably a definite shoe-in for the starting XI, so it's a little early to start getting too excited about the coming season, as it is pretty much the same but with a different striker.

Don't get me wrong, I am hoping for the best this season but it does seem that a few have gone Doddyesque without any real reason yet.

£15 million? We could get a top quality striker for that.

I still have a horrible feeling we could see both Baines & Fellaini leave the club.

The likes of Man Utd & Arsenal are both under pressure to bring in reinforcements, and Baines to Utd, and Fellaini to Arsenal look as likely as ever, especially if those clubs fail with other high-profile targets.

We may find ourselves with money to spend, but all the decent, available replacements may have already moved clubs. It's not just a case of signing who we want, top class players want Champions League football, so we are in serious danger of trading down in these positions if we see them both leave.

Phil / Tony J. Different opinions make the world more interesting.
While I am fully supportive of Martinez it doesn't mean that I am confident because that wouldn't be me. Even with Messi up front I'd be glass half empty with fingers crossed.

As a lifelong Racing fan I study the details and back my fancy.
Unfortunately, I've never been able to wait till a horse has won before I put my money on it.

Tony, I agree that all four will not be in the starting 11 but we all know this is a squad game and the bench plays a very important part, I feel a lot more optimistic about where we are right now than I did when we had Phil fucking Neville on the bench or god forbid starting(still haven't forgiven Moyes for that Wigan debacle) Of course as stated my opinions may change by the close of the transfer window and the first few weeks of the season but right now I feel good about what I've seen so far.

£15M for a good but not great defensive midfielder is too much! I'd want someone of Essien-like abilities for that.

I've only seen Wigan a few times, and I've never really noticed McCarthy stand out. For £15M a player needs to dominate a game and make people take note, a bit like Fellaini does on occasion.

Take the Fellaini money, get a top quality defensive mid like Capoue for about the £8-9M mark, attempt to bring through either Conor Grant or Lundstram for free to provide cover and spend the rest on a few younger players with potential in areas we need reinforcements in, such as central defence, on the wings or up front.

Honestly I would be shocked if Martinez actually spent £15M on McCarthy. I think and hope it's just paper talk.

"As a lifelong Racing fan"

I didn't know you liked Racing Santander Harold...

Good one Ross. I actually used to look out for them. Think they went through the "Blackburn" scenario. Bought by an Indian who sacked the manager, sacked a few more and got relegated. Not sure if he was into chickens.

I hope you get your DM. I'm going with McCarthy if Martinez wants him.
Originally I wanted Wanyama but we either couldn't stump up the £13mil or Roberto had McCarthy already marked up.
I also liked Fer and Capoue, two talented lads with height.

Is McCarthy overpriced at £15mil?. Probably. Is Fellaini worth £24mil and 100K a week? Probably not.
I suppose it all depends on how much you want what you're after. That's the way it works whenever I flog one of my racing paintings. A good one will sometimes go for less than one not so good. The world is a very strange place.

824 ... Are you the Ross Edwards who used to bat No.5 for Australia, and scored an Ashes century at Old Trafford?!

Thank you Patrick Murphy, thank you (744)

Sanity.

I was trying to say the same but couldn't do it better than you.

A pitch perfect post.

I[n]B[obby]W[e]T[rust]

Nice one Paul.

Off to bed now. Can't wait for the American stuff.

IBWT. luv it.

McCartney is a class act and I'd happily have him at Everton, money and how much we've got is the sticking point on this one I think.

However another idea to throw out there Man City have granted their young midfielder Ibrahim a free transfer, because he can't get first team football at Man City. We were looking at him last season and from what I've heard he is a talent, should we be looking at him?

" Are you the Ross Edwards who used to bat No.5 for Australia, and scored an Ashes century at Old Trafford?"

Might be... Oh, I'm also a famous Australian composer too...

Can anyone tell me what time we kick off against Juve. I've seen anything between 8.00pm and 4.00am on Thursday

Thanks Stephen

Matt Muzu - "McCartney is a class act and I'd happily have him at Everton, money and how much we've got is the sticking point on this one I think"

If Sir Paul did come to Everton - a lot of our money problems would be over mate!