Lukaku completes record £28m move

Can this fella sort out my mortgage for me?

TJ Williams............I’m going to keep those season tickets afterall, fck it!

I mean, we’ve had one this week already.

TW is crashing - that must be good.

We now support the most exciting, progressive, up and coming team in the Premier League!

THIS IS HUGE AND I’M THRILLED!!!!

We’re gonna win the league. :0) OK OTT a bit but I’m just thrilled!

Way to go Bobby! Way to go man!

At long last , we have got ’ our man ’ at least we didn’t have to wait till the end of the window , and hope fully he can get a couple of games before the season starts in earnest !

It’s almost unbelievable but no sooner was the news released the bookmakers were taking odds on Rom scoring less than he did last season !

Oh I forgot to mention, did he bring Atsu with him ?

Can’ wait to hear all the ’pundits’ now, they all said we would be knackered this season when all the loanees went back to their respective clubs. Martinez is making us dream again!

We’ve now a core of young, excellent players who still have room to improve over the next few years: Coleman, Stones, McCarthy, Besic, Barkley, Lukaku.

Give him the No. 9 shirt!

I am so behind RMs buying policy it’s unreal. No more 4 average players when only quality can move a team forward..

A masterstroke, Roberto!!

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

There is no doubt in my mind that its Bobby’s presence in the club that has our best players staying and the players of Lukaku’s calibre siging up.

We are on a new playing level now my friends!

What a cracking surprise...might make the rest of this working day redundant for me now lol

We mean business this year!!! School of Science is back!

Or is Lukaku actually shite?

Actually, he hasn’t been pictured holding up the shirt, there’s time for this to go wrong.

It’s like a new signing.

Kenwright out.

Colin Glassar, what’s next please sir?

I hope we add a couple more players to the squad before the window but perhaps that’s being greedy.

Come on guys; get the medical done and the deal signed asap please.

Oh, and well done Colin!

Naturally we could still do with another striking option and a winger, but even if we didn't sign anyone else we've got a good enough squad for another tilt, and crucially it's a settled squad too.

LetÂ’s now pick up the other young Belgian lad, the young MK Dons one and the Swedish winger.

Looking pretty sound then. And who knows ..... he may go for a few more!

Martinez has said all along we'd do our business after the World Cup. Some of us thought this centred around whether we get Lukaku or not. Some of us suggested he was taking the piss on a jolly in Brazil.

I would suggest that in this case, the manager has been vindicated. And hats off to our maligned Chairman for making it happen.

Great news. Fact. No 'happy-clappy' stuff necessary.

Now let's make sure we get the best out of Lukaku.........and maybe get into the habit of cutting Martinez some slack before sticking the knife in!

I'd like a left winger next please.

Ricky Van Wolfswinkel is available from Norwich, and Brett Angell would consider coming out of retirement ! :-)

Leave the snipes out of a celebratory thread.

This is great news. Will keep my powder dry until I see him with the scarf aloft though.

Better than anything is how strong the squad is now. Where's the dead wood? I just don't see any. What a difference a year makes. Belting time to be a blue!

Well done Roberto and credit where it's due - well done Bill.

I do think the two (Barkley's press conference and Lukaku's signing) are related. They had to know that signing Lukaku for a record fee would bring a lot of fanfare -- if I were them, I'd have found a way to let Ross know that he's at least as important to our future as Rom, and I think yesterday was their way of doing that.

On a negative note .....what will the usual whining suspects on ToffeeWeb have to gripe about now?

It's an odd figure to pluck out of the air. Maybe it's accurate.

I still say the number 19 shirt would suit him better than 10, but either way I'm a very happy blue.

Colin Glassar what are the lottery numbers this weekend....

Wife thinks I am an arse given how exciting this is....

Chelsea are absolute idiots though. They'll be starting the season with Torres (lol), the ghost of Drogba, and Costa (who has had one good half season against La Liga defenders).

I'm not being negative but the word 'set' is making me nervous.

Remember Nigel Martyn ? Ravanelli? Muller ?

If this comes off it is amazing news. It really sets us up as a force. And a nod to Barkley and Stones ( amongst others) that we are going........'places'.

I just can't quite believe we are spending so much on one player. The deal sounds too good to be true.

Why the hell would Chelsea agree to ٣m a year ?????

Surely someone would give them , pretty much , a full up front fee ? Or near as damn it.

Can't wait for the press conference.

But you're right. Very good news for all Evertonians.

Now, a little attacking help in the middle and on the right, and we will fear nobody.

My oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine heading my way
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-A-Dee-A

Mister bluebird on my shoulder
It's the truth
It's actual
Everything is satisfactual

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-A-Dee-A
Wonderful feeling
Wonderful day

Yeah

On paper, this is the strongest Everton side since the 80's.
What a signal of intent signing this lad permanently.
Top 4 / silverware is on!

(TW - given that he has special gifts and has been calling this transfer right for weeks, why not introduce a horoscope page on this site written by Colin Glassar? You could call it 'Glassar's Stars'. Can't be any worse than that Lawro bloke who predicted Brazil 1 Germany 0. Just saying like.)

I have to say this is a master stroke by RM and his team

Absolutely perfect ......... I can't believe it

Am I dreaming ?

Honestly, I'm not just saying this, but I always thought it was probable we'd sign him. Colin Glassar went out on a limb and said it was a dead cert, so fair play to him for that, but it was plain that - for whatever reason - Rom and Jose didn't fancy each other and, if a transfer was going to happen, we were always likely to be among the favourites.

Nevertheless, I'm as chuffed as... well, as a bucketful of choughs Link

The only way this could get sweeter is if the Shit Heads over the road where forced to sell the best striker in the world and inexplicably go out and buy the whole Southampton team. Hang on a minute!!!

The time for congratulating the board will be when we have spent a lot more.

I am so confident of our chances in the Europa League now, we can break our trophy drought with Roberto at the helm, no doubt in my mind whatsoever.

Our young guns will frighten the life out of everyone this season - I hope those redshite's are shitting themselves!

Eric 132#, isn't that a good piece of business by doing it on the drip, allowing us to sign other players rather than just using all the cash on one player?

The locks gotta come back. He just looks terrifying with the long bouncy hair.

Short hair Rom is too friendly, too nice, too congenial.

Long hair Rom has defenders shitting themselves.

All we need is a replacement for Deulofeu another attacking midfielder and Traore on loan and we'll be a match for anyone.

I'd buy Remy if the doe is in kitty!

Fair play to Bobby and Bill for getting this sorted. Roll on the new season. ...GET IN.... Yes yes yes I can't stop hopping around the place

I actually believe it was planned for yesterday and a hitch came up so they paraded Ross out instead.

Unfortunately I don't have any more info on further signings except to say there will be one or two more. The Traore deal depends on Falcao I suppose. If he, Falcao, goes to Madrid then I imagine Traore might stay in Monaco. Atsu might still come, Hernandez will probably go to Spain now.

We still might go to Man United for a player but that is all conjuncture so far. The Rodwell deal seems to be dead in the water by all accounts but that could be a last minute move.

Anyone got any news on Kone and Oviedo? Are they back in training yet?

Until Colin Glassar persuaded me otherwise (and he really did) I had that feeling that we would be gazumped for Romelu.

And as many have already said previously, now let's really forge ahead and sign another striker and a winger (or two ??) and set ourselves up properly to have a real crack this forthcoming season.

Roberto, thanks.

There's been posters expecting anywhere between 㿅 - 㿔 mill in summer signings based on our nett negative spend of last season. So far we've spent around 㾷 mill, no more than in previous seasons when we've had a surplus.

Personally I'll reserve the pats on the back for when the 㿔 mill is spent.

This IMO is definitely worth calling a press conference for. Next, where's that new stadia gonna be ?

Mark my words this is not the end. I'm still expecting a surprise in the attacking midfield department - Kagawa on a 1 year loan on deadline day ? Banega ? A *real* addition from last year is coming on deadline day.

When it happens going to get the away shirt with name and number (after they come baxk into stock circa April)!!!

Wish he had the no.9 shirt - wasted on Kone.

So, if we are paying only £5M down on this when is the big signing coming ? (lol)

Still think we definitely need a reliable second choice goalkeeper Alex McCarthy or David Marshall, Atsu and one more attacking midfielder ( sounds a bit greedy ) but we could then take on the World !

Let's just hope there is no stupid clause in the contract that says Rom cannot play against Chelsea!!

As I said, so far it's no better than previous seasons when we've spent less than we sold for and BK and the board received brickbats.

'David Moyes won't be charged over alleged assault'

'Everton sign a £25m striker '

Incredible.

I didn't believe he would come and it looks like we have him

Its a big statement of intent and if Colin Glassar lets me know of his favourite charity I will be making a donation on behalf of myself and my 2 sons.

Feeling very positive

If we can get Atsu in on loan as well then we have effectively reassembled our best team from last season with the bonuses of two loanees groomed to become permanent signings, a German-raised international to add to our midfield, long-term injury list petering out, and a crop of rated youngsters who will get opportunities to develop and prove themselves.

I have some hopes for a few more reinforcements. Someone suggested Torres would be going to Monaco which would allow Lacina Traore to rejoin us on loan and then Benzema would go from RM to Chelsea (which would be hilarious as he apparently rebuffed the RS as being too insignificant to interest him). Things look like they are falling into place very nicely indeed!

Congrats Colin, but I did say on here a couple of weeks ago that our Butcher knew for ceratin that we'd got him.

Mind you, I thought he was talking tripe!!!

Sorry...delirious :)

That money also has to go on players’ wages.

You called 'em right you were solid and unwavering and referred to your "well informed source". You own the bragging rights and I'm so glad that you do.

Jamie @ 142
Correct ! Rom must grow the "dreads" back !
I've said this from the moment he chopped em off.
Ruud Gullit had 'em and he was brilliant.
So c'mon Rom mate, get the dreads back and put the Royal Blue fear into every defender in Europe !

Medical? nah - no problem
Work Permit? not an issue
Pending court case? nope
Wants us to pay his income tax? Tcchhh!

Looking good Glassardamus, but still time for EFC to balls it up
As my arl fella used to say "Everton will always let you down" - maybe, just maybe, with Roberto we've turned a corner for real this time

Looking back now, in light of what's happening, how special was that moment? Seeing a young kid like him scoring a goal, then sprinting straight toward the manager of his LOAN team! Not his parent club, the manager of the team that is borrowing him for a season! It still brings a smile to my face thinking about the sheer joy of the moment, the smiles of the Everton fans in the background, and especially the grins of the Arsenal players on the bench. It really underlined how he was enjoying wearing OUR blue shirt; that he was having fun and relishing his time with us and for the first time I thought, "If Romelu likes playing with us, maybe there's a chance this can happen." Money was always going to be an issue, but just maybe.

Now, over to you Bill. And to paraphrase a quote from one of my favorite lines from the movie The Right Stuff, when Alan Shepard was waiting to launch into space, "Dear God. Please don't let [us] fuck up."

What isnÂ’t great in my opinion is this club always owing money and IÂ’m not sure if 5 mill a year to Chelsea is a good deal for us, that partly depends on how much more money Roberto has to spend.

I will be a very happy bunny after 7.00.

Still can't belieive it though if it is true well done to BK after all the stick he gets on here

Onwards and upwards folks

In quatrain CII-62, Colin's distant ancestor, Nostradamus wrote:

"When Mabus shortly dies, there shall ensue
Of man and beast a laying waste most dread.
Then suddenly shall vengeance heave in view:
Thirst, famine, blood, with comet overhead.”

If this doesn't mean that Lukaku will score a shedload of goals for us this season then I don't know what it means.

Well done, Bill Kenwright !

Well done, Robert Elstone !

Well done, EVERTON !

We have strengthened because last season he was on a one season loan.
We have just signed him on a 5 year contract

Colin well played mate defo insider dealing let's hope you are not a banker or your bonus will be taken away for a long time.

I think you already know the answer.........

Puts things into perspective nicely, especially when you consider most of Rom's goals have been in the PL.

A good centre- half but he was born before WW2, so how’s he going to strengthen our side ?

Andrew #191, so if we had gotten Lukaku on another 1 season loan would we be stronger? Weaker? Or just the same?

We're all very happy, mate. This is a great time.

A few have posted (over the last 12 months) criticising various aspects of his game but, like (’lazy, fat, not arsed’) Latch, he has ’that thing’ I love to see in a striker - that they seem to exist for goals, that it’s (seemingly) only goals that makes them feel alive.

Take ’em away from a pitch and there doesn’t seem much spark there but give them a half chance and BANG - followed by pure joy.

For Latch goals were a ’fix’ and I get the same impression with this lad.

(of course every player enjoys scoring but the born striker lives for goals).

I also think it would be great to have him ’settled’ rather than wondering what he’ll be doing next season.

Pleeeease let this be true and go through unhindered.

I understand your point, but seriously man...

Did someone shit on your pillow this morning?

Brent #195 nails it when he says we're stronger than "just days ago". But that's about it.

Yesterday Liverpool completed the signing of Origi for under 10m, who seems to be a better player with more pace and a superior first touch than Lukaku. Bony supposedly has a release clause of just under 20m, Remy is available for less than half that. Not sure the club got such a fantastic deal, except for the payment plan.
The club needs atleast 2 more decent players just to return to stay still, let along dare to move forward. Congrats to Bill and the board for having the balls to sanction such a deal.

"The Latch"

Correct !

Start the freaking press conference please...

Pour yourself a Singha,relax man.

I am tuned in with two computers, Echo & OS and nothing !

Maybe they are waiting on the Pizza Delivery ! Just when I was thinkng everything was running like clockwork !

Did we sign anybody?

John #210 glad to see someone else realises 11 minus 2 plus the same 2 = the same 11.

In all seriousness, maybe there is a hold up presswise with a more than normal amount of reporters and cameras?

The only other players that were here that aren't now were:
Delboy (a great talent obviously but not the finished article and more a sub)
Traore (only played once and we may get him back anyway)
Gueye (never played, not good enough)
Vellios (see above)

Vs that we have the best 2 loanees signed plus new boy Besic in midfield and long-term injuries Kone, Oviedo and Gibson also back in contention.

On top of that there's a clutch of youth players knocking on the door plus our young stars are a year more experienced (stones, coleman and Barkley).

There's also the increased familiarity with Martinez and his methods plus the benefits of holding onto a consistent team.

You can make an argument that we're only slightly stronger yes, but weaker...I just don't see it.

Ay ay ! Mate this is Everton not the Lisbon !

"when he's lifting the shirt up."

Maybe that's the cause for the delay, TBH I'd prefer there was no "shirtlifting" involved. Surely that's best left to "the other lot" ?

(Hopefully within the next 48 hours)

Well done to Robbie. it takes some balls to splash so much of your kitty on one player, but this was a MUST signing and he was determined to make it happen.

well done Kenwright - never thought I'd hear meself say that. but credit where its due

Now, about that CL qualification. . .

I knew Roberto was good, but how did he manage to squeeze that into the small print of yesterday's EU sanctions on Putin's cronies?

Tension breaker-had to be done!

I have one word............................Southampton.

We have managed to keep our squad. OK we lost Deulofeu but we have signed Besic and looks like Henen too.

Plus we may get some more.

We are at least showing some ambition, with the resources we have.

Seriously great news.

well done Everton, the board, Bill Kenwright, Roberto Martinez and Romelu Lukaku.

fabulous

This sends a message to the football world, you can imagine that other young players would look at what we are doing, and think 'actually, I wouldn't mind be part of that'. Lets get someone in now that can give a killer pass, and we have the makings of a very good side. Great day to be a blue, cant wait to be at Goodison against Arsenal. COYB!

Small time club we are....

Go for the hat-trick Blues....

But 28 Million!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like a lot of cash

WOW

What the actual fuck of a question is that??????

Fuck me, I never thought I'd actually see the day we showed some ambition, some confidence in ourselves, and some intent. Delighted doesn't cover it. I even enjoyed the ToffeeWeb meltdown for some weird reason!

Press conference went to tits about halfway through for me as well, but fuck it, this is great news. I might actually get some sleep at night for a bit now. I still can't believe we paid so much money, but I believe its a good thing he cost that much - it shows we have balls, it shows we're not just the fucking best of the rest, and that we mean business. Up the blues!!

Quality journalism. Who was it who asked the question?

I had a feeling something might be on the cards after he ran over and gave Roberto that bear hug!

Welcome, Big Rom... Now... let's get Duncan working on that first touch of yours!

I had a feeling something might be on the cards after he ran over and gave Roberto that bear hug!

Welcome, Big Rom... Now... let's get Duncan working on that first touch of yours!

£28m is what we should be paying for a striker. It is NOT too much money at all.

No need to use it on TW and the OS too !

I missed the lot, but judging by most comments, I don't think many saw anything either !

I've never felt this good since Brett Angell ---------------------------------- left !

Like I mentioned before, missed everything, so did the young lad sign too ?

Part of me wonders if the plan was to announce yesterday, but Ross was wheeled out when it wasn't quite done.

Hopefully it's a structured deal - they know we're not loaded, so no need to demand it all up front, so our hastily-arranged pressers shouldn't be done for the season. Fingers crossed.

There are probably a few more players to come yet, no loans have been announced yet.
Top 4 is a more realistic goal now, not just a pipe dream, its a pity that we have the distraction of the Europa which could make us take our eyes off the ball in the League.

Just think, we could have ended up paying £18M !

I fucking love our club!

The fee was mooted as £18m on here not so long ago, to £23.7 on the BBC website at 7pm then £28m by 9pm. Good job we didn't delay the press conference any longer than we did.

Never mind, football finances are crazy.
For that money I want 20 goals a season, the dreadlocks back and a trophy.

Really good player, even greater potential and a real statement from the Mighty Blues.

Welcome to Muhamed Besic too - he got a bit overshadowed today.

Exciting season ahead. A couple more would be nice but I'd rather be making these sort of incremental changes rather than wholesale splash-the-cash-to-become-the-new-spurs of our spivvy neighbours.

All this for us and the added bonus of BBC links to "Broken Gerrard's worst 3 months."

I missed the conf and I couldn't get on TW (server down?) but I'm glad it's all over for today. We will sign 2-3 more players but this is our marquee signing and a massive statement to the rest of the league. Everton is back!!

Rom smiles and................my twatting computer froze.

Was there an answer?

28million? for another £7million we could have had Andy Carroll instead....

A very fair point.

By the way, some tit did ask about vanishing spray at the press conference. RM smiled seemingly out of sympathy.

I suspect he'll just turn up on the touchline and wave, rather than play.

What a team we have now: Colman, Stones, McCarthy Barkley and now Lukaku... All extremely talented young players. Besic is going to be great as well I reckon.

IÂ’m mentioning only those but the rest of the team is great as well but the core of the team are at a great age.

What a time to be a Blue!!!

You're lucky, I saw nothing at all and like you, don't know if we signed David Henen, or what !

Maybe Lukaku wants to play but Martinez doesn't want him to get injured having just spent the entirety of his transfer budget for the next 5 years!

• Stones, Barkley, Lukaku, McCarthy – young, highly talented, so much so they are destined to be good enough for any side in the world;
• Then we have Coleman and Baines – two of the best full backs in the league;
• Experience in Jagielka, the first choice England CB (for now);
• Barry, underrated midfield connector;
• The mercurial Mirallas, on his day so creative, speedy and deadly;
• and Howard – Everton fans may just have learnt to appreciate this guy;
• Then we have Besic who I sense might be the signing of the summer at ٢M.

This may all seem pie in the sky but you can bet your boots that as the crowds walk up to the ground for the first home game of the season the expectations will be high enough for us to believe we will be watching this seasons champions and we wont mean Arsenal.
Oh what joy it is to sign a top of the range striker. I cant wait to see who else we may sign before or on deadline day.
UP THE BLUES.

What the hell, it feels great to be an Evertonian, this season could be the start of something special, I can feel it in my water.

I do think it goes without saying this is our marquee signing.

Where's the Eastbourne Pier money Bill?

These younsters will take a few years to reach their peak so I'm not expecting them to set the world alight just yet. Martinez has done amazing things in the past12 months and I'm quite happy watching how he builds a well balanced, competitive squad, piece by piece.

Woke up with the little blue icon in my notification bar. Big smile this morning!

What a statement by the club. Huge investment in a young player with massive potential. Evidence that Martinez will be backed. Really feels like we've arrived - back to somewhere we belong.

Thought exactly the same at the time. You could see he loved Robbie and that the feeling was mutual. Thought then (hoped) that this could lead to a permanent move. During the press conference was really impressed with his composure, intelligence and eloquence. Seems a great lad and I'm absolutely delighted.

Derek (300)

Has your cup ever been more than a quarter full? For Christ's sake give Bill credit. He's done brilliantly with the interests of this club foremost. He didn't sell us to the Venkeys.

I'm more optimistic now than even last season and we'll have to do better this because of the money in the pockects of those who finished above us plus Man U

Can we have 5 minutes of peace now where people aren't carping on about how useless the club is???? Please?

Don't worry there will be more to come or how the hell could we put up a show in the EL. Roberto will really give that one a go.

These are great times. I was there when Andy Gray climbed all over the Watford keeper at Wembley and Elton John was in tears. I think he was a tad jealous. That was the start of a wonderful period in our history. I feel that Roberto can bring us something just as good. Keep the faith and the sky is the limit. Can't wait for the new season.

COYB NSNO!!!

Where was that thread where we were invited to predict how much we'd spend in this window? I went for £20-25m!

Loosen up a bit mate, I was only having a laugh, or are you not supposed to do that on here !

DM sits in a darkened room, naked and covered in calamine lotion.

There’s a knock on the door.

DM: "Whit is it the noo!!?"

Morag: "Av brought ye another bottle o’ lotion"

DM: "Aye come in, this wan is awmost empty"

Morag enters.

Morag: "Ach Davey, that looks awfy sore, whit have a told ye aboot sittin’ in the sun, yer’ve no got the complexion fer it"

DM: "Thought a’d be ok...had two cardies oan...an mah duffle coat"

Morag: "By the way, that boy’s gone back tae Everton"

DM: "Which boy?"

Morag: "Och ye know....ahm nae guid wi names...the big powerful looking black boy, cannae remember hoo tae say his name"

Moyes smiles and thinks ’mugs’

DM: "It’s pronounced ’An-ee-chee-bee’ and he’ll no do them much good, the boy’s gash"

Morag: "No it’s no him...whit’s his name?....LUKAKEEE...or sumpthin like that, anywayz they paid 28 million fer him - ah’ll gi’ ye a knock when yer fish fingers are ready"

Morag leaves.

Dave takes the bottle of calamine lotion....and begins to drink it.

I have to say Well Done to Bill an the Board on this one. COYB! IMWT!

I think Spurs paid £30m for Lamela. And look how that turned out.

Bloody brilliant mate. You paint pictures with words even if you have to be a scholar of The Bruins to follow the prose.

Whilst Koné and or Traoré are the only possible replacements, the alternative of Naismith in that role just doesn’t inspire me.

Moyes - no further charges for his bar room brawl

Poetic justice !

What a shite summer so far...

LetÂ’s be honest, we would have faced the terrifying prospect of bloody Kone up front against Leicester on the opening day had we not acted today. We are now two more signings away I reckon from being more than ready for the season ahead.

A backup to Rom, to add depth for the Europa League, maybe Hernandez, and a winger, either Atsu, or, we are being linked on Twitter with a Deulofeu return. I think it has some legs.

On Sunday, Barcelona released their squad numbers, and he wasnÂ’t given one, we have a link with Barcelona now it seems, and he is in the country now on training camp. He will also see next to no football this season now Suarez has signed for Barca, 4th or 5th in the pecking order now.

I also would like a backup goalie. has that Ochoa found a club yet? That free agent who single handedly kept Brazil out in the World Cup, because Joel is woeful. CouldnÂ’t catch a cold at all.

A very exciting season ahead. I wonÂ’t say that weÂ’ll win something, but I think we are on the verge of something special under Martinez.

Howard
Coleman - Jags - Stones - Distin - Baines - Oviedo
Mirallas - Besic - Gibson - Barkley - McCarthy - Barry - Pienaar - Osman
Naismith - Lukaku - Kone

I look at that squad and donÂ’t think they should fear anyone.

Tonight does feel like a landmark in the clubÂ’s history.
I have my natural Everton cynicism but canÂ’t help but be excited about the future.

People making comparisons with when we signed Alan Ball, Latchford and Lineker. IÂ’d add Andy Gray to that list and Peter Reid as both were catalysts to our success.

Hopefully weÂ’re on the verge of something great.

Even the lack of a creative midfielder is compensated by the attacking wing-backs IMHO - though we could do with a bit of flair in the middle. Perhaps some cover at centre back as well?

CanÂ’t wait for the season to start.
Feel like a kid again and wonÂ’t sleep tonight.
I might even buy The Indy tomorrow! Then again ......

Oh my giddy aunt.

"Of course we will"

A man of his word

Who is next: Atsu? Remy?? Traore???

See report: "The deal, reportedly already agreed with Chelsea before today as well as a contingency agreement to loan the player if the Londoners decided to keep him."

Does that mean Chelski get him back when they want as does it mean he can not play against Chelski?

Reckon we owe him a beer on this one as he must have had a say in the lads transfer and obviously felt it was the best move for him as long as he wanted it.

I got Bosnia in the sweepstake, so had a good look at him and I was quite impressed. Barry and McCarthy are both decent players, but you cannot say that they play with arrogance or swagger, they are more in the Â’honest workersÂ’ bracket. We need someone who is going to own the centre of the park, and let opposing teams know it.

Due to the Roberto Revolution, we really could be on the up and up. Oh for something shiny come the end of the season. Best chances the Cups of course, but we have real reason to believe at last.
Onwards and upwards, COYB.

Howard
Baines Jags Stones Coleman
Barry Besic McCarthy
Mirallas Lukaku Barkley

And I hope all the miserable gits moaning about the Ross Barkley press conference will now shut the fuck up!

HeÂ’s a brilliant player with a huge amount of potential!!!

I am also thrilled that Tim Howard signed an extension, as I am still able to say I am younger than an Everton first team player for a little while longer!!

I definitely wanÂ’t expecting $28m and hope it doesnÂ’t come with other sacrifices. It is good to see him here regardless. Less UCL talk, more goals.

I can’t wait for the new season. Well done Roberto and also ya gotta hand it to Blue Bill — he has come through massively for the club.

School of Science is back with a bang.

I think people are getting a bit carried away about Besic. He played almost entirely at CB in Hungary. He played as quite a destructive DM in the World Cup. I donÂ’t think thereÂ’s any way heÂ’s going to turn into a deep playmaker.

The thing is, when everyone in defense is passing it out, you probably donÂ’t need a deep playmaker. Likewise, when everyone in the team is capable of creating chances (which I think is what Roberto is after), you probably donÂ’t need a "creative" attacking midfielder, an old school number 10. Those two roles are kind of redundant when youÂ’re playing total football.

ItÂ’s the sound of the rest of the Premier League shitting themselves!

Liverpool just paid 㿆 million for Lallana. IÂ’m not knocking the lad but transfers like that just put in perspective just what a great purchase weÂ’ve made.

As for Besic, heÂ’s another young player who came here because of Robbie, I think this lad is going to be a bit special. He looks so confident of his own ability, itÂ’s a bit gobsmacking. I get the feeling that he will be like Peter Reid once he settles in.

What a great few days... brilliant work

Jesus.

Romelu has to improve on last season to live up to that kind of fee but I really thought we were going to be watching him banging in the goals elsewhere.

My one negative comment (as all us Evertonians have!!): If we had offered Chelsea 㾸-15 million last July, they would have taken our arm off!!

Maybe our chairman isnÂ’t the bungling idiot we love to hate? Could Atsu on loan with first refusal on buying be part of the deal??

IÂ’d be careful there if I was you!

It could create an Â’atmosphereÂ’!

WeÂ’ll consider that tomorrow and beyond.

For now, thank you Bill & "friends" and thank you Everton.

What takes my breath away, is that [unlike most of us] Roberto clearly never had a momentÂ’s doubt that it was going to happen. My God, IÂ’d hate to play poker against him!

By the way, does Â’Mystic ColinÂ’ have any views about the 3.45 at Newmarket this Saturday!!

Gotta give it to Colin too. He continually called it, credit were itÂ’s due!

I hope heÂ’s right about us looking at a Man Utd player too, my bet now would be Cleverley as Welbeck or Hernandez may be out the question now weÂ’ve bought Rom. Then again thereÂ’s always Fellaini!

Who knows? Well maybe Col does... ;-) Spill the beans, Collin mate! I must admit though , if IÂ’d have been told the fee was going to be 㿈m I wouldnÂ’t have thought we’d have completed it! Well done, the Blues.

Someone like Remy who can play up top or out wide would also be a good fit.

Would also like to see one more attacking midfielder to cover Ross. Kagawa on loan would be an interesting one.

These are good days too though. Still canÂ’t quite believe that weÂ’re actually going to try to compete. In the past weÂ’ve been ecstatic to secure the likes of Kevin Campbell permanently. Great servant obviously but it was the kind of signing no-one outside of Everton gave a shit about. This is something else.

He cost a lot but it does show that we are serious about becoming one of the top teams in the country again. When he signed on loan last season, I thought it was a real coup for the club but didnÂ’t seriously imagine us signing on a permanent basis. It just goes to show how far we have come in one season under Martinez!

Then we have the best left back in the league. The incomparable Seamus. Stones with potential to be the sort of defender England have never produced. McCarthy with his boundless energy and Â’winnerÂ’ attitude. Barkley.

The others around them arenÂ’t bad either. Jags is still top level. McGeady and Mirallas will scare teams. Add the older influences and the up and young prospects and this is a very exciting time.

Nil Satis...

1. Largely Shrewd transfer dealings for the past decade.

2. And – relatedly – how strong the rest of the squad is.

You look around our squad, and see the best team we have had in more than the last quarter of a century. Simply, a striker is our only positional shortage. The raw talent is all there. And it is that strength that lets us blow so much cash on one position.

And, to be honest – loathed as I am to do so – there are some people to thank for this; like it or not, Moyes is one of them, not just cynically for the Fellaini cash, but for stabilization. What we are taking now is the intent of the next step, that being something towards the restoration of true ambition.

What we are getting for this huge sum of money is not just a potentially world class striker, but possibly an enhancement of our ability to hang on to the likes of Barkley, McCarthy, ColmanÂ….etc. ThatÂ’s what a proportion of the 㿈 million is about. A statement of ambition, a denouncement of the status quo, and, as somebody wrote recently, a stamen of intent.

ItÂ’s a big gamble, but one we had to take. The scariest thing now is the height of our expectations and if they can be met. There is little use in saying stuff like "ItÂ’s half what X paid for YÂ…." etc. As itÂ’s very easy to give a flipside to that: almost 3 times what RS paid for Sturridge or what they were about to pay for RemyÂ….. etc.

There are bargains and there are bloopers out there; Lukaku has what it takes, but also he has something to prove, and letÂ’s hope he takes the bull by the horns and does so. ItÂ’s strange really, because the change is only subtle in that our team is similar to what it was last season, but with the exception of experience and confidence. If those two elements can combine to make Barkley a better decision maker, and Lukaku to have better first touch, then then that subtle difference will be a lot less subtle. Touch wood, Martinez and his brand of beautifully positive football, is the oil for this engine.

Thrilled to tiny bits!

Welcome, Rom lad, you and a good handful of others will make us great again.

Cottee was a decent player and the stats prove it.

I wonÂ’t have a bad word said about Super Kev. I know you werenÂ’t having a go. He served EFC well.

Also think we had one or two more who might have fared better if theyÂ’d been served properly.

Andy Johnson should have been close to 20 goals a season but played into corners.

Same will apply to Lukaku. Need to give him the right service. Think RM will have it sorted.

Trophies.

NIL SATIS NISI OPTIMUM

Heard the Lukaku news a couple of hours ago IÂ’m so exited its brilliant news for us long suffering Evertonians.

Remember like yesterday when we signed Alan Ball, we were a very big club then(1966) The Lukaku signing is very very important for our club, the Redshite must be spewing!

This has vindicated MartinezÂ’s loan system. 2 of the 4 (The most impressive two) have signed permanently, and Traore may well re-join. LetÂ’s get Atsu in and a creative presence, and then I think we will have enough about us to compete in the Europa league and Premier League. If the payments are staggered then that is even better, as it will suit our debt repayments.

This has been a good day.

Oh happy days!

Remember that feeling when after years of saving and squirreling away money gained from the sale of family heirlooms you finally decide to take the plunge and buy that dream house or trade in your motor for your dream car ? That moment when you put pen to paper, authorise that bank transfer and the money is gone, that moment you feel sick to your stomach, you feel lost .... youÂ’re skint.

Cheer up Bill, if you continue with these good practices we may actually go on and win the league within the next 5 years.

I imagine Bill will be at FF a lot in the next few months polishing his new asset and putting him back in the box at the end of each day.

IMWT
COYB
NSNO

Erm, Ciarain, where exactly where you on 2 September 2013?

If you were on ToffeeWeb that day, then utterly friendly I would suggest kindly that you take a trip to the Doc coz IÂ’m worried about the possibly of early dementia setting in... and, you being a fellow blue, I donÂ’t want that.

Have you really forgotten the last window? The first of BobbyÂ’s two great windows out of... well.. two? Do you remember Phil McNultyÂ’s piece early last September on who had the best window? Not Spurs, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, MoyesÂ’s Man Utd or the Gooners, but, guess what, Everton!

A corner has most certainly been turned......

NSNO

The happiest man in Canada!

However, I'm a little surprised at the level of positivity, especially for. TW thread.

So far, compared to last season, we have strengthened the squad with one DM / utility player (Besic) and lost a loan winger (Dealaufeo) and it's cost around 㿍.5mil.

Clubs like the RS and Spuds are strengthening with their acquisitions. I won't be too unrealistic (about winning the Prem really!!!!) until we do the same.

I can’t remember the match, but the day Lukaku scored a goal and ran all the way to Roberto at the sideline and jumped on him to celebrate, I said to myself "Maybe he’s falling in love with Everton and will want to stay".

The future is blue - Everton blue.

For me, making progress from last year absolutely must be viewed in terms of the permanent squad – the players we do, in fact, have under contract. No other kind of player can be counted on, year over year. In that light, we have very much strengthened the squad in this transfer window. We have made the most significant short-term improvements we saw last year permanent (or at least long-term).

Imagine if I asked someone to temporarily stash 㾶k in my bank account for a year. The money isn't mine, but it makes my bank account look really good for a while. At the end of that year, if I permanently acquired that 㾶k, would I say that my "real" financial position hadn't been strengthened? Would I look at my wife and say, "Hey, we're just standing still here!"?

No – I've got 㾶k more than I did a year ago. Before, the 㾶k looked good in my account – and it was nice to pretend it was mine for the year – but it wasn't mine. I didn't actually have it. I got to play with it, nothing more.

I think that's how one has to view these signings – those performances last year were borrowed on some level, and we first had to truly own them before we could build on them. And that takes money.

Now, if your belief was that we needed to splash 㿞M in this transfer window instead of 㿊M, that's a different discussion. But what we have done has significantly strengthened our permanent squad – which is the only thing we can really rely on.

Slowly, slowly, we build a permanent squad that can challenge. I would consider it a big step in the right direction to duplicate our league performance from last season, and make waves in the Europa League and FA Cup. If we do so, it will be largely with players from our permanent squad, and we won't have to listen to pundits tell us that we've only 'loaned' our way to a high league position.

That's just how I'm feeling at the moment anyway.

I said on another thread that possibly one of the most important signings in the last 2 decades for Everton happened last year - when Bill Kenwright decided to bring Roberto Martinez to Everton. I do believe that it will be looked back on as a turning point, a watershed event in Everton's history.

I know we have one of the most knowledgeable fan bases in the world, but I am just worried that Lukaku's huge price tag may ratchet up the expectations unrealistically, and if Rom has a few average games, the vocal minority may start turning on him. I hope we show him the patience and love to help him get over the inevitable blips in his (young) career.

Also, as Steven mentioned, thanks must go to David Moyes for his part in building up this excellent squad (Howard, Jags, Baines, Coleman, Stones, Distin, Mirallas, Naismith, Ossie, Pienaar, Oviedo) - when you think about it, his contribution to Everton is staggering really.

Do I believe that Everton will win the league this year? Yes, I do!

Woke up this morning and I'm still in shock. And I thought Martinez pulled off a miracle in the last transfer window.....

IMWT!

If he comes good he could be part of a catalyst for massive change at our club. I know we're all hyped up but yesterday could go down as a real milestone in our history – amazing how Martinez has engineered getting him on loan to doubling our transfer record and getting him permanently – the man's a genius.

And people say the loan system doesn't work.....

After all, he provided 㿇.5 million of the transfer fee.

Moyes was instrumental as Paul 448 says. The deadwood clearing has also been so welcome this past few months. Vellios, Gueye, Anichebe, Jelavic, Heitinga... perhaps a bit more to be cleared? Chelsea game next month is gonna be tasty.

BTW, what happened to Richard Dodd? Was he a Moyes mole?

All the talk all week has been about us needing two or three decent strikers, another creative midfielder and a winger. Signing Lukaku, despite the lift it has given everyone, myself included, isn't the be-all and end-all.

We still need to keep our sense of perspective and hope that we have some cash left to pay for the other players our squad needs. Yes, I know I should just enjoy the moment but for some reason I just can't help myself.

Loaning players is like renting a house you are getting a place but (in Britain At least) you have no real security. You are also paying into a black hole essentially. Same as Lukaku. We now own him and have a massive playing and financial asset for the next few years.

Lukaku, Barkley et al. Are also young players a year more experienced. If we have bought a thirty year old I may understand a bit, but you can't say we are not a stronger team

To be honest, I don't think we need to spend a great deal more. I would prefer another few loans unless it is a bargain, à la Besic.

On to the Management of the club. Whilst we have all wondered where the money has gone for the last few years with players being sold it would seem that there was a plan to put together a war chest and as nobody seemed to be aware of this until yesterday we have managed to sign some really good players at mid table fees. I suspect Southampton may find it harder to replace the players who left on inflated fees when everyone knows they have cash burning a hole in their pocket. Hopefully some of the money was used to further stabilise the club as has been claimed and even start the ball rolling on a new stadium project mark 3. All-in-all, the board still have their faults but perhaps this time they executed a plan perfectly.

This isn't the end of Roberto's rebuilding, and strengthening, of the squad but it is his sign of intent to the rest of the league. Now, please, sit back and await his next signings in peace.

His predecessor only managed to do it when his own contract negotiations were under way!

Good on him, I'm warming to that Spanish charm.

Thats the kind of mood I'm in.

"Sit back" he soothes "and await Roberto's next signings in peace"

What players?
When will they sign?
How much will we spend?

Peace FFS - a riot beckons and a new daily round of the Red Top's rumour mongers and ale house tittle tattle. I can't stand it

Hopefully we haven't needed to renew the payday loan with Vibrac again. Time will tell.

Listening to and reading the various output from Roberto and the players it would seem that the decision to attempt to bring Romelu in on a permanent basis was taken quite a long time ago.

Fair play to sun-tan Bob and his staff in their clarion call to increase season ticket sales for what now seems to be the right reasons and not for the usual reasons of financial fire-fighting.

We mustn't get carried away though and suddenly expect Everton to be among the big-hitters in the transfer market because we just don't have the necessary resources to behave in that manner. However, we do have a manager who believes in his project a group of players who believe in the manager and a board who will at least consider pushing the boat out if the manager deems it necessary.

If we can keep adding younger players in the next couple of years to replace the stalwarts and maintain the standards set in the last few years we should be a happy group of supporters.

We have a long way to go to bridge the financial gap but out on the pitch is where it really matters and as long as Everton FC are at least capable of taking on the richer clubs that will suffice - but obviously as fans we want a winning team and winning teams improve the club's profile and that will in turn create opportunities to improve our finances.

Eugene Kearney, where are you from?

Mourinho's comments about Lukaku being unwilling to fight for his place seem like sour grapes to me. Having spent two years on loan and being the third highest Premier League goalscorer in that period, it's not surprising that Romelu would expect to be a regular at Stamford Bridge. The fact is that Mourinho didn't have enough faith in him and brought in Costa to be his first choice striker.

From my point of view, Lukaku has shown great ambition by signing for Everton and fighting for trophies at a team that doesn't solve all its problems with billionaire's cash. Okay, we spent big on this occasion but we have earned that money through hard work. If we lift a trophy this season, I'm sure it will feel that much sweeter to us than it does for the fans of clubs who brought their glory!

What we are getting for this huge sum of money is not just a potentially world class striker, but possibly an enhancement of our ability to hang on to the likes of Barkley, McCarthy, Colman, etc. That's what a proportion of the 㿈 million is about. A statement of ambition, a denouncement of the status quo, and, as somebody wrote recently, a statement of intent.

A great point. It's not just a message to the fans but the players also. We are going places.

Can't believe all the naysayers out there saying we are only at the same point as last season without Del boy. If you remember back then we started the season with Kone, Anichebe and Naismith as our strike force. Come 7 August, we have Lukaku, Kone and Naismith. Last season you have to remember that we weren't Rom's paymasters. He didn't feel loved, he didn't know what his future held, whether it was even worth performing well for us and he would end up sitting on the bench at Chelski.

Now he is loved, he knows he is wanted, appreciated and most of all he is secure in his future. You know what it is like when you are trying to go about your work and you are worrying about other things in your life, you might be able to give it 80-90% but not quite 100% Now there is nothing stopping him from giving 100% for the cause. He comes across so well when he speaks I genuinely believe him when he says he wants to improve and become the best striker in the world.

The same could be said of Barry in that he was playing with that uncertainty, now he is secure in where he is and knows he will play, maybe we will see that freedom now.

Our midfield options are better, more strength in depth, Gibson coming back is also a bonus if we can keep him fit, I imagine Roberto will go softly softly with him. On the flanks we have Mirallas and McGeady on one side and I wouldn't be too shocked to see an improved Pienaar with the buzz about the place on the other. It isn't just the fans who will have got a lift from this, the players seeing Rom come in and the board spend the money they earnt last season will give everyone heart and the confidence to see that we are finally moving forward.

I for one am absolutely convinced we will finish above the RS this season as well as Spurs. For me, it depends on the Van Gaal effect whether we will get in the top four, I am also thinking that Chelsea have made a massive mistake and if Benzema doesn't come in to them then they will struggle a bit more than people realise.

I agree that I'd rather buy them, but all we really need is a back-up no.9. I think we'd all like an extra attacking midfielder/winger to give us options (basically as a replacement for Deulofeu) and it seems Martinez agrees and will sort this out.

I wrote a piece for ToffeeWeb back in April that basically said we only really needed to sign or replace our four loan signings and add a central midfielder and a right back to back-up Coleman.

It seems that Martinez is happy he can cover right-back with Hibbert and the young players, but other than that he seems to be doing exactly that. Say for the sake of argument we sign Traore and Christian Atsu (the latest link) on loan, we'd have two players for every position in our usual formation, as well as Kone and Naismith in addition to play the secondary striker role. That's 24 first team players and that's before we count any of the young players who were out loan last season as part of the squad.

So although there are two more signings to be done, Lukaku basically was the big deal, everything else looks rosy in the light of that signing.

We'll probably the young Belgian lad in permanently and then Toure and an attacking player both on loan and I'd be more than happy with that.

㿈m is a big amount of money for anyone. For Everton it's almost twice our transfer record. I very much hope it turns out to be money well spent though the natural skinflint in me feels we have overpaid by about 8-10m that could be spent elsewhere.

Mainly I am delighted at the first team we now have (and have permanently if such a thing exists). We still lack depth though.

Ever since that moment coming in, BK announced that RM can get us in the Champions League, the belief in this club has risen higher by the day.

Don't know about everyone else, but I am feeling like a very proud Evertonian, positive attitudes create better results. The first team are buzzing, and importantly, the youth squad at Everton are buzzing, because they know if they are good enough, they will get a chance to become the next Everton legend.

What more can this club ask for? Far better than a billionaire takeover in my eyes. Integrity all the way, Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.

Lukaku's signing is down to Martinez, while he is in charge the board will back him, what BK said about Roberto was echoing what Whelan said at Wigan that he is a special manager.

With some luck thrown in we could be really going places. The key is Martinez; we have to keep him at Everton at all costs.

Actually, I looked at the player profiles on the official site and as the number 9 shirt is taken......it had to be number 10. ;-)

For anyone who thinks we did pay over the odds, grow a pair. This is what needs to be done to step up to the big leagues. It puts a marker down. Says we are serious. Sends a message to those hack journos who constantly belittle us. And as for that tosser Mourinho, he is the scourge of this game, no respect for him as a human being let alone as a manager. His ego was always his problem. He's gonna regret this decision when Rom bangs one in against them at Goodison.

We've got one of the brightest managerial talents at the helm, a national treasure and local lad committed to the cause, a monster up front, a central midfield mix of steel and guile, two of the most highly rated full backs in the league at present and a keeper who just enjoyed global recognition at the World Cup in Brazil.

Obviously a few additional players would help, a more reliable back up for Tim as Robles is just not good enough (although good things are being said of Stanek). Perhaps another RB as cover and another winger.

But the future is definitely Blue...

We are a big club we can show the RS what it means to be supported by Scousers.

Welcome back Rom. It's the greatest club in the world.
Enjoy the journey!

㿈m is a big amount of money for anyone. For Everton it's almost twice our transfer record. I very much hope it turns out to be money well spent though the natural skinflint in me feels we have overpaid by about 8-10m that could be spent elsewhere.

Mainly I am delighted at the first team we now have (and have permanently if such a thing exists). We still lack depth though.

I have actually observed comments about BK that could be interpreted as almost Â’pleasantÂ’.

I demand a restoration of misery, pessimism and an outbreak of inferiority complexes forthwith. If not, you will be hearing from my solicitors.

COYB!!!

Special thanks to Moyes for buying Fellaini. We couldn't have done it without you! :-)

Not had time to read through everything but my view is that this is a great signal of intent from the club. As Lukaku is so young it can be viewed as an investment signing i.e. if he brings success it pays, if he outgrows us and barca etc come knocking we get our money back in spades. The only bad situation is if he flops (then heaven help us!)

As for the player, at times last year he looked distracted and frustrated. His first touch and short passing was often lacking meaning promising attacks broke up. Hopefully being a permanent player will concentrate his mind and our manager and coaching staff will now have time to really work with him on his short comings.

Either way, its an exciting time. Just need a creative midfielder now to consistently supply the big man in a way our current midfield only did sporadically last season.

I like the idea of bringing in Remy too, especially now his medical condition has been highlighted and we could probably half the reported ٦m fee that QPR wanted.

I don't think he'll be playing every week but with Europa League, Carling Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League games then surely he could play for the most part? Remember that Lukaku will tire quickly (probably around Christmas) if he's expected to play every game. Good shout that for Remy.

Premier League transfers have been inflated by a record TV rights deal. Look at recent transfer activity. Also, strikers rightly cost more than players of other positions.

Perhaps we beat CL clubs to him because we stumped up a fee that was too rich for them. I would much rather witness this scenario than see us bid 㿀 million and lose out to Juventus.

Furthermore, we won't actually pay 㿈 million as the structure of the deal will see some of our liability to Chelsea be eroded by inflation.

If none of the above convinces you that this is indeed great news for EFC, remember that we have essentially swapped Fellaini for Lukaku. Both symbolically and on the field of play this is fantastic for our club.

Mirallas: 8 goals 8 assists
Barkley: 6 goals 0 assists

I would say they both need to significantly improve their game regarding decision making, as they are both prone to taking a shot when they have a bit of space, instead of looking up to see if someone might be better placed.

I can't disagree with you but I would add that there is far more scope for Barkley given that last season was really his first. The assists stat has always bothered me because players make chances but if the striker (or whoever it may fall to) misses the goal then no assist is recorded.

Mirallas can be brilliant and isn't afraid to take a player on but he needs to up his consistency level if he's to get a starting place I think.

HeÂ’s preferred choice is to join us, and he wants his future sorted tomor. .

ItÂ’s looking promising. What a cracking squad weÂ’re looking like having.

Exciting times to be a blue, weÂ’ve well deserved it to be honest. CanÂ’t wait for the season to start!!!

Delighted, but even more so that Ross is signed as well!

His first touch is shit though :-)

Get in, NOW we can look forward to Leceister!

On our day we have the players to beat any other team in England, the trouble is, we need to more consistently make it our day. The decision making of some players is our biggest required improvement.

Its quite hard to see who are first choice midfield will be. I reckon McCarthy is probably the most indispensable. And all of us are very hungry to see Barkley get a lot of playing time. I think we are going to see some interesting squad rotations in the midfield this season.

1) we are a young team who are a year more experienced. This is a big deal.

2) there is no uncertainty hanging over any of our big players. Unlike last year with Barry and rom on loan and Baines coveted by United. Nothing to unsettle anyone ATM. Big benefit.

3) it sounds like a statement from the dark days, but Gibson, and in particular Kone are like new additions to this season's squad, as neither were available for any significant part of last year. Neither are first 11 starters, but both will have significant playing time.

I will take this as a massive improvement on our position

I think Roberto will iron out Lukaku’s first touch issues and will improve him greatly. I would like to see a cb and another striker in. Timmy needs proper competition – someone who can catch a ball.

If further addition can be had even on loan well and good but with a ٣ million down payment for Rom I think we should be looking to buy a cb. I expect us to hold on to Gibson for this year for the extra fixtures but can see him here beyond that.

Man City paid 㿇M for Dzeko and nobody batted an eyelid. Spurs paid a fortune for Soldado. The problem seems to be that it was too much money by Everton's standards. Well for me that isn't a problem. This kid is 21 and has all the potential in the world. We have bought him from a PL rival so you can factor in a couple of million for that alone.

How many opportunities do we get to buy a genuine world class talent?!

Well done Everton!

Celta Vigo at Prenton Park is the 6th, so surely (unless they got their dates wrong) he will be ready to make an appearance for the SC Paderborn away game on the 9th. Hopefully with a1/2 more.

Then he scores the winner at Leicester a week later...

Good point.
Dzecko scores goals in the Prem,Soldado doesnÂ’t.

Lukaku has a better scoring rate than both of them.

I'm glad Rom mentioned that he judges himself on how he develops as a player rather than in the Sky Stats mode of how many blades of grass he touches or average length of his hair.

Lukaku has bags of potential and two decent seasons in the PL behind him. To buy him you were always going to pay a premium on what he has showed so far in terms of skill and what he may be capable of.

For Chelsea, City, Arsenal and even the RS, 28m is a manageable amount out of their budget to pay by way of fee plus premium.

Now if Everton have to pay 28m all up front, then for us given our resources, we have overpaid. All the extra cash from the sale of players over the last two windows, plus some of the extra T.V cash, is gone on one player. You could argue that we are back to bargain basement buys, loans and relying on hoping that rough diamonds come good.

If we are paying the fee over a couple of years, then we haven't overpaid. It is damned good business for an already talented player who is going to improve. It means we are buying Lukaku at a price we can afford, and it's not like there will be an APR of 4000% thrown in.

Some people will say that it is a statement of intent that we have bought Lukaku for 28m. We are here to stay, put it up to the big boys and impress upon our better players that they should stay at a club that is going places.

Some people will say that having marshalled our limited resources so well for so long, we have lost the plot completely. They will laugh at the idea of us suddenly spending an amount of cash we will never see again on one player and one player alone.

Me, well I am genuinely undecided at the moment. The fallout from spending all of this cash will very much depend on the way in which we will pay the fee. If it is 28m all at once, I will be gutted. That is three quality players that we may have paid for. Yes, Lukaku has the potential to be a world class striker, but if all of our cash is gone, he will only feel like one player, a 15 goal a season striker. If we are paying in installments, then we have signed a striker who will score 15 goals a season and will still have the cash in hand to buy two more quality players.

The stumbling block could be how much playing time we are prepared to guarantee him as Chelsea are apparently expecting him to be up to speed for the Prem for next season. Personally, I think RM would be happy to rotate the likes of Pienaar, Mirallas, McGeady and Atsu on a regular basis and as long as Atsu could also appear for us in Europe (shouldn't be an issue for a full season loan) then he should get plenty of game time, but we can't prioritise a loanee above our own players.

Eric Dier is supposed to be a ٢ million target for Spurs as he has rejected a new contract at Sporting Lisbon. Is the timing wrong for us, or would he be worth going after to bolster our central defender options (especially in the longer term)?

11 months back, we got 27 mill for someone who wanted out and almost certainly wouldn’t have fitted in with RM’s type of football anyway.

Now we’ve spent roughly the same amount for a much younger player who DOES want to be at Everton, DOES fit into our style and bangs goals in.

I’ve seen a hundred posts screaming "Where’s the fuckin’ Arteta/Fellaini/Rodwell/Lescott/Sky money?"

Well there’s 25-28 mill of it so...enjoy.

No club in world football pays this sort of fee upfront. The transfer fee will be paid over an agreed period, usually the amount should be settled in full a year before the player's contract would end. So we should be paying Chelsea over the next four years. We would probably be paying 30% of the fee now with balance over the next 3 years.

I don't want to dig up the big controversy from last season but can you imagine if Liverpool had won the league last year and then players like Luke Akoo would be considering going there instead. People who didn't care that if we handed them the title by beating City don't really think of the knock-on consequences. Instead now Ratboy has abandoned them and they're back spending millions on average enough players.

Finally, I was trying to explain to a few lads & my wife how following a football team that is not your local team can be such an enjoyable experience sometimes (and bad other times). I spent a lot of last night and this morning on the bus reading stories from around the world on how signing Luke Akoo has brightened up their day. I was on a high from around lunch time yesterday and contacted a load of people I haven't been in touch with for years.
As a local fan said to me at the Arsenal home game last year.
Robbie has put the happiness and excitement back into being a Toffee and we actually look forward to watching our team now. I can't wait for the new season and might even buy the new shirt this year. My 2 oldest kids loved Lukakoo last year and will be delighted he's back for the long haul.
To me it was a no brainer cos he's only gonna get better as he still does have a lot to work on in my opinion. He'll be worth 50M when we sell him to RM (Real Madrid not Robbie Martinz)

Last season it was a delight to see them live on so many occasions, even travelling to the match where there were universal smiles and a collective spring in the step.

Roll on the new season, oh yes!

The day then went from bad to worse. I got home to a distraught missus whose car door lock had fallen inside the door. It took a while to convince her that this did not mean we had to take it to a scrapyard and got down to fixing it. A job I thought would take about 30 minutes ended up taking two and a half fucking hours and not even the Rom signing could stop me effing and blinding at the fiddliness that my fat, ageing fingers couldn't cope with. But I got it done in the end.

Having earned a couple of pints I went to my local with the Daily Mirror and that left me fuming. There was an article by Lipton about Everton and Lukaku which, in so many words, suggested that the only reason Lukaku was now with us was because Chelsea had decided there was something wrong with the lad and that he didn't have the capacity to fight for his place.

Now, it seems to me that Chelsea have had a problem scoring goals for a couple of seasons now. In fact, if they had had a striker scoring 16 goals for them last season they might even have won the league. While Chelsea have been struggling with Torres and Eto'o, Lukaku has been scoring just about a goal every other game for West Brom and us over the past two seasons. 31 goals despite a six week lay off with injury last year and he didn't play at all for the first 3 games of the season. It seems to me that Chelsea, therefore, should be asking what is wrong with them if they couldn't find a place for Lukaku this season rather than bringing back a geriatric Drogba who is nowhere near the player he once was and perservering with Torres who has forgotten how to score goals for the last four seasons now. I know they now have Costa and probably consider him to be number one, but if Lukaku is not a better proposition than the other two I'll eat my hat.

I can imagine how Lukaku felt. He goes out on loan for two seasons, scores 31 goals while his parent club can't score for toffee and instead of being welcomed back, his confidence reassured and told he is important he is sniped at from the sidelines and told that, basically he is trouble. Chelsea's loss is our gain as far as I am concerned but I just find it annoying that journos can never find it in themselves to consider that just maybe one of their 'darlings' have not got it right and that just maybe Lukaku made the move of his life to Everton....a sleeping giant that seems, at last, to be in the process of waking up.

Lu! Lu! we just want you
We really love the things that you do
Come on lad ! score a goal or two
Won't you be our Lu-Ka-Koo
Love you
yes we love ya
yes we love our Lu-Ka-Ku

Luke Shaw 㿍M
Adam Lallana 㿇M

Lukaku is 21 – a proven Premier League goal scorer – and he will only get better.

Let BK & Co worry about these issues and let's just relish the fact that - AT LONG LAST - we are in there fighting for the best players rather that fecking around in the bargain basement !

Loving it

ETA = (x +y ) + z = Sunday at half-time during Ossie's testimonial.

That would be the 7 he spoke about.No?

You have the makings of a very strong squad there.

Of course, we are going to look much the same as last season but I do think that owning players means that their focus is on what they can achieve with Everton rather than how they can impress possible future employers.

Am I being naïve?

Hull's ignorance in replacing all their locals with 'incomers' means their roster will be restricted to 19 ! !

Patrick, no math please. My head is still giddy from this news. With all the contract renewals and transfers, we're probably spending more this window than we did the last 10 seasons! OH MY GOD!

Mark, that afro-head fee part would make sense. I am curious how that plays out on the financial statement end. I've been hoping to see the debt size come down and all that, but is this going against new debt or did they just section out the transfer fund from that statement all this while?

What Mourinho actually said was simply that he couldn't promise the lad the regular game time that he obviously feels he needs (and warrants) to further develop his game. There was no apparent rancour from Mourinho and he certainly didn't go out of his way to suggest that the lad had taken the easy option, just one of the options that was available to him.

Now it is up to the lad to prove that he made the right choice.

It is now up to

I don't care how they spin it when or Everton win a trophy but we all know there will be an angle or it will be overshadowed by news of the favoured few having some trivial item to relate to the masses. I wonder if we beat one of the elite teams they will lead with the headline "Big Spending Everton.....

Anyway, in the short term he isn't the second coming so don't get too excited my blue brethren.

He's the sort of player that could end up moving to Real or Barcelona in 3 or 4 years for 㿼M because he could well be one of the top few strikers in the world given his current ability and physique. I'm hopeful though that he can help us get into the top 4 and win some silverware before he moves on.

If you look at the players we have in who are the right side of 25 there is some brilliant talent there. The spine of the team with Lukaku, Barkley, McCarthy and Stones is as talented as they come and with many years left to improve.

Looking forward to bringing in some nice loans now. Atsu looks decent....heÂ’ll be playing for his future!

It's a really good day!

This signing and Barkleys new contract is making others sit up and take notice, Everton mean buisness.

We have an embarrassment of riches in defensive midfield but if we are talking about a player that can unlock teams and pull the strings then itÂ’s still the usual suspects of Osman and Pienaar? Neither of whom can complete a full 90 mins anymore.

I would love to see Roberto pull another little Spanish maestro out of the hat in the Arteta mould – then we would really be rocking!!

I know this is not very welcomed at Toffeeweb, but can we at least say Thank You on this occasion to him. BK has been through thick and thin but the last few seasons have seen our club moving up. Long may it continue.

Despite the above, I'm not really excited about next season. Obviously I'm looking forward to it, I'm not crazy, but I think we'll be lucky to repeat last seasons efforts when it comes to league place. We'll also probably have a good showing in at least one cup.

It's the season after next that is getting me really excited. With the signings Martinez has made so far (and the transfer speculation floating around) he's clearly focusing on youth. Both from our academy and from further afield. The next 5 years should see him build a team around Coleman, Barkley, McCarthy, Stones and Lukaku. All young players who are improving at a rapid pace. Add to that the academy players that we've yet to see much of, several of which Martinez rates highly, and you can be forgiven for thinking that the next decade might finally consign our trophy drought to the history books.

So this season I'm just going to sit back, relax and enjoy watching Roberto give youth a chance with one eye firmly on the future. At times it will be frustrating, particularly if like last season we come desperately close to that 4th place trophy. But one things for sure, this manager of ours has a long term plan and I for one can't wait to see how things play out.

We as fans are custodians with our influence more often than not of little consequence under the current (sport-wide) model. It doesn't detract from our responsibility to look out for the institution we love; both credit and critique go hand in hand in this endeavor.

Well done to all at the club this transfer window. Kudos to those looking to maximize use of our academy players and the importance placed on Finch Farm, most especially the vision of our manager in this respect. I'm hoping for improvements on the marketing, securing and improving club assets and sponsorship sides of the club which are to a degree inseparable from our aspirations on the pitch.

I was lucky enough to enjoy the successes of the 80s and will never consider Everton as anything but a top institution in English football.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum and here's to a season of growth, pride and success.

Thanks to the ToffeeWeb community for playing a massive role in the fans' experience both in the peaks and troughs. Michael, Lyndon... all involved... I'm not sure you could ever know the magnitude of what you provide Evertonians like yourselves.
Thank you.

So for me it's not just about the mentality and what it means. For me it's the fact that we have a YOUNG striker whose proven the past 2 seasons he can compete within the Premier League — and, since he is ours, whatever improvements are made within his game will be for us to reap. Plus don't under estimate continuity.

Now we may not be exactly improved from last season's roster; however, it makes us better because we can give our young players chances without the added burden of HAVING to play well as well as learn their craft (playing to expectations). Plus in January we won't be looking for a replacement to what we have (because its soon to be gone) but will have the ability to add, hopefully with talented eager youth.

So yes we have the same (nearly) squad on paper, however the transfer window isn't done with as others have pointed out at least some loans due in and we have the benefit of continuity in the team so we should (fingers crossed) be in a better position when the window closes and into next season. And with one eye on the future it clearly demonstrates the ability to focus on other positions and better the squad. Yes, yes we have improved. Right(?)

Although it does put the pressure on a bit. We need to win games from the off this new season... and the inquests if we don't will be painful.

I am really excited at this group of young talented players – exciting times ahead!

RM is not the first manager to "try before you buy" Moyes took quite a few players on loan before making them permanent signings.

As for big money flops. I think some clubs have a tendency to buy players without any real idea of how they will fit in to whatever style they already have. For the players you mention. Torres lost his pace and Carroll and Fellaini never had any to begin with and in a league were pace has become everything having no pace is a big drawback.

One more thing regarding Lukaku. If Kone had not got himself crocked at the beginning of last season would we have loaned him at all? Because I doubt RM forked out 6 million just so Kone could warm the bench for a season.

So maybe the person we should really thank for getting Lukaku is Kone. Without his injury Lukaku could be wearing another clubs shirt today instead or ours.

Unbelievable!

The gullability of our own fans has stooped to an all time low.

If you see everything in black and white then you are probably lacking balance in your life.

Not being negative, absolutely happy with the way the club is progressing. That is not because the board is providing their own money.

The club is much more to us than a 'business' I know and the shareholders also might have got a bargain as things have turned out, but things can also go tits up, just look at Leeds Utd and others.

We are not doing too bad at present with the future looking bright, so I think the owners deserve some credit for the position we are now in.

I will give you three scenarios:

One club plays in black and white, has had more than 200 million pumped in, but the chairman wants a say in footballing matters given this level of investment. He also uses the club as a way of making money on his other major venture. His club regularly finishes 8-12th. This club also have board members that take salaries. This club wold go bankrupt without frequent board financial intervention.

One club playing in claret and sky blue, have a chairman who has also invested a significant amount of money, but also makes money by charging his club interest. Famously fell out with their best manager in recent history resulting in significant decline. Following the investment, the chairman then sold every decent asset owned by the club to recoup some of the invested money. This club also have board members that take salaries. This club regularly finishes 8th-14th. This club would also go bankrupt without frequent board financial intervention.

One club plays in royal blue, the board doesn't put a penny in, and doesn't take a penny out. The manager has full control over decision making at the club. This club regularly finishes from 5th to 8th place. This club operates in a completely self sustainable environment.

So which is the best chairman? The one that can have a team challenging top 4 in a self sustaining environment, or the ones that need to pump continual money in to fight for mid table?

If we want Everton FC to remain a traditional club then also the board are probably doing a good job, if however, we want Everton FC to be considered in the same way as Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U then we all know that won't happen under the present ownership.

Those clubs are not totally reliant on the TV money, clubs like us are. If it ever transpired that the big boys decided to go it alone or demanded a bigger slice of the TV money we would be left behind forever.

It's never a black and white situation and some of the commercial activities and the amount of money that disappears in interest payments cannot be ignored as that is money that goes out of the club each and every year for many years to come, which in my opinion could have been used to improve the ground or build a ground but instead some faceless banker is making more out of Everton FC than is acceptable.

I wasn't really saying that those clubs were examples of good house-keeping more about whether Everton FC who historically were equals to those clubs on and off the pitch have the desire to re-join them in the future.

Two out of three of those clubs have grounds that make Goodison look like a shed and that shouldn't have been the case in any period of history and especially at a time when the game has had money thrown at it from all directions.

That would be the reason I said they hadnÂ’t invested 1p "since they bought us".

Pay attention please.

If I had 100 million to 'invest' in Everton, how much would I get back within 5 years? I personally don't think I would even get my 100 million back, let alone make any profit on my investment.

That the club seem to do a sub-par job at maximising income is probably down to relative incompetence, rather than some kind of apathy at not wanting to.

When you've got CL money coming in each season, can afford the stars and get the merchandising income from having the Rooneys, Bergkamp's and Henry's, its easy to redevelop your ground.

Personally I think much of the flak BK gets is based on falsehoods. For example, Roberto obviously decided to keep his cash in the January window to save up to purchase the likes of Rom and a bunch of other players in this window, £35M spent so far, with probably a few more £M's to go.

So who got the stick because we didn't spend in January? All sorts of negative BS was flying about insinuating that BK and the board were pocketing cash. Even last week, after Martinez had asked the fans to be patient, people were talking all sorts of crap saying we'd not sign anyone or spend much money and blaming it on the board.

When all said and done I think I'm pleased to have BK as chairman rather than a foreign owner. He's a genuine fan, even if it makes me nauseous to see and hear him sometimes. I don't expect him or the other directors to put any money in, I just want the club run in a good, sustainable way and allow the manager full control over how we spend whatever money the club generates. That stability afforded to the manager by BK is precisely how we can compete with clubs who have many times our income.

My point was some posters above were handing out the accolades re Chairman and board personally funding the transfers. Which they obviously havenÂ’t

A question for you if I may.

If you had 㿄 million to invest 11 years ago in a team that plays in Royal Blue and did so. Then went on to put not 1p into the coffers in the following 11 years, what would the 㿄 million investment be worth now?

ThereÂ’s no business like show business.

What happens if we had been relegated? Who would've predicted how the sky/bt cash would have increased over time? Not many would've guessed at BT entering the Premier League TV battle a few years ago which has massively increased our income.

I know now if I had 𧶀M and wanted an "investment" I'd certainly not buy a football club. I'm sure you wouldn't either.

Eric, you talk about first positive spend in years, but does that include wages? Agent fees? Loan fees? Increased contracts?

To buy a majority share in Everton Football Club (circa 80 % I believe) and Bellefield for 㿄 million was a risk?

I donÂ’t need hindsight for that one.

I've said it before, I think considering the disadvantage the club is under, we have performed miracles in the league, we continue to push the moneyed clubs all the way and it is something all connected with Everton can be extremely proud of.

Whether these FFP rules will level the playing field some ,we will have to wait and see.

The initial reaction from my somewhat befuddled brain was to think that we had re-signed Fellaini and United had signed Lukaku! I quickly logged on to ToffeeWeb and discovered that he was simply using the money link that so many others have made here.

So, having read 550 posts over the last few days (62 more to go at last count), I just wanted to offer a few observations of my own :-

1. It is truly heartwarming to read so much positivity.
2. I am not the first to mention it, but it does feel similar to the Lineker transfer, as both are proven goalscorers strengthening already good teams.
3. Both the Barry and Lukaku signings prove the point about the loan policy of Roberto Martinez. He is clearly taking players on loan with a view to eventual purchase - not just to boost numbers. It works both ways, of course, as these 2 players have come to love this club and readily signed permanently.
4. I was amongst the Colin Glassar Believers. Why? It was the very specific comment that the club shop was stockpiled with 'Lukaku 10' shirts (so no surprises when he held up the 10 shirt).
5. Finally re-Eugene Ruane's earlier 'calamine lotion' post. So clever, so cruel and sooooo funny. Brilliant use of Glaswegian-speak!

The old fashioned part of me would also prefer to see him as Number 9, a classic Number 10 would need to be a bit more able and comfortable with the ball at his feet.

The Tina Turner song comes to mind.

"You're simply the best"