Olympiacos could tempt Mirallas back to Greece

I read somewhere that Olympiacos came out & stated that they never said anything about wanting Mirallas back.

I like the player & donÂ’t want him to go. But I also donÂ’t want him or any player to stay against his will though.

If he wants to go then sell him, but sell him to the highest bidder even if that means some Qatari or Chinese club. If these guys, and their agents, are only concerned with their massive signing on fees then let them sod off (this goes for you too Rom) and rot in some footballing wasteland. All this bullshit about wanting CL football is just that, bullshit!!

If he would rather play in Greece, then I doubt he has any kind of ambition at all.

Colin

I donÂ’t recall there being too many complaints when Mirallas reportedly turned down more money at Arsenal to join us and play more regular football. So why now are you so convinced money is his motivation? Is it the inherent "foreign" in him? The lack of "Once A Blue Always A Blue" on his twitter feed? Something else?

Jim, IÂ’ll be perfectly honest with you. Any player who constantly moans and whines (Mirallas), or letÂ’s his agent (Lukaku) hawk him around European teams like heÂ’s some high-class call-girl can leave IMO.

If CL football is indeed their motivation then great, let him go back to Greece and Rom can go to Roma and they can play CL football all they want (well at least in the group stage) without a hope of ever winning it.

I like both players (Lukaku in particular) but if theyÂ’re not happy and not in the "Once a Blue........." mindset then I think itÂ’s best we cut our losses and get rid of them before the poison starts to spread again in the changing room.

I donÂ’t see any actual link between this rumour and the player himself though.

People are quick to dismiss every rumour about players coming in as lazy journalism, but are more than happy to jump on the bandwagon of every rumour concerning a player going the other way, and to lay the blame for those rumours at the feet of the players themselves.

He wants CL football supposedly. Got close in 13-14 but him and his mates werenÂ’t quite up to it so he would supposedly let another bunch of guys do it for him elsewhere and he can just jump on their bandwagon. Great. Well done Kev!

That said, it would be narrow minded and unambitious (aka typical Everton) to see him exiting this summer just as Geri re-enters. Keep both and go for it next year with no Europe / one game a week. If we fall short of CL again then he’ll have 1 more year left and can go for £7/8 million. There are currently no goals coming from wide / midfield without Mirallas!

Colin,

That still doesnÂ’t answer why you were so vehemently claiming that Mirallas is "only concerned with their massive signing-on fees".

He either needs to extend his contract or leave because otherwise he will likely jump ship next Summer and we will get £4-5m for him instead of £10-12m.

I like him as a player and, inconsistent as he is, he gets goals – unlike the vast majority of our team. I’d be interested to see him playing behind or even instead of Lukaku this season and given less chance to hide away on the wings.

I think today we have to accept that however much we disagree with it, all the power lays with the player. One day a story will come out that a player wants to stay, the next a story that he wants away. But they always use a variety of reasons but they never say I am leaving for more money, which in 90% of cases is the real reason. The most common excuse is I want Champions League football, but how many clubs can guarantee Champions League football every season.

Today footballers are probably more mercenary than ever, so we have to accept that the days of one club footballers is practically a dying breed. One word in their defence clubs are just as ruthless in making decisions that effect their career, so maybe thatÂ’s why that loyalty is very low down on players priorities.

I would like Mirallas to stay.

But I just notice that Shaqiri is available for $9M. If we can sell Mirallas for $15M and then spend $9M on Shaqiri, then I would say it is very good business.

Most of these rumours are just that... rumours.

Maybe we should not have a dig at the players until theyÂ’ve actually said something?

Personally I think Mirallas will be sold this summer, which will be a shame but if we get £10M+ then it’s still good business, assuming we bring in a decent attacking CM or second striker.

I have never heard/read Mirallas come out and say Â’I want outÂ’ nor has he rejected a contract extension. What IÂ’ve seen are newspaper reports of the player saying he wants Champions League football; in some of these reports he says he wants it at Everton and in others this part is omitted. So for me, there is no justification in calling him a greedy mercenary.

He is, mind, our most potent attacking force and essential in not placing too much pressure/expectation on our younger lads, and he is coming into his peak. A potential front three of him, Deulofeu and Lukaku will cause concern for even the best defenses.

For this reason I hope he stays. Offer him a two-year extension, with say a £15 million release clause should we not qualify for Europe. Lets’s see if he wants out or not.

Before selling Mirallas, we should be looking at offloading the deadwood (McGeady, Kone) and then if we need to raise further funds, IÂ’d rather see the likes of Naismith and Gibson sold on.

Brian (349) absolutely true, and the thing is, if they just came out and said "IÂ’m going for the money", most of us would understand that and say, "Fair enough, no problem."

Better than being deceitful.

Brian - your right the clubs can be ruthless - so can we.

He is our best attacking midfielder, and we need to keep him. He scores more goals than the rest, and assists a fair few too. If we want to progress as a football club, then we need to get use to players talking out sometimes. We cannot aspire to Champions League football, and believe that all our players will show unwavering loyalty, especially when they have no connection to the club, the area, and perhaps even the country. Ambitious players will talk out, especially during a season when a top six team finishes 11th, and when the manager employs tactics not favoured by the team, and generally fails to keep a lid on discontent. Yes they may be responsible for that decline, but they also may not be. They may also see things we do not, and may lose a faith in a manager alot closer to them than he is to us.

As others have said, there are alot of rumours surrounding Mirallas and Lukaku. In fact, there have characteristically been alot of rumours surrounding various Belgium players (Vertonghen, Kompany, Fellaini, Mirallas, Lukaku etc.. even Hazard). Some of this will be the invention of the press, and what we have endured with our own players is nothing special).

IÂ’d like to know: what is it that we expect? IÂ’ve seen Baines critiqued recently on these forums, despite his brilliance and loyalty over a sustained period. IÂ’ve seen some state that we should have sold him, because he is the right age for the sale. IÂ’ve seen Hibbert and Osman insulted insistently for years, because their loyalty is irrelevant as they have been deemed to average for our aspirations as a poor football club which hasnÂ’t been consistently successful at the very top of the league for approaching 30 years. IÂ’ve seen Lukaku and Mirallas insulted, and ushered out the door because theyÂ’ve mentioned a desire to play Champions League football, and because their form has dropped off. Who knew: Good young players wanting to play in the greatest tournament in the world?

What we really want is a someone of RooneyÂ’s ability, but with HibbertÂ’s and OsmanÂ’s loyalty. And we want to keep them till they start to waver, and then we can make a profit from them. Essentially, we want the player that does not really exist, because we construct old-fashioned conceptions of loyalty which we do not meet ourselves.

Ambitious fans want to keep their best players. Mirallas is one of our best players. I wonder if United fans are moaning about De Gea constantly, because he has failed to put a lid on the rumours surrounding him for months? I wonder if Villa fans want Benteke to leave or stay? Mirallas may not be as important, but he is important. Look at the stats for the last 3 seasons. He may drop in and out of games, but he is more important than any other attacking midfielder at our club, and can play all three attacking midfield positions. If we had better attacking midfielders, IÂ’d be happy to see him go. But we donÂ’t, and we canÂ’t afford to - he has scored 28 goals and made 20 assists in 87 starts for us. Who in the team will replicate that? And who in the market exactly? There is a surplus of versatile attacking midfielders around for decent prices. LiverpoolÂ’s recruitment policy has demonstrated that.

We should keep Mirallas, and look to add a creative presence and preferably two central defenders. Another backup striker, preferably on loan, is probably a necessary too. If we do that, we can go into next season with optimism, and with a team capable of wining a domestic cup and finishing in the top six.

Guarantee Super Kev the penalty taking duties next season and he will stay. Kev just wants his GOALS.

He was never actually a winger before Everton so as Sam points out above, Id prefer to see him get run next to/behind his Belgian buddy OR even more interesting as the alternative to Rom upfront. WhoÂ’d ya rather see there Kev or Kone!?!?
(And yes Im kidding about the penalties)

We should definitely keep Mirallas. Infuriating and selfish at times but undoubtedly talented and our bets midfield threat. Starter for me to. Absolutely no reason to sell. Not like we have better waiting to be unleashed who he is holding back.

I hope he stays, but IÂ’m not arsed.

Hides too much on the wing and rarely gives you the full 90.

IÂ’m not bothered if Mirallas stays or goes. WeÂ’ve got enough cover for the wing positions/attacking midfield with Henen trying to break through and if we did sell him I wouldnÂ’t use the money on another winger (Lennon), IÂ’d be getting rid of McGeady before that.

I would prefer him to stay for at least one more season, extend his contract and then sell him the following year but if the club sell then it should be for around 10 mill and that could be used on another quality player. My choice would be Austin (with an extra 5 mill) but I would also take the gamble on Patrick Roberts. The 10 mill price tag is high but if Sterling was a 5 mill gamble by the R.S. four or five years ago when he was a teenager then this must be around the same sort of price considering the increase in players valuations and I think this lad will be better than Sterling.

IÂ’m sure there will still be a lot of interest in Mirallas come the end of next season because heÂ’s around his peak right now and I expect next season will be at least as good as the last but iÂ’m hoping heÂ’ll be that bit better.I also expect Lukaku to have his best season with us which will leave him with a big decision to make at the end of it if we donÂ’t make the top four because I can guarantee there will be talk of a move once again but similar to Mirallas the price will be high.I must admit though,i would be a bit gutted if Lukaku left.

I believe we should keep hold of Mirallas. He poses a great threat on the ball going forward.

I went to the away game v City last season and thought he look lively and threatening every time he got on the ball. Unfortunatelty that day, like most of last season, we ran out of ideas every time we got near their goal.

ItÂ’s up to the management/coaching team to find a way to get consistent performances out of him. CanÂ’t be that difficult surely!

I definitely want him to stay. I think him and Deulofeu would be great on the wings. But, if he does leave, and we get over £10m for him, we should try for Perisic.

ItÂ’s easy to say "sell him to the highest bidder" but if a player doesnÂ’t want to move to the highest bidder he wonÂ’t be transferred.

Amazing! Players who want CL football but do not turn out CL football standards for their clubs.

Let him go and take the dosh.

21 goals in 88 League games. We need to keep hold of him as this side looks desperately short on goals unless we see Del boy, Barkely, Kone get themselves amongst the goals next year.

So this guy averages either a goal or an assist in every other start and people what to move him on. Not sure what some people actually want out of this club

This man is clearly driven by money. Why else would he forsake CL football with Olympiakos to join a slightly better than average PL team? And please donÂ’t lambaste me for saying that, itÂ’s true. Yes, on the days when he wants it, he can perform; no doubting the ladÂ’s ability. But heÂ’s too inconsistent hence no "big" CL team has come in for him.

Things may not have worked out at Everton as he, or all of us, would have liked. He has to accept his part in that, as do the rest of the players - and management. Why not concentrate on improving as a player, rather than looking for an escape when things do not go your way? Concentrate on your match performance and the "big move" you crave will come.

All that said, IÂ’d be surprised if there was any substance to this rumour.

I am with Lee Carsley if he wants to go let him I,am sure there will be plenty of people who will help pass his bags for him. He has talent but not the heart or consistency. The trouble is he is the only one who scores other than LUKAKU, we need more goal scorers in the team if we are ever get in the top six again or better. Someone in the midfield needs to score ten or more goals.

Alan, theyÂ’re all driven by money. Always have been. I would think the Bosman ruling made that plain.

If that ruling had occurred in 1960 instead, supporters of every club in Europe, Everton included, would have a completely different view of some of their clubÂ’s "All-time Greats".

Not a player we should be selling whilst the likes of Mcgeady are still our books. He still has a lot to offer and if we are serious about getting back into the top 6 we need 2 strong players for every position. Lennon/Deulofeu on the right and Pienaar/Mirallas on the left. That also put an end to the stupidity of playing Barkley or Naismith out wide.

Yeah, sell him to a Greek team for €30m and wait for the cheque.

And wait, and wait, and wait...

One of our main threats and our second highest goalscorer,
If we where being linked with a winger with his stats and goalscoring ability we would all be checking ToffeeWeb every 10 minuets to see if he had signed yet.
All those wanting rid of him name me some ready made replacements that would want to come and play for us?

Surely youÂ’d have to be certifiably insane to volunteer to go to Greece in the current financial climate!!

Tyrone Mings has just signed for Bournemouth by the way. Garbutt wonÂ’t be going there now.

As Olympiacos could lose their CL place due to match fixing allegations, this may not be the smart move Kev is looking for. Then again, if he goes and they do get bumped out, it just might serve him right and give him a severe reality check, having to ply his trade in the less than top class Greek league every week with no European football to look forward to.