Mourinho eyes January swoop for Barkley

No way is Barkley leaving Everton for at least 3 more years. I think he is more level-headed than these lazy journalists give him credit for. He has seen what has happened to Lescott and Rodwell at Man City - sidelined to the bench (or worse) for most of their careers there. And, after all the nice advice that Steven Gerrard gave him, I don't think he will leave.

One thing Chelsea don't need is any more mid fielders!

Not going to happen.

Swap for Lukaku?

Give us Lukaku AND £20m...and then loan us Barkley back for a couple of years, deal!

He'd be foolish to leave now. He's playing well in fits and spurts, but he's a long way from the finished article. He needs to be playing every week for a good few seasons to forfil his potential. I reckon he could hit his peak about 25 and be unstoppable. Everton is the place for him to do this.

And so it begins. Papers have nothing better to write have they? We are third in the league. We are not some two-bit outfit. I don't understand why he would want to leave now personally.

Think the daily express article about Baines may have some legs mind you...

The only problem we have keeping Ross and other young players is the difference in wages that the oil-rich clubs can pay that we can't. It's not a case of Ross wanting to go to Man City or Chelsea or not, more a case of how long can he wait before he secures his future with one massive career-changing, life-changing move?

The kind of money on offer makes sense to move finacially but we fans tend think of these things as affairs of the heart. How many of us would talk our son out of such a move it it meant going from £20k a week to £150k a week? That's the cold hard reality of it. A footballer's career can end with one tackle you have to make hay while the sun shines.

I hope he stays though and the club gives him a huge pay rise and new contract soon.

Al Resdish @ 142

A swap for Lukaku?

Indeed Al, that's one of the reasons why Jose sent him to us in the first place, JM might not rate Lukaku that highly (for some strange reason?).

I believe they bought Lukaku for 10m (rising to 17m on appearances), we would want at least (17m - £25) that for Barkley, Jose would be doing good business if he could persuade BK and RM for a swap.

You never know we may have gone in for Lukaku with a similar (shady) motive?

This all makes perfect sense, Chelsea are in desperate need of someone to play that number 10 role. Plus, they're skint and would have to invest in potential so they could make a profit down the line.

Fucking hell, it's like the mirror's sports pages are being written for them by a rival. File under: shite.

Haha, spot on, John Gee.

ToffeeWeb exclusive!! - "SUNDAY PEOPLE JOURNALIST DAVE KIDD WAS BUMMED BY GIRAFFES!!!". In an AMAZING turn of events, when visiting a safari park three years ago with his family, Kidd says "We were looking forward to seeing all the animals but the Giraffes in particular. However when we arrived, we were told the Giraffes were receiving immunisation shots that day and we wouldn't be able to see them". He continues "We were a little bummed out by the whole thing but it was no big deal really and we enjoyed our day".

No chance. Some lads can sit on the bench. He can't. It destroys him. Yesterday he made poor decisions and put us on the back foot but he's a young kid learning his trade and the more he plays the better he'll get. Martinez knows this and so do the fans. He's in the right place, surrounded by the right people and will not be moving anywhere.

damn it Ruane, that's the last time I get suckered by one of your lurid headlines . . .

Utter shite story but it should remind the powers that be at Everton that they need to sort out a contract extension for Barkely sooner rather than later.

Think he has 2 years left after the end of this season so they should sort something out before the end of this one before he goes to the WC and potentially does well.

If there is any truth in this, who will conduct negotiations now poor old Ma Kenwright is no longer with us?

Haha... yeah, Mourinho is known for his faith in young players — just look at Lukaku.

This rumour won't go away now, but I think it's rubbish at this stage of his career. Where better to be than at Everton where he is a regular starter under a manager who has faith in him and will allow him to make and learn from his mistakes?

I have no doubt that in a few years time Ross will be craving Champions League football. I just hope it is with us that he gets it!

Kevin (288) "If there is any truth in this, who will conduct negotiations now poor old Ma Kenwright is no longer with us?"

Maybe her sentiments could be made known from 'beyond the veil', via a third party.

Doris Stokes' mate Glen Hoddle would be perfect to pass on a ghostly message along the lines...

"OOoooOOOooo...fuuuuuuccckk ohhhhfff..youze are not gettin' Barkley...ooooooOOOOoooo"

Type stuff.

Don't doubt it's not true at this stage, but it won't be long before they're waving bungles of readies under his nose!

I wonder what Ross's contract is at the moment, not a lot I would think.

I see Rooney's after a 5-year contract and more than the £250,000 he's already on!

Thanks Eugene, San Miguel & peanuts up me nose now.

Barkley would be making a mistake to try to force a transfer to Chelsea, with mids the quality of Mata riding the bench, and oscar, Hazard etc ahead of him. From the club's point of view a straight swap for Lukaku would be good business indeed...young, quality strikers like him don't come along every day.

Barkley should stay with the team he loves/supports, the team he always dreamed of playing 4!! He is living his dream! Why would he want to leave?

It would be great to buy the big man, but swap him for Ross!!!! NEVER!!!! Ross is our future, England's future, people. Swap him for Luka FFS, get a grip!!!

Dude — almost half of Chelsea's 38-man squad plays the exact same position as Barkley.... why would this even be a thing?!

Going off our WIN against them, Mourinho should be IN for Naismith!

Tim, you are spot on. Mata, Oscar, Hazard competing with Ross. He will be as good as them one day but not yet.

More likely they'd pay for first refusal in the future.

Barkley has come through the England youth system so most Premier League managers will have noted his progress. Modern players are being watched and assessed every game nowadays. That’s how you know this story is a load of shite, because anyone watching him closely will now that he’s still a way off at the moment. Decision-making, discipline and defensive qualities all rate "D" at the moment. (See what I did there, ha!)

What he has going for him is his ability to beat his man, and his awareness of where the goal is, so I’m not knocking his potential... but that’s what it is at the moment — potential. I’d say "B+"!

At this moment in time, swapping Lukaku for Barkley would be great business as I think Lukaku is more important to the team. However, Barkley looks set to develop into a top player himself so it might be a short-sighted move.

Even if Chelsea and Romelu agreed to such a deal, I can't see us keeping hold of the big Belgian in the long run unless we manage to get into the Champions League on a regular basis. One of Europe's money bags teams would come in with an offer we couldn't refuse and then we would be without Ross and Romelu!

Better to enjoy one season with Romelu banging them in and keep our best youngster. After all, he is an Evertonian and if we do have some success this season he will have more motivation to stay with his club.

Can our club not have a class player without the media trying to get them out of EFC?

The club had no qualms about letting Rooney leave for a sack full of cash!
What's the difference now?

I'm as keen as any one for him to stay, but I'm afraid he will do a Rooney, sooner or later, unless we can be a top 4 team.

Why will he leave, the number 1 reason, for the money of course!

Drew, good point. We might get to hang on to Lukaku for a couple of seasons but then he would be the next cash cow. Thing is though, we would have a twenty goal a season striker for two or three seasons in a row. What's seldom is wonderful and all that.

Ste #489 the short answer is no.

I have always felt that we would lose Baines this season.

But if we were in a better financial position and were able to keep hold of our better players, then the media men would undermine us in a different way, they'd highlight the shortcomings or the private habits of our players.

It's always been like that for Everton, even when we've had great teams, the media would focus on how unlucky Leeds had been - even though a large section of the media really did hate Revie - or focus on some obscure remark that Clough or Shankly had made, right up to the 80s were it was all about the impending rebirth of United or Spurs or Chelsea or how great it was to have Southampton or Watford or whoever rather than Everton.

I don't know whether it is because of the money that we spent in the 60s or because we as a club were bad at public relations, but it has always been that way with our club.

Our bad-times are exaggerated and our good times are glossed over or ignored. But we continue year in year out regardless of which players stay or go, they can never take that away from us.

A friend of mine here in work is a City fan and he said it's all over the City forums that we are bringing Jack Rodwell back in January......

Andy, if that is true, it would be exactly what I was thinking a few days back. Rodwell's career could be back on track under Martinez and develop into the classy centre-back /centre-half that many though he would develop into and one that we need to replace Distin/Jagielka.

No way Rodwell will be back, he cant string two games together. We did well to get City to part with £12mill, the lad was a good prospect but never got any better...

It seems a bit far fetched to me but stranger things have happened in football and EFC have had a fair few dealings in them.

Rodwell's fitness was always a concern and I can't see Pellegrini using him much so you never know, famous quote of the day time.....

WATCH THIS SPACE..!!!!!

Yawn... god this kind of thing is tiresome.

I would take Rodwell on loan to give him playing time. We are a bit light in midfield and he would settle back in quickly. As for paying money for him, perhaps at a 50% discount?

Just read on Eurosport that Chelsea are looking at Balotelli in January. Perhaps another reason for Lukaku to join us and for Barkley to stay!

If Rodwell came back imagine him and Stones as a future centreback partnership. They'd be perfect for Martinez's vision of playing out from the back.

If Rodwell came back imagine him and Stones as a future centreback partnership. They'd be perfect for Martinez's vision of playing out from the back.

I keep on saying we should make Chelsea an offer for Lukaku and people keep on saying no chance but why not? Jose has sold/frozen out loads do players, equal or better than Lukaku, over the years. Robben (sold), Schevchenko - Ballack both frozen out by Jose and lots more I can't remember.
It's not a given he will want Lukaku as I think he prefers the finished article and Rom still has someway to go. Sign him up BK, try and keep Bainsey and Barkley and we can compete for those CL spots.

James Martin..... and both young, English and quick over ground and good in the air. On the other hand they are both pretty unproven...i always thought Rodwell's positioning/anticipation was the weakest part of his game.

Jack Rodwell simply does not have the desire to be a top class footballer. You look at James McCarthy and how much he wants to win every tackle and impose himself on the game. A nice lad, certainly, but he has that competitive edge on the field. Rodwell has all the potential but none of the bite. He's too 'nice'.

Can't see Chelsea needing Ross, stupid paper talk.
As for Lukaku he's here for a season that's all.
We will not sell anyone from our 1st eleven in Jan.

I don't know Phill, I still see Jack's man marking of Silva against Citteh as one of his best.

The fella never got a touch in the game.

He can put his foot in with the best of them......unfortunately it usually falls off afterwards.

Vaughn and jack were going to be superstars IMO but injuries buggered both their careers. Still, if they could remain fit I'd have both of them back.

Colin, its worth a bid I suppose, but his price will have risen a good bit with the form he's in at the moment.

What's he worth? £25+, but would our esteemed directors come up with the cash!

If we could get him for £25m, he's nowhere near developed to his peak both physically & skill wise yet, at 20yrs old he'd be the bargain of the century.

Lampards at the end of his career, so Ross could be groomed to be his replacement.
Nothing is beyond this club when it comes to big money transfers, especially when the money is coming our way.