Blues linked with two three strikers

Well at least this rumour isn’t as bad as the Lukaku-Barkley swap deal. Don’t these journos have anything better to do?

We're also linked with Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca.It is April 1st.

Saw Drmic on tv the other day for Nuremburg and thought he looked pretty handy. He's playing for a very mediocre team but his movement and touch were very good and he scored a very good penalty.

I'm a Remy fan and think he would contribute a lot for us but if we don't get him then I think Drmic could possibly become a big star. Had a certain Zlatan quality to him...

Out of the 3 of them I would prefer Remy, although I am not too convinced about his attitude plus I think he will end up at Arsenal.

I know nothing whatsoever of Bacca and have only seen the other lad on highlights of the German Bundesliga.

I would prefer to keep Lukaku on another loan for a year or get somebody with Premier League experience because I think next season we are going to want to look more like the finished article under Martinez.

Bringing unknown lads in from abroad can work in two different ways.
You either get great success stories or you get ones like Kroldrup, Van Wolfswinkle at Norwich and the garbage that Spurs and Sunderland have brought in over the last 12 months.

We could get Carlos Bacca and he could be another gem of a player or he could be a 9 million pound flop.

It's too early for all the transfer talk yet anyway.

Let us finish the season in a strong position and then see what players are available.

We need to make ourselves as attractive a proposition to top quality players as we possibly can.

Bacca was voted the best player in Belgium while he was at Bruge and he has scored 14 goals this season for Seville including two in their surprise win over Real Madrid.

He is a Colombian so Martinez should have an advantage in them both speaking Spanish as their first language. He is being looked at by a lot of clubs and if we got him it would be a real coup. I agree that Remy would be a great acquisition if available for the right price.

I quite like Rodriguez at Southampton, he's scoring plenty for a mid table side. If we get in the CL we certainly become more attractive. Can't wait for Sunday!

We should go all out for big Rom. Loves the club, knows the set up. He can only get better. People forget he is only 20. I was waxing lyrical about a new centre back at Christmas, but Stones has solved this prob.

No one leaves.
Big Rom in
Cut price Holtby in.
Deulofeu – one more year
Barry on a free
One more deal

That will do for me.

The problem with trying to bring in a proven Premier League scorer is the price that will be demanded. I agree that foreign signings are a bit riskier, but you can get more for your buck. Also, anyone who we bring in will have been thoroughly scouted by Martinez and his staff.

To get Lukaku we will need CL football and probably £20m at least that we can afford to spend on just one player. The former may help the latter but both are a long way from guaranteed. Let's see what the next month or two bring.

Lukaka at the moment looks to me like a young striker who needs a wise older mentor playing with him, akin to what Gray did to Sharpie when he came to Goodison. Graeme was a young striker who was learing his trade, the Gray took him under his wing and the rest is history.

Dan (484), that won't remotely do it if we're playing in Europe next season, not even if our long-term injured come back healthy. We need a bigger squad. And if it takes 20 to keep Lukaku, I don't think Roberto will empty his pockets for one player.

Peter, maybe Big Dunc can show him how to throw his weight about. With the size of the lad any centre half should be trembling at the knees at the thought of 90 mins rough and tumble !

We need a keeper who will command his area. Howard has made some vital saves recently, but Fraser Forster at Celtic would be a great buy. Not pushed on Lukaku if he’s gonna cost anymore than our current transfer record. He’s just not that dominant. His link up play is often poor, aside from that reverseball into Naismith at Fulham. For his size and power he should do more.

Blues linked with three strikers?

Think we found the April Fool's Story lads.

Remy is a class act and proven in the EPL. If we don't get Lukaku I can see that happening

Maybe as its April 1st the red top rags double bluff and write an honest story for one day a year.

I tell you now we will sign Lukaka and if we get into the top 4 that is his fee paid. After that who knows but there was a good article in the Guardian today from Howard.

We need to concentrate is what he said and he is right.

We need goals of course but I suspect plenty of potential options Martinez has. We need, however, to replace Osman. Whether or not you rate him he has been an integral part of our team and how we play for years - I would suggest Adam Lallana (sorry I don't know how to spell his name). Yes I would pay £20m for him (if we could afford it!)

I would be highly surprised if we actually managed to sign any of the players we are supposedly linked here. For the simple reason that a whole host of clubs are/will be interested. The fact is, we have always missed out on our transfer targets to the likes of Spurs and Newcastle.

I suspect the players we will sign, will not be famous high profile names. I would love Remy (especially for 10 million) but this guy smacks of being a mercenary....he will chase the biggest wages wherever that may be. If my memory serves me correctly, he signed for QPR when they were rooted to the bottom of the PL in January 2013. It didn't matter to him that he was staring relegation in the face - he just wanted a big pay-day. It was the same transfer window when Peter Odemwinge made a right tit of himself desperately parked outside Loftus Road trying to get his big contract....it really did encapsulate the 'mercenary' modern-day footballer.

We definitely need more numbers in our squad - especially if we are to play in Europe. Hopefully, Barry will be here permanently. Hopefully, Deulofeu will be back on loan. Gibson and Kone will be like new signings if they can stay fit. But I still feel we will need an extra 4-5 players as well....in Martinez we trust.

At least we're being linked with strikers. Shows that Martinez has his priorities in order, if there's any truth to them of course.

At £ 3 - 5 Bojan Krkic could be had during the summer. His career has gone off the rails under Guardiola and RM might just be the manager to get him back on track...on his day an absolutely fabulous playmaker.

Have to agree about Remy, a class player no doubt, but he smacks of trouble to me!
For that reason I don't think RM will be interested.

Lukaku will be too costly I fear, even if he wants to stop.
Bacca, I know little of, so no real opinion on him, sounds like he maybe too expensive though.

Kone if we get him fit, can stick it in the net, there's no doubt in my mind about that.

Jelle Vossen please along with Lukaku

I agree that Jay Rodriguez would be my prime target but sadly I cannot see Southampton allowing him to leave for cheap money.

It's just a shame again for me that already we are talking about certain quality players being out of our price range. This from a team that has pushed hard for the Champions League all season.

There is something about Lukaku which makes me still want to see him in an Everton shirt next season but unless we can somehow talk Chelsea into another loan, and I very much doubt we could, then he is more than likely going to be out of our price range.

I just think Lukaku will be even better and further advanced next season.

Would have been nice to have kept the core of the team together that has done so well this term.

For permanent signings the favourites are Lukaku, Barry and Traore because Martinez has fully assessed them. He also knows all about Rodwell, the Dundee Utd lads and a couple from Sunderland. Strangers will have to be assessed during a loan period.

I think Big Bill might cough up a few quid for Kevin Phillips.

Colin. Haha. nice one.

Well spotted Matt #534!:D

Harold.

I am hoping you are wrong about permanent signing tagets being Traore, Rodwell and the Dundee Utd lads.

No disrespect meant to these guys but we are going to be aiming for 4th again next season and I just don't see what Rodwell and Traore are going to bring to the table that we don't already have.

Rodwell is not a patch on McCarthy or Barkley and we already have a long term injury prone central midfielder in Gibson, we don't need another.

As for Traore...That would if anything need to be another loan deal as we have not seen anything of him to even begin to suggest he should be a permanent signing..
I still don't see how he would fit in with our style of play to be honest.

The young Scottish lads would be squad players and not what you would expect to have an assault on the Champions League, they would be future signings who could possibly gain experience should we get a Europa League slot.

I don't have any idea what the money situation is going to be like at Everton this summer but we need to be aiming to sign players that have been and done it, proven class players in other words.

The likes of Lallana, Rodriguez, Remy, or something along those lines.

I have been saying for a while that if Barry does not sign for whatever reason then the midfielder I would be looking at is Tom Huddlestone.

The guy is a very technically gifted player and his controlled passing would be right up Martinez's street.

To sign Rodwell would be a serious step backwards in my opinion, he was never a great player and we have progressed as a team since Rodwell left, I no longer see what he would bring to the team apart from maybe another space in the treatment room.

Tahir 560, if we can get Bojan for 3-5 quid that really would be a bargain!!

Sadly alot of these players would probably take up our whole transfer kitty in one swoop. The likes of Lallana and Rodriguez will surely cost at least £15m apiece and Lukaku upwards of £20m.

To really push forward it would be nice for at least one transfer window to compete with the big boys and splash £50-£70m but obviously thats not going to happen. We will be lucky if we get £20m or more. Unless perhaps we get CL but for me thats still a long way off and will require something extraordinary from the team thats feels horribly unlikely.

Wheeling and dealing is most likely the order of the day still and for that reason, mercenary or not, I would go out for Remy because at £10m he's good value. Admittedly wages are a different matter.

I would hate to be a pedant or whatever, but any of you guys saying "4th place pays for Lukaku" etc need to bear in mind that 4th place only actually gets you a qualifier over 2 legs for the prize of the CL group stage. Refer back to 2005 and Villarreal! Bearing in mind our co-efficient, which can't be too great, we could draw a potentially tricky opponent. But the main thing is to beat Arsenal first and give us a real chance of it all happening...

I would hate to be a pedant or whatever, but any of you guys saying "4th place pays for Lukaku" etc need to bear in mind that 4th place only actually gets you a qualifier over 2 legs for the prize of the CL group stage. Refer back to 2005 and Villarreal! Bearing in mind our co-efficient, which can't be too great, we could draw a potentially tricky opponent. But the main thing is to beat Arsenal first and give us a real chance of it all happening...

Apologies for double-post - didn't seem like my mobile had responded! Editor can delete one if required, thanks!

Chris

You make a very valid point but surely this year it would be different because unless Man United win the Champions League by fiishing outside the top 4 as Liverpool did in 2005, then we are unlikely to face a team of the high calibre of Villarreal again.

Plus I don't think we would be as ill-prepared for possible qualification this time around.

Only Moyes saw suitable to start a potential Champions League campaign with players like Marcus Bent, Kevin Kilbane, Simon Davies and David Weir..
No disrespect meant to those loyal servants of Everton but lets face it, you would not see another English club do that when preparing for life in the Champions League.

Back then we had the Rooney money plus the carrot of playing in the Champions League to coax the best players to join us.
We failed in a dismal fashion in the summer of 2005.

I very much doubt that Martinez would allow the board to be so tight and I believe he would make the most of a chance in Europe's biggest tournament.

Jim. I'm with you most the way but Martinez only seems to give permanent contracts to players he knows or has sniffed around for many months. Apparently, the wrong type of character can disturb the dressing room and training sessions. I mentioned Traore because Martinez loves his attitude and has personally sat down and indoctrinated him on all things Everton.

Rodwell is the perfect Martinez target. A reasonably priced young player with a guaranteed good character who will perform above his market value......or he will when Martinez builds up his confidence and gets him to go forward.

The Dundee Utd and Sunderland lads have been well and truly scouted all season and probably while he was still at Wigan. Whether or not he found someone of interest is anyones guess.

As Tim Sherwood has discovered at Spurs, big money doesn't always buy you a big heart. The Cahills and McCarthys of this world are very hard to find but there are one or two out there and I believe we are on their tail. Martinez wants people who will follow his instructions to the letter without complaint. Ego free and desperate to be part of a successful team. They will also have to be cheap. Uncle Bill does not have an oil well and is a bit slow with his wallet.

Jim 644 we would almost certainly not be seeded for that qualifying draw. So are highly likely to face a very good team. Maybe not as good as Villareal who made the semi finals that year, but they will still be very good.

I think if Bobby goes for Rodwell, his priority will be to make him into the footballing centre half he was meant to be, with the capacity to fill in in midfield. I still think he was mis-used by Moyes and then Mancini.

Phil

That may well be the case should the unlikely happen and we did pip Arsenal to 4th but I just feel that this time we would be well more prepared and lets be honest we are a far better team now than in 2005.
We even lost 5-1 to the not so mighty Dinamo Bucharest that year.

Billy

I am not sure about Rodwell becoming a defender now, it would not be so easy at this stage of his career, he has not played at the back for anybody so it would be a major culture shock and for a lad who rarely plays many games on the spin due to persistent injuries.

Billy 686

I think that Rodwell would be the ideal partner for Stones in two or three years and that it is not as far fetched as some may think. He has the ability and was always talked of as a centre half in the making. Bobby seems to know his onions so I guess if he thinks that the value is there then the possibility will rise. If not, well, we just have to trust the man being paid as manager.

Of all the ridiculous transfer rumours that have been put about lately I've just come across probably the worst at 'Caught Offside'.

According to them Everton have offered Coleman in exchange for Arteta but have yet to receive a reply.

If this was April 1st I'd laugh. But this sort of trumped up lazy journalism just makes me angry. It's not even speculation – it's propaganda in another guise. Just before the Arsenal game as well. No doubt a similar story will pop up before the manure game with Coleman being offered for Smalling or some other misfit that wouldn't get into the present Everton side.

Reminds me of that proposed exchange in the 90s when Kendall asked SAF if he would swap Cottee for Cole.
"Yes, how many sacks"

I agree. Daft rumour. Arsenal are very strong at RB. Top lad Jenkinson can only get the odd game.

Jim 644,

I think there was a lot more to the disappointing 2005 Summer transfer window than the fact we had Rooney money and we were in the CL.

Unlike previous transfer windows where we could probably conceal how much money we had for transfers; qualifying for the Champions League made our finances a lot more transparent. Now the teams we were dealing with knew we had at least x amount of money to spend, and knew we were desperate to upgrade our roster, so they were fleecing us on prices and payments.

And players weren't climbing all over themselves to join us because we had no European track record. Remember, we were the favorite in '04-'05 to be relegated (which makes that season all the more remarkable). So a high profile player might look at us and think, "2005 was a great season, but will you guys be competing for titles, cups and CL spots in 2006? 2007? 2008? Or will you be back to fighting off relegation?" The players we chased had no confidence that we would be back in this position and either didn't want to join us, or were greedy and demanded salaries we weren't comfortable with at the time. Which allowed clubs like Newcastle and Tottenham to swoop in with the money. I remember Scott Parker giving us the middle finger that summer, and Newcastle stealing Emre Belozoglu from us. Which was fine in hindsight cuz Emre is a racist POS.

Looking on this excellent site for everything to do with European Qualification, http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/access2014.html

There is no way we would be seeded if we finish fourth. Everton UEFA Co-efficient is currently 24.835
Comparing it with this season and replacing Arsenal with us against the teams who were in the 4th Qualifying Round for non Champions this season, we would be the 8th out of 10 teams! The first 5 are seeded and they are drawn against a non seeded team.
This is the seeds for last season!

Seeded teams                   coef.     Unseeded teams                 coef.
------------------------ --- -------     ------------------------ --- -------
Arsenal                  Eng 113.592     PSV Eindhoven *3         Ned  64.945
Olympique Lyon *3        Fra  95.800     Metalist Kharkiv *3      Ukr  62.451
AC Milan                 Ita  93.829     Fenerbahce *3            Tur  46.400
Schalke 04               Ger  84.922     Real Sociedad            Esp  17.605
Zenit St Petersburg *3   Rus  70.766     Pacos de Ferreira        Por  12.833

If we got a lucky draw and progressed to the Group stages it would get worse as we would almost certainly be in Pot 4 by the looks of things, without trying to work it all out we could possibly end up with a nightmare group of something like Barcelona, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Everton!

An alternative striker option would be Saido Berahino. Just been involved in a dressing room punch up at Wesdt Brom and looks as if he is on the way out. Cracking young player.- regular for England Under 21s - bags of potential, good all round game.

Liking new layout... Nice..

Colin 712
I'd fancy us against most of those. Many of them are only seeded because their league opponents are so god awful that it's relatively easy to qualify.

I like the sound of your Group; win your home games and you have a chance and none of them including the mighty Barca would relish coming to Goodison on a wet Tuesday evening.

Also off-topic for me - new layout is impressive!

Colin Gee... Barcelona, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund a nightmare group? that's the stuff of my dreams mate.

There's going to be a lot of lies about us being linked with a lot of players but it's good to put a name and face to them. Last weekm we had someone called Steve Bates claiming Martinez is interested in a £15 mill deal to bring Cleverly to Goodison. Just file his name under lazy lieing git along with the many other's on the list which surely includes Andy Dunne and Martin Samuel.

Another laughable rumour going round the web is that Martinez is prepared to let Coleman join Arsenal as long as Arteta is part of the deal. That's as far as I got, I had better things to do than read such obvious nonsense like going for a clear out.

I guess we are going to constantly get linked with strikers now. I have always liked Cisse at Newcastle, he could be in our budget.

I have no idea who this Jelle Vossen is. His name sounds like a shampoo or something, but Paul Ellams must be his Agent! He's obsessed by him playing for Everton. Every single time we get a story about buying a striker he's there. When he retires Paul will be trying to get Mr Vossen a job at Goodison selling programmes or sausage rolls!

Matthew

Cisse at Newcastle is another Jelavic for me. Misses way too many chances and has goal droughts that last months and months on end and is also not very mobile from what I have seen of him.

I would rather get any one of these.

Lukaku
Bony
Rodriguez
Shane Long
Javier Hernandez

Granted, we may not have the money for some of them but I would much rather have a player like Long, who will always turn up, week-in & week-out, on the cold winter days, than Cisse who seems to go missing form what I have heard Geordie's say. I think we have already had too many strikers at Everton in that mould over the last few years.

I really feel that this summer, and next season especially, to give Martinez even more chance of success, that we need more players who are the finished article.

Matthew 815

Papiss Cisse is possibly THE worst striker in the league, and struggles to get into a poor Newcastle team.

He swung a leg at everything in his first season (mainly because he has no control, pace, balance, movement, awareness to do anything else) and most ended up in the top corner. Evidently this has fooled people into thinking he's a good player.

Demba Ba is a far better player, cheaper, and would hold the ball up better than Lukaku. Rent is a quality finisher with great movement. Shit, I'd rather give WBA the £6m back for Big Vic than buy Cisse!!

/rant

Matthew 815

Papiss Cisse is possibly THE worst striker in the league, and struggles to get into a poor Newcastle team.

He swung a leg at everything in his first season (mainly because he has no control, pace, balance, movement, awareness to do anything else) and most ended up in the top corner. Evidently this has fooled people into thinking he's a good player.

Demba Ba is a far better player, cheaper, and would hold the ball up better than Lukaku. Rent is a quality finisher with great movement. Shit, I'd rather give WBA the £6m back for Big Vic than buy Cisse!!

/rant

Re Rodriguez... Great player (we should have signed him from Burnley) but not an out and out striker, which has to be priority to reace Lukaku. That being said, I would like to see us sign another support striker.