Koeman hints at further ins and outs

Thursday, 19 January, 2017 44comments  |  Jump to most recent
Ronald Koeman says that he hopes to bring in more players this month while indicating that more members of the senior and development sides could go out on loan.

Everton have already drafted in Ademola Lookman and Morgan Schneiderlin this month and the Dutchman was asked in his press conference today whether he was hopeful of seeing more new faces before the 31st January deadline.

"I hope [to see more incomings]," he said. "We are working on that but only when we can get players in who can make the team stronger.

"I don't bring players in to get more numbers because that is not what I like."

Koeman went a little further in his subsequent sit-down with the print media, suggesting that he may be eyeing reinforcements at the back as well as allowing some players to go out temporarily.

"We are looking defensively," he continued, "and we know we have some players who maybe they will go out for loan and we have some young players who may go out for loan.”

Gerard Deulofeu is the subject of concerted efforts by AC Milan to sign him on loan this month and there are other fringe players like Arouna Kone and Darron Gibson who could benefit from getting game time elsewhere.

A proposed move for Ishak Belfodil has been called off while a reported target in the form of Memphis Depay is on the verge of joining Lyon in France.

"It was one of our options to bring [Memphis] in but the business is not done between Everton and Manchester United," Koeman said. "[T]he player had different options and that is what happened."

 

Reader Comments (44)

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Minik Hansen
1 Posted 19/01/2017 at 22:51:14
Good that Lyon came in for Depay. That just shows his mind is elsewhere.

We're well over halfway through January, and dealings with players such as Belfodil and Depay means we're really looking to strengthen the squad, I just hope we're well prepared to deal with the last part of the window.

Looks like if Plan A didn't work, we don't do Plan B but find another Plan A (bring in real quality).

Ray Robinson
2 Posted 19/01/2017 at 22:57:28
Idrissa Gana Gueye won't be back in a hurry as Senegal qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations quarter final tonight.
Anthony Dwyer
3 Posted 19/01/2017 at 22:59:00
I'm liking the way Keoman is telling us what's going on, straight talking leaves us with a clear picture instead of being in the dark all the time.
Chris Gould
4 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:12:19
The Van Dijk rumours have quietened down. That would have been fantastic, but it seems even more unlikely now that Southampton are letting Fonte go. Still hoping for a couple more additions who will walk straight into the match day squad.

I see Perez is being underused by Arsenal. His goals scored and assists stats this season are excellent considering the limited time he's played. Looks like Walsh was spot on with him.

Alasdair Mackay
5 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:16:42
He mentioned "defensive" – so maybe Keane from Burnley or Gibson from 'Boro, but I imagine they will both want to hold onto till the summer if they can.

Van Dijk is too much money for 18 good months in the Premier League – he could well be a world beater, but he needs to prove it over 3 seasons to be worth what Southampton are asking.

Colin Glassar
6 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:21:55
We all want that elusive No 10 but I'll settle for a striker and centre-back. Our midfield looks a lot healthier now so someone to help Rom and a younger, taller replacement for Jags.
Eugene Ruane
7 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:23:02
Usually, without giving it much thought, I tend to think that the January window is a bit 'well if we need a couple of bodies, sure' but that the summer is the time to do our real business.

But if I do give it a bit of thought, certainly re this season, getting players in now (the right players obviously) could be a lot better for us.

Sure Sunday's result gave us all a huge boost (and hopefully leads to us taking off like a rocket) but the probability is that this season is, to all intents and purposes, over (re actually achieving anything) and we are now looking at next season.

And if it does turn out that way, it might be better to begin 2017-18 season with a settled squad and avoid the usual summer of ins and outs.

It might help us to hit the start of a season with a completely settled squad of players who know each other and know each other's games and it could give us (or anyone) an advantage to say 'actually we did all our business early so let's get on with pre-season.'

Just an idle thought.

Anthony Dwyer
8 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:24:22
Any centre-half Keoman looks at has to be under 27;, no point in another Jags/Williams – we need someone who can be important to us for 5 years.

Mike Gaynes
9 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:25:55
I'd have Cook from Bournemouth at centre-back in a second, but I doubt they'd let him go.
Gary Poole
10 Posted 19/01/2017 at 23:40:07
Just another idle thought but isn't it amazing how a 4-0 win against mega bucks Citehhh settles us all down... till the next game!
John Daley
11 Posted 20/01/2017 at 00:38:32
Whilst Koeman has admitted to looking for defensive reinforcements, I hope the collapse of the Belfodil deal doesn't signal the end for his chances of bringing another striker in. We're criminally short of decent back up/competition/options in that position.

Lukaku has done incredibly well (or been incredibly fortunate) to avoid missing more than a couple of games through injury over recent years, but if anything were to happen to him, who have we got capable of stepping up in his stead?

Clive Mitchell
12 Posted 20/01/2017 at 00:51:01
Gary (#10) – absolutely! They'd have to scrape me off the ceiling if we ever won consecutive games!
Steve Bingham
13 Posted 20/01/2017 at 01:26:49
We really need a top quality centre-half.
Drew Shortis
14 Posted 20/01/2017 at 04:05:30
No panic. I'm sure we will get at least one more in, but if the right people are not available in this window then all the more opportunity for the likes of Holgate, Davies, Calvert-Lewin and Lookman.

Better to get the right people than panic and pay over £30m for Moussa Sissoko!

Danny Broderick
15 Posted 20/01/2017 at 04:06:52
Striker is the priority for me. Like John (#11) says, if anything happens to Lukaku, we have no back up.

And some of our midfielders offer such little goal threat (Gueye, Schneiderlin, Bolasie, Lennon etc); we do really need some more firepower.

Mike Gaynes
16 Posted 20/01/2017 at 04:59:33
I wouldn't say we have no backup for Rom.

Valencia played top striker at Pachuca and won the Liga MX scoring title with 18 in 23. Mirallas played top striker at Olympiacos and won the league scoring title with 20 in 25. Plus there's Calvert-Lewin.

And who knows, in case of emergency we might finally discover the England striker hidden inside Ross Barkley.

So I'm not sure we should spend major money for a striker to cover the possibility that Rom misses a big chunk of games. If he goes down with a hamstring for a few weeks, we do have some decent short-term options.

David Ellis
17 Posted 20/01/2017 at 06:21:22
Mike @16,

You are right – we do have back up for Lukaku in Mirallas and Valencia and I believe that is why we brought Valencia in on loan in a bit of desperation at the end of the last window.

But, whether or not this is "decent" cover, I don't think it's good enough cover if we want to break into the top 6. But there's no point in bringing in ordinary players – something I like about Koeman, he seems very picky.

Darryl Ritchie
18 Posted 20/01/2017 at 06:31:48
I have to agree with a lot of my fellow TWers. We need a second striker. If Lukaku gets injured, there's next to no one to replace him.

It's really difficult to play a 4-2-3-1, without a "1".

Kim Vivian
21 Posted 20/01/2017 at 07:53:36
Ulloa anyone?

And I think Fonte would have been worth a punt at £8m.

Eddie Dunn
22 Posted 20/01/2017 at 08:58:37
The striking position is a worry, not in case we lose Lukaku for a few games, but when we lose him forever – most likely ,in the summer.

I know that normally the bulk of transfers are done in the summer, but we have to face the likelihood that our top striker will be off at the end of the season.

Just because we have had "radio silence" for a few months, doesn't mean that he is looking forward to the rest of the "project". I suspect that Ron has promised him a move and that is why he is keeping schtum.

Richard Reeves
23 Posted 20/01/2017 at 10:56:46
Eugene, I was thinking the very same thing the other day. It would be better if the bulk of his targets were brought in now for the reasons you give.

For the following season, I'm hoping he can add to the squad with more of the youth (if they're good enough) so that the additions needed won't be many, maybe a couple of big statement players, hopefully attackers or strikers.

Jay Harris
24 Posted 20/01/2017 at 11:16:09
I am pleased we are now looking to "improve the quality" rather than add squad depth. I believe the lad Gray at Burnley would be a good shout and Bergovic from Chelsea if possible.

I think Manolas or Van Dyck should be the minimum standard for CB otherwise we might as well stick with what we have until the summer.

Keeping a clean sheet against City is no mean feat and maybe once Gueye gets back with Schneiderlin and Davies we will be really strong at the back.

Brian Furey
25 Posted 20/01/2017 at 11:33:52
I think it's fair to say that the central midfield area is the only part of the team which has now been rebuilt. I'd imagine Ron sees Gana and Schneiderlin as his two main defensive midfielders with Davies and McCarthy as the other options, though I think McCarthy will leave soon as he won't want to be 2nd choice. The rest of the team still needs a lot of work I think, maybe with the exception of right back where Holgate can move to if Coleman is out injured.

Robles has done well of late but I can't see him being our No 1 long term. Baines has certainly slowed down and any fast winger will get crosses in against him as we've seen this season. Whilst our centre halves can be solid for the most part, none of them are that commanding in the air.

For me I hoped this window we would see goal scoring midfielders,/wingers and a striker come in. Maybe Lookman will be that player but when you look at other seasons we had goals from Mirallas, Lennon, Kone and Barkley. This year Ross has 4 and then Coleman & Mirallas have 3 so I think we need to get more goals from midfield. I can't see Gana and Schneiderlin getting many goals so hopefully we'll see another goal scorer come in soon.

Peter Morris
26 Posted 20/01/2017 at 12:19:07
The reality is that at the moment we just aren't sufficiently attractive enough to compete for the players the rich clubs are in for. Yes, Mr Moshiri's arrival has potentially addressed the stark financial shortcomings, but it is much more than that.

There is the attraction of Champions League football, the draw of London, particularly for foreign players, and their wives and girlfriends. Spurs have leap frogged us in the last 5 years, because they are able to tick these boxes-money, stadium, location and prospects and their new ground is getting the all important cheese tasting room ffs! Obviously aimed at the French!

I think we lost out on Perez in the summer because it was Arsenal we were up against. Perez knew he would get more game time with us, and that we could match the cash, but he still chose the ArsE.

This is still going to be a long haul, if not such an impossible dream as it once was. Bramley Moore Dock will take care of a lot of the barriers I think, but again a long way to go there, and most of the available 'space' is in fact water.

Colin Glassar
27 Posted 20/01/2017 at 12:31:37
This has been a very slow transfer window so far that even sky have given up on the hype and their 'money spent so far tracker' seems to have disappeared.

I think a lot of clubs have cottoned on to the fact that the January window is an agents/theives dream where they like to move their assets to the highest bidder, so clubs are a bit more reticent to make deals right now.

The Said Berahino one is a strange one. Two seasons ago they (WBA) could've got £20m, or more, and refused. Now he's valued at less than half of that and they still don't want to sell and he can leave for free in the summer! Very strange imo.

Chris Williams
28 Posted 20/01/2017 at 12:46:09
Expect the usual frantic, frenetic last day of the window, missing all the main targets and bringing in the make weights.

Listening to Koemans references to the chairman, Bill is still calling the shots or should I say shits?

Kristian Boyce
29 Posted 20/01/2017 at 14:21:54
With Geri, Kone probably leaving and Niasse already out the door, we surely must be bringing in another attacking player before the end of the month. If we don't, we are going to be very light in numbers in that advanced position. We've needed backup for Rom even before shipping out these players, so it's slightly worrying we are entering into the second half of the season short on numbers.

If nothing changes we'll have Rom, Lookman, Valencia, Lennon and Mirallas as our only real options for upfront and the wings. If Rom gets injured we are in trouble. Hopefully Koeman has something in mind before the deadline as it could be a long few months ahead.

Brian Furey
30 Posted 20/01/2017 at 15:30:17
Looks like Koeman didn't really rate this Belfodil fella after all as some article in The Guardian I read mentions that was part of the reason why the deal fell through.

I think that shows Koeman just won't take in players for the sake of numbers and so when the price went over £10M he probably thought nah it's not worth it. Walsh seems to be recommending a lot of Algerian players with Ghezzal also on his list.

Don't forget we'll soon have back Calvert-Lewin as well who you would hope is better than Valencia. I'd like to see a right sided midfielder being brought in. Pity Mourinho started to play Mata again as he would be excellent for us.

Brian Williams
31 Posted 20/01/2017 at 16:36:03
Chris (#28),

You said: Expect the usual frantic, frenetic last day of the window, missing all the main targets and bringing in the make weights.

Goes against what honest Ron said:

"I hope [to see more incomings]," he said.

"We are working on that but only when we can get players in who can make the team stronger.

"I don't bring players in to get more numbers because that is not what I like."

Don't you believe Honest Ron?

Chris Williams
32 Posted 20/01/2017 at 16:58:05
I do believe Honest Ron until I find I can't . I also think he expects a lot better in this window than last times fiasco.

I also completely mistrust Lying Bill and his capacity for fucking up.

I guess we'll know soon enough.

Dennis Heaton
33 Posted 20/01/2017 at 19:02:27
Kim (#21), in 12 months or so we would be trying once again to get rid of some more OAPs like we are now with no takers.
Alex Rowe
34 Posted 20/01/2017 at 23:50:24
Just read that Stoke have signed Berahino for £12 million. On the face of it that could of been the additional striker we need it, although Koeman may have not considered it due his poor attitude after going on strike to try and force a move a couple of seasons back, which I would understand.
Tony Hill
35 Posted 20/01/2017 at 00:02:37
Berahino is trouble, I'm glad we didn't go for him. Interesting interview with Williams in the Mail (if you can hold your nose) in which he confirms Koeman's exacting standards on a daily basis.

As I've said on another thread, the manager has to deliver with some promptness but I get the feeling that he's gaining the players' respect and/or compliance – even if he's a bit of a distant, over-frank twat. That's a winning combination: fear/faint resentment with obedience and performance. Keep at it, Ronald.

Tony Hill
36 Posted 21/01/2017 at 00:28:38
City are said to be open to offers for Aguero. Why not us? Just cos he's not trying for Pep doesn't mean he wouldn't try for Ronald. Hamstrings may be an issue, I suppose, as well as money, but he does score the odd goal after all and he's 28.

I'm quite happy to be told that this is bollocks, I should make clear.

Tony Hill
37 Posted 21/01/2017 at 00:32:31
Looks like it probably is bollocks according to the Manchester Evening News who say he's just signed an extension. I foolishly looked at the BBC gossip site. Oh well, I'll shut up now.
Alexander Murphy
38 Posted 21/01/2017 at 00:34:12
Tony (35) utterly agree about that whinger Berahino. He's been an utter nuisance at WBA for far too long. Is leaving from the Baggies to join the Potters really worth nearly two years of sulking?

We definitely dodged one there. Pulis has been clever played politics and got shut.

Also Tony, if Koeman takes no prisoners then he is sending out the harsh message that many modern players and their parasite agents won't enjoy. Basically don't join my project if your first objective is cash not success. I do think this is most good, for sure.

Alexander Murphy
39 Posted 21/01/2017 at 00:50:21
Ah well, Tony, for the four minutes between your postings at least we could think bigger than. I'd take Aguero faster than a hummingbirds wing can flap.

That really would be a step towards success. A player who wins vital games. A blue Sergio shirt.

Ray Smith
40 Posted 22/01/2017 at 14:14:36
I'm sure matters are in hand! Tom Davies contract expires in June!

We have 10 players out on loan, apart from Geri, is there any real prospect of offloading any/most of them. Do we want him to leave anyway?

Griffiths is on loan for his development. One for the future between the sticks?

Will Hull seriously bid for Niasse or use him and send him back at the end of the season.

Watford could possibly bid for Cleverley.

However, we still have Gibson on contract until 2018. No offers that we are aware of. Who would take a chance on him. He must have been smiling when his contract was extended!

Barry and Jags contracts expire in June. Give Barry a coaching contract and release Jags in recognition for his service. He may well leave during this window, but wants to stay and fight for his place!

Patrick Murphy
44 Posted 22/01/2017 at 14:46:04
Ray 40 I think you might be looking at old information as according to the OS

"Tom Davies has made clear his ambition is to become an established first-team regular with Everton after signing a new five-year contract to June 2021."

Ray Roche
45 Posted 22/01/2017 at 14:48:21
Ray Smith,#40

This, taken from Tom's Wiki page.

"Davies signed a new five-year contract with Everton in August 2016"

Dave Abrahams
46 Posted 22/01/2017 at 15:08:43
Ray (40), Davies signed a two year contract in June 2015, a player cannot sign a contract for longer than two years until he is eighteen, Tom was seventeen at the time.

He became eighteen at the end of June 2016, he signed a five year contract in August 2016, so Everton have been on the ball with lad, nobody will be surprised when he signs another new contract very shortly.

Ray Smith
47 Posted 22/01/2017 at 15:31:11
Thank you one and all.

I've ditched my info source.

Happy days😀

Craig McFarlane
48 Posted 22/01/2017 at 20:58:14
Just spotted that PSG are letting Jese (ex Real Madrid striker) go on loan this month gotta be worth a go surely! He can be class on his day.
Colin Glassar
49 Posted 22/01/2017 at 21:04:07
Jesé was the next big thing at Madrid but grew impatient not being a regular starter. He'd definitely be worth a punt. Apparently, he's never settled down in Paris.

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