Everton eye Hoffenheim ace

I've seen a lot of Hoffenheim this season and Firmino is a real Martinez kind of player - good with the ball at his feet, good movement off the ball, comfortable running at people. He's also their top scorer this season with 13. He normally plays off a striker but has lead the line himself at times.

I was thinking just a few weeks ago that I'd like to see us go for him, and I can't see United or Liverpool going for him with the players they already have in his position. The German press has him linked to Zenit so I don't know how believable this is. Hoffe are at home to Hannover on Wednesday night so I'll keep an eye out for Everton gear!

He wouldnt be cheap, put it that way! This is only a suggestion but Tom Ince this summer is on a free! I should think we'd be after him.

I don't know the player but Rob's 736 report sounds promising and I think more in line with the 'undiscovered Latin player' that we have been expecting Roberto to bring to us.

The problem with Everton is we tend to drop out when other teams bid for players. We have taken loan players where other clubs may have wanted them but in recent years our ambition is almost invisible if 'real' money is involved.

I would love us to get Bony or even Ba but that again depends on other clubs interest. My only comment is... if we could pay £15 million for Fellaini and £13 million for McCarthy, then we should be able to go the extra mile and bid high for the likes of Lallana or a top striker.

Thanks Rob (736) for the eyewitness info. Great thing about TW is we have so many members now all over the world that there isn't a prospect that SOMEBODY hasn't seen play in person.

Trevor (746), don't disagree with any of that, but not sure what we've done in recent years is relevant. Let's see what Roberto does with his first full summer in the market. He certainly isn't shy about bringing in new players, especially strikers.

Me personally, if I was buying a centre-forward for around £15 million, the player I would like us to try and get would be Jay Rodriguez from Southampton. He has been mostly played out wide this season and I think he has got about 13 goals. Plus he is only young, has got quite good pace, and I feel he will suit our style of play and he is a better footballer than Lukaku.

Yes please! Such a good player; he has really lit up the Bundesliga this season. Even if it is a rumour, this is the standard of player we should be being linked with!

He could be the missing link between defence and attack that we so desperately need.

If Bill could only open a Blood Brothers theme park or something, we could go in for Firmino and his Hoffenheim teammate Kevin Volland - a player who in my opinion would be the perfect replacement for Pienaar (and has a much better end product).

Come on RM make something special happen this summer!

It would have to be a loan. Martinez doesn't give permanent contracts to strangers.

McGeady is the perfect example of a Martinez "non- Wigan" type signing. He personally scouted him over a lengthy period, assessing his ability and character but didn't step in till the market value dipped well below his true worth.

This is the way he plans to do things. He has said so on many occasions. Experienced players, loan signings, youngsters.and new permanent signings of the right character and ability who will perform above their market value.

People keep coming up with fancy expensive names who will never be considered. McCarthy cost a tidy sum because Martinez discovered him at an early age and was determined to bring him to Everton.

Adam 796 agreed on Volland, he's a very good player too. He scored a beauty yesterday in a 3-2 win at Bayer (one-time Blackburn flop Anthony Modeste got the winner though, so don't read too much into that!). These two complement each other and really do make Hoffenheim a really exciting team to watch. It's just a shame they can't defend to save their lives! Third highest scorers but also the most conceded this season...

Jelle Vossen is my first choice if we don't manage to keep Lukaku. Actually, I would love them both but the chances of that happening are pretty slim!

Isn't Volland more of a winger than striker? Anyway, I go with Paul.I have liked Jelle Vossen for a few seasons now; he would do a good job.

Renowned scorer of one-touch goals from a lower class league, with an excellent record over the last few seasons... No I'm not talking about Jelavic prior to Everton, but Jelle Vossen. Scary comparison though.

I've seen a bit of Vossen, and yeah he scores and gets in the positions, but is he really the all round player we need to compliment our team? Somebody with more extensive knowledge will have to tell me...

Volland I like but he is in that limbo of winger-come-striker at the moment which isn't what we need. We need a properly defined centre-forward who scores, holds the ball up and passes... Basically Zlatan.

Kris #905
Vossen can do it all! He's scored loads in the last few seasons for his club side and although I admit the Belgian league is weak there have been plenty of Belgians of high quality come from there. You only have to look at their National side to see that they are producing top players. He has scored in the Champions league as well, so can do it against the "big" teams and is a centre forward only, none of this limbo positioning.
Tall, young(ish) Belgian (so will have friends at Goodison) and shouldn't cost the kind of money that will be asked for the likes of Lukaku/Bony.
I seem to remember Middlesbrough having a £4m bid turned down last summer as Genk were wanting more around £6-7m.
I would love to have him as well as one of the strikers mentioned above but not sure Martinez even has him on the radar.

Roberto Firmino would definitely be a welcomed signing, however as others have mentioned as soon as richer clubs get involved we will have no chance.

Hopefully there is some truth to the rumor, and alongside Firmino I'd like to see Everton Ribeiro from Cruzeiro to join. He would be the ideal replacement for Pienaar in the long term but could do the business immediately especially under Roberto Martinez.

Everton might also need to add one new face to the defence considering the ages of our centre backs. Eder Alvarez Balanta from River Plate looks an extremely promising player, left footed and a great replacement (eventually) for Distin.

Mind you all these players will probably go to clubs with far bigger profiles and wallets compared to Everton. It will be Interesting to see what path Martinez takes in the transfer market, showing where the club's immediate path/trajectory follows.

I'm talking to the wall.

Harold - Obviously your walls have ears!!!

Ha ha Patrick. You're right. I should know better..

I think a sneaky bid for Nick Powell from United could be a good option. Watching him carve up the Championship and scoring in the Europa league for Wigan and he doesn't look like he's in Moyes' plans for the future. As much as we need a striker we need to bring down the average age of our midfield as well.

Interesting
When the Mirror claims Seamus is off to Manure the source is (quite rightly) rubbished but when the useless hacks come up with bringing in an exciting player, it inspires uncritical speculation.
Having said that some interesting comments about more likely options in the transfer market.
Following pre match blogs last week about the quality of Bony, Michu and (dare I say it?) Shelvey, these three gave us a real problem on Saturday and I'm just glad Shelvey wasn't on from the start.
We should also be keeping tabs on the Cardiff goalie as Robles is not the answer to an ageing Howard.

There was a big announcement and mini party pre-game last night announcing that Firmino has extended his contract to 2017. If he's going to leave now he won't be too cheap...

He got an assist last night and is now the 'top scorer' in the Bundesliga, using their system of combining goals and assists

I've just read about some Ghanaian kid called Aquah(?) who is being called the next Essien. I think he's registered with Hoffenheim but is on loan at Palermo. He started off with Glentoran, in Belfast, and is 22 and apparently one of the best young defensive MFs in Europe.

Harold, let us all have our fantasy transfer season. Definitely a good name to be linked to based on reviews and def agree it won't be more than a loanee unless scouting efforts step up, but perhaps RM will break the mold once in a while?