Serbian striker linked

Not a bad player to take on board. Also look at these - Jelle Vossen, Graziano Pelle, Dario Cvitanich, Alfred Finnbogason, Filip Djordjevic, Luc Castaignos, Dusan Tadic, Kevin Volland, John Guidetti and Demba Ba.
Must be 1 or 2 in there who can help us replace Lukaku when he goes back to Chelsea

I do not know a lot about him, to be honest... maybe a straight swap with Jelavic.

I see the press are linking Jags with a move to Man Utd, and us with a move for McGeady. There's a lot of comedians about, but for a change why not link us with Van Persie? Maybe he would like to play for a team like Everton who are challenging for a Champions League place.

Defoe?

Patrick I could deffo see the ginge convincing himself that Jags supplanting Rio at internationals justifies the same at utd.

Having the choice of virtually every CB on the planet would not divert him from the joy of creating a successful utd from seeds he planted years ago.

Oh no, the mans hubris should never be underestimated.

Is any one happy with the constant McGeady link?

I know Martinez followed him closely when he was at Wigan, but this is Everton — a big step up.

I hope these silly links with mediocre players are put to bed swiftly.

Is it delusional to hang on to a hope that we could possibly sign Lukaku?
This feeling of being able to rely on a striker to score....... well it's kind of addictive.

I'd break the bank to get Lukaku. I doubt BK would even break his piggy bank.

Bill Kenwright will do everything in his power to sell our top stars for good money, but it never seems to pay top money to get top players into the club.

The Barry deal will be ideal for him.

I like McGeady. He's a Martinez type player and that's good enough for me.

As for Lukaku. He's a very decent striker on the way up but a long way from being the finished article. Natually, we would love to keep him but his interviews don't portray a bundle of happiness and I guess he's heading elsewhere in the summer.

I called him McGreedy years ago but having watched him recently, he seems to have matured and doesn't take on the whole team without passing anymore. With Pienaar getting on a bit and becoming injury prone, he may just fit the bill at the right price. Whatever happens, I trust Martinez to do what's right

His goal scoring record is on a par with Kone, who has also demonstrated that he can cut it in the PL.
At 26 I would file under could do better.

We should do our level best to keep Lukaku at Everton (i know I know, but one can dream right?)

Otherwise I would love to see a cheeky bid for Chicarito. Imagine RM going to OFM, "You should do what's right for Hernandez and let him come to Everton. You are blocking his career"

We've got a McGeady. Seamus Coleman plays the same wing game, just from a bit farther back.

And Vijay, a big no for me on Chicharito. He is a finisher/opportunist to rank with the best in the world, but we have nobody to provide the kind of service he needs, and he is totally unable to create his own chances the way Lukaku does. Fine player, great guy, but definitely not worth what he would cost -- especially to us.

No offence intended to opposite views above. We can't keep Lukaku, he will become a world star over the next 2 years.

Harold 089

I have to completely disagree about Lukaku's happiness and commitment to the club. Did you see him after the Villa game? He punched the air like he'd won the World Cup.

I think he's a very articulate, intelligent and determind young man. He will be giving Everton his absolute best this season because he wants to be the best possible player he can be.

If anything it's refreshing to see a man so young be so level-headed - especially when you consider that he's had all the riches thrown at him that come with being a modern day footballer.

Great kid and I hope he can fire us into Europe.

OK Phil. Agreed. He is everything you say he is. For his age he is quite astonishing. It's just that he appears reluctant to show signs of genuine happiness when interviewed. Maybe he doesn't like the cameras.

Mike, I disagree about Chicharito. I think we have the possession and players to take advantage of his pace and movement. The concern would be his hold up play and for that reason I'd prefer a lukaku type player but I'd be delighted if we got Hernandez and would back him to score lots of goals for us.

We should move hell and high water to try and bring Lukaku in permanently. And, unfortunately, that involves selling Dear Leighton in January, in my opinion.

He's been a wonderful servant to the club, but we need to cash in. Game changing strikers are few and far between, leftbacks are far more common. Even if we couldn't afford Lukaku, we could still use Baines/Fellaini/Anichebe money (what is left...Bill...?) to try and buy, for the first time since Yakubu, a really top striker. It's the only way we'll challenge for top four.

Would love Hernandez here, amazing finisher. If we played some through balls rather than trying to pass it into the net all the time then his hold up play wouldnt matter.

An ideal scenario would be Lukaku bangs in 30 to get us in the champions league and we then go and buy Benteke to replace him.

James, I suspect Benteke would cost even more than Lukaku. Shouldn't think either will be less than 20m.

There is the new TV money as well. I see clubs with much smaller revenues than us splashing out.

Moyes having a net spend of £1m over the previous 10 years should surely have let us accumulate something. Our wage bill is not too high... There should be money there, and not just money from player sales.

At every level of football, amateur or professional, thwe thing that sets a team apart from the rest is the guy who can stick the ball in the ol onion bag, where would the RS be without Ratface and Sturridge for example.
We should spend whatever is available to weither keep Rom or someone similar because if we can score goals it not only breeds confidence it means letting in the odd howler isn't so disasterous.

At every level of football, amateur or professional, thwe thing that sets a team apart from the rest is the guy who can stick the ball in the ol onion bag, where would the RS be without Ratface and Sturridge for example.
We should spend whatever is available to weither keep Rom or someone similar because if we can score goals it not only breeds confidence it means letting in the odd howler isn't so disasterous.

echo....echo..... !

We have zero change of signing Lukaku unless we make the top 4. If we did that it would still be remote and Chelsea would want 25m and upwards. Hopefully he hits 20 goals and we get into the CL and Goodison gets under his skin.

Benteke isn't anywhere near as good as Lukaku in my opinion so I wouldn't want to pay 20m for him.

We have zero change of signing Lukaku unless we make the top 4. If we did that it would still be remote and Chelsea would want 25m and upwards. Hopefully he hits 20 goals and we get into the CL and Goodison gets under his skin.

Benteke isn't anywhere near as good as Lukaku in my opinion so I wouldn't want to pay 20m for him.

I was hoping Martinez was going to be able to count on his Spanish connections to bring a few bargains in.

In fact, when the likes of Stubbs & Weir were being touted for the job, I expressed my concerns about attracting continental talent.

Wenger seemed to have the drop on every young player in Europe a few years ago, I am hoping Bobby can bring a few rising stars in himself.

With the money at stake these days though, you would imagine every prospect from here to Timbuktu has a scout from the P.L. watching their progress.

Was it Dortmund who had 5 first teamers from their Academy? Maybe that's the model we should be concentrating on - you certainly need local lads in any side.

When Martinez was at Wigan, they brought through many unknown South Americans who were later sold for big profits, so I'm sure Mr (Señor) Martinez can wheel and deal with the best. In fact, the only time I have been genuinely excited at the end of a transfer window for ages is this last one and that was the Señor's first for us. I foresee further excitement coming soon... :0)

I imagine Martinez has been let down by a number of players in the last few years, including several he has been forced to inherit. This may account for his oft repeated desire for people of the right character. People like McCarthy, Kone and Alcaras who he knows he can trust.

Right now he's still sorting the wheat from the chaff, youngsters included. Which ones will progress, which ones have already reached their peak and will progress no further? There will be plenty of the latter.There always is. Football history is full of future stars who disappear without trace.

We've also got a few mixed bags. If only we could blend the determination and willingness of Naismith with the ability of Mirallis. Wouldn't that be something.

As Trevor says. The last window was exciting. Can't wait for the next.

Defoe, for me, as Ross says. Defoe any day. 31, but still very fit and has a lot to offer for 3-4 years. Hopefully European years.

True Mark, plus he has Premier League experience, which is beneficial. He has scored goals at every club he has played at, and he'd be a better acquisition than most of the names mentioned above.

Plus, it would benefit him as he'd get first team football, as he has been increasingly sidelined in the last 3 seasons, so it would help him get back in the England reckoning.

How Welbeck gets in that squad above him simply mystifies me.