Everton finally agree a fee for Tosun

All very premature but there just looks to be a tad of the Alan Shearer about him.

Not sure if he can hold the ball up as a lone striker but that hardly works for us anyway.

He certainly looks better than what we have at the moment.

Here's hoping.

This season he's on a par with Arouna Kone in terms of goal-scoring and Besiktas wanna replace him with Islam Slimani, the 6'-2" Leicester legend with an excellent record in another second-rate league in Europe but who's only scored an average of one in every four games for a team far more dynamic than ours.

The last goal-scoring legend we signed from the eastern Med, a certain Kevin Mirallas, he of identical height but way more pace than Tosun, also had a scoring record way more prolific than this guy but it still only translated to one in five for us.

Sigh.

We are desperately in need of quality in front of goal and we just aren't in a position where we have time to wait three or four months of acclimatisation.

Right, comparing him to Mirallas, well they played in different countries, Greece is not Turkey much in the way comparing a Scottish player's record to an English player's doesn't really mean a fair comparison.

Comparing him to Kone, who was injured all the time at Everton so we never got to see the proper Kone, the one that tore the arse out of us in a 3-0 win for Wigan never really appeared for Everton, although there was that hatrick!

Tosun - Turkey p 25 G8
Kone - Ivory Coast p 39 G9

Kone has 1 more goal in 14 more international appearances!

I am not using these stats to justify Tosun's ability, just using them as a balance to any negativity before he has kicked a ball. We need another striker, he's a striker, an international and will improve the squad in a particularly weak area!

Rooney has scored the same amount of goals as Lukaku, 1 more than Vardy this season, so I guess on that criteria some would keep him in the side over Vardy and Lukaku! There are quite a few others I could mention too!

Anyways, until I see him in an Everton shirt I won't be convinced that we've even got him!!!!

So why is Walsh in Turkey when Tosun has been in London since New year's eve, and Omran was in South Africa. No deals get done with Besiktas without Omran overseeing all transfers.

Absolute joke. No doubt Bill Kenwright will broker the deal.

You couldn't make this up.

On a positive note, I hope Tosun is worth the effort!

If we can keep McCarthy fit, he would be a great addition alongside Gaye, if Moyes comes in with a decent offer then I would certainly let Schnids move on before McCarthy.

Certainly need a left back signed, but with some that we may offload, January could be a good window for us.

We must give Tosun a chance at least he seems to want to come here. But like others I am concerned his stats are not stellar , and he is unproven in a top league.

Like everyone else ,my fingers, toes and balls are crossed in hoping he becomes a goal scoring hero for us.

Hard to get excited about any striker though as they will likely be starved of service unless we find a midfield who can keep the ball and move it forwards without misplacing one pass in three.

He starts well like Jelavic and more recently Gabbiadini at Southampton then gets totally found out and the league is too much for him, or he doesn't start well and then by summer he's off saying he doesn't like the culture/weather/can't handle the physicality of it all blah blah blah.

I'd love him to come in and make a real career for himself at Everton but time will tell.

Super Kev - more like 3 new signings- if ya knows ya Turkish ! :-)

A Left back is a must, pacy attacking midfielder and a left sided centre back then we're fine till the Summer. Easy on paper.

Shaw ripped us a new one several times on Monday with the amount of times he got behind our defence , I haven't seen Bainsey do that for four years.

On a separate topic, what has happened to Ross Barkley? I'm sure that in Unsworth's first press conference as interim manager he said that Ross was 4 weeks away from playing.

Absolutely dreading Friday night.

A lot less than that would bring in Dembele. I would even take a striker off Leicester they have way too many. Slimani always looks good whenever I've seen him. Cracking goal other night.

I noticed Pogba wasn't trying his flicks after McCarthy slid in on him; he was back to moaning at the ref.

Schnederlin stood off him a lot and they both had a warm chat at the end of the game.

Hope McCarthy is fit for Friday with Gana. Best pairing for me at the moment.

I searched the International stats of Tosun and what worries me is just 3 goals for Turkey since March 2016 and he had little impact at the Euro 1016.

I'm hopeful if he does sign he hits the ground running but surely there's more proven Premier League options if you are talking 35-40 million??

Just hope this doesn't backfire like the last transfer window.

Why is nobody trying to get Dzeko? Old but a proven goal machine

I think we can convince Porto with that money for Aboubakar who are a selling club or get Llorente on loan to head in Sigurdsson's crosses having already played with him before. Slimani is another option.

What is Walsh doing to earn his crust????

I'd bite Chelsea's hand off if all they want is 㿅m for Batshuayi. He has a much higher profile too and will want to push for a place in the Belgium World Cup squad.

Walsh's job is surely to have a list of alternatives and we suffered in the Summer due to our dogged pursuit of Siggurdsson and eventually paying well over the odds for him.

If Chelsea are happy to take £25m for Batshuayi then make it happen. Or Boayke from Red Star. My personal preference would be Silva from Milan, a great young player who has struggled to fit in at Milan but could be a brilliant signing on loan with a view to permanent.

And then get a left back! Shaw would be great but seems unlikely now he's getting a sniff at Utd. Tierney, Joe Bryan, Telles (porto) or Kurzawa(not playng at PSG) would all be good options.

Out: Mirallas, Klaassen, Sandro, Besic, Barkley

And what the hell is going on with Lookman?

He's immature at worst. Why the hell would Alardyce not start him on the opposite wing to Bolasie.

I'm willing to bet that teams would be terrified of a side with Bolasie, Sigurdsson (or Rooney) and Lookman in for 60 minutes.

If Barkley was available too and had the right head on his shoulders, then we'd be talking!

So proven to score goals in a big competition. He's really quick, good with both feet, great shot from inside the box. Decent header and strong lad. In retrospect, we should have bought him in the summer as he seems a natural replacement for Lukaku to me.

Yeah Lookman and Bolasie on either wing would be my opinion too, with Sigurdsson playing the Number 10 role and Rooney behind Tosun... or whoever we get.

Hopefully we get a least a paddle in place, aka new centre-forward in time for the Friday game at our old ground.

Only surety it seems is EFC, in managing transfers, are amateurish.

I have watched West Ham, West Brom, Palace lately and they all look better than us. New signings (at least 3 or 4 with some going the other way) are a must.

We could have Aguero in our team, yet the 40-yard gap between the midfield and the forward would negate any kind of danger he would pose.

Come on people, be realistic... Sam Allardyce is the manager!

Hope whoever's negotiating for us sees through this and walks away.

I expect our Turkish delight to happen followed by Nzonzi and possibly a loan or two, then we will see a clearout where he can. An interesting month ahead, folks!

One of the signs outside a shop had me creased over, it read "Cheaper Than Shoplifting"! But we should know who we are dealing with here.

Grow a pair of balls, Mr Walsh, and draw a line on this nonsense. It's not a fucking auction.

As far as Allardyce shipping players out, well that decision is more in the player's hands than the manager's despite what he would like to happen. Allardyce said the squad is too big, but the likes of Mirallas who hasn't kicked a ball under Allardyce, only signed a new contract last year so, unless someone is prepared to pay him more than we are, he will just pick up his money till he is ready to move on. Sandro and Klaassen will I would imagine have 3- or 4-year contracts so again, unless it's financially right, they won't move either.

Maybe Moshiri is thinking, "Do I really want to lash out millions just to own a mid table team? Wouldn't I be better off forgetting the new ground, get them safe and sell my shares and get my money back?" Because for us to compete with the top 4 he will need all his money and his mate Usmanov's money as well; if he had been going to join Moshiri, it would have happened by now.

FFS, Everton – get it sorted and as Brian said we need more than 1 striker so where are the other irons in the fire?

Fiasco? Everton? You don't say!

Time for a bit of bluff calling.
Approach Chelsea for Batshuyai and leak it to the media if they accept the 25 million rumored asking fee buy him.

In fact it is closer now than when I started typing this thread.

Just imagine how close he is to signing as you're reading this.

Who blinks first, Tony.

I endorse Erik's opinion on Bakambu and what about Dzecko, Gabbiadini etc.

Henrik Larsson played for Celtic and was quality. Everyone thought he wouldn't do anything when he went to Barca, he won the Champions League and he also had a very productive loan spell with Man Utd. Hopefully he won't be anything like Mitroglu but I don't know why people are comparing the 2 because one is Greek and the other Turkish. Ian Horan (#7)?

Get on the blower to the Chelsea and buy Batshuayi; straight swap for Ross would do it!

That is unfair to Bill.
If he unleashes his negotiating skills on the Besiktas chap we will have Tosun by 6pm.
https://youtu.be/mvDX30jwHYA

Plenty of big target men out there if thats what you mean!

Bas Dost at Sporting has been prolific. Also Aboubakar has been doing well in Portugal.

The likes of Dzecko and Bakambu have been mentioned but also Willian Jose, Haller from Frankfurt, Poulsen from Leipzig or Petagna who I think scored against us for Atlanta.

Duvan Zapata was one mentioned when Walsh went off to Italy and Babacar from Firoentina could do a job too.

Plenty out there!!

Cheers.

The month of miracles for EFC needs to start now.

I can't see Klopp underestimating us on Friday...we live in hope this evening for this plus a more new signings asap.

Calvert-Lewin has a less than 1-in-3 ratio, a goal every 289 minutes.

Batshuayi has a ratio of a goal every 88 minutes... How prolific do you want him to be?

Dzeko is 32 in 2 months, do we really want to spend in excess of £20M to add the all the other senior citizens we have?

I'd take Gabbiadini for £15M though.

I say sign Dzeko ASAP - 32 in two months is a better ratio than Dixie!

I can't even decide if we should walk away or up our bid. These Turkish clubs sound like the Ukrainian ones in terms of hardballing.

First, there's no way that Roma will sell their leading scorer while still challenging for the Serie A title and CL slots.

And second, if Dzeko dismissed speculation about Bayern and Real, why in the hell would he come to us?

Ain't happening.

Attitude and works his balls off!! Not good enough. See Calvert-Lewin, Sandro etc.

We need someone who can score goals not run around huffing and puffing all day.

If you're completely concentrating on goals scored, then you're not really looking at the bigger picture, which is what you have to do.

There's also the issue of 'player fit', and by that I mean attitude, and ability to fit in/get on with the other players – it really matters, especially in these days of huge contracts and player-power.

Yes of course goals matter, but it isn't the be all & end all when you're buying a striker.

Welcome to the Mickey Mouse Club House everyone.

Name me one famous striker from the last 50 or so years who is remembered for his work rate or ability to create space for others?

I do know what you are saying, but when it comes to the best strikers in history they are only they are remembered for one thing only. Goals scored.

Until we get a new ground, I don't see much changing on the playing side since no players want to come to stuffy old Everton – they want the new and improved Everton – the ground will really help that perception in my view.

I do get what you're saying though.

Or maybe take a deep breath and look elsewhere!

Failing that and we pull the plug, I would go and get Dembele and Kevin Gameiro as a forward line, if the price quoted for Dembele under £20 Million is correct, I would take a punt at that price.

Also a great shout for Das Bost from another poster.

Yeah, that's why.

I think Dast Bos was a submarine movie, wasn't it?

Better move on to plan B

Or will we still be sat here come next Christmas Eve deliberating why we have no striker still and Steve Walsh has been sent on another “Around the World in 80 days” scouting mission????

I hope Sam and/or Sammy can reinforce Big Dunc's tales of the fabled 'box' for our players! Someday they might try to have a look inside it...

Because I'm blowed if I know.

2 weeks in Italy during last window, result nothing.

Extended long weekend in Turkey, result, player and negotiations taking place in London!!!!!

He'll be off in the morning.

The hard working quality is just one of his attributes. The guy can clearly play and is very different to Calvert-Lewin. He's also far more physical than Sandro. I think he'll bring qualities that will quickly impress, but I guess we'll only know for sure if he finally gets here.

I'm still holding out hope (very optimistically) that he'll be here in time for Friday.

That was my point. Tosun was/is in London. Orman was on holiday in South Africa and is now in England to negotiate.

So what was Walsh doing in Turkey?

Apparently Sam is responsible for persuading Tosun to join us, by phoning him personally.

Beats me, unless I've got my facts wrong!

Finnbogason hardly sets the pulses racing and is having his first decent season in a major league aged 28. Not like our last Icelandic punt has gone particularly well though perhaps he has an Allardyce appeal.

And no, I'm in Latvia getting medical stuff sorted out - my wife is Russian and there's a big Russian population here, which means loads of clinics.

Oh, you didn't know the Russians are a nation of hypochondriacs? Oh yeah. And then some.

The Irish have a pub on every corner, the French have a lingerie shop and the Russians? They have clinics.

Priceless.
Made me laugh.

We will wake up to a new dawn with a striker.

Oh to have a bit of pace and quality in attack. It was a thrilling match to watch.

Just trust in Bill Kenwright and his world class negotiating skills, and patience. I bet he burns the fucking steak!!

We have to keep in mind that Jela walked into a side waaaay better than our current one.

I watched his YouTube clips; you only have to look at the state of the goals he scored. 95 percent of goalkeepers in the Premier League would save 70 percent of his shots!!

So we spunked the Stones money, spunked £100 million of the Lukaku money, now the Barkley money will be spunked on a slow Turkish striker... Everton that.

Next summer, it will be Pickford; then we have zero else to sell unless China offers us a fortune for Rooney. The game's up, guys... the worm has finally turned.

I don't care what he cost, I care what he does on the pitch. Big Sam has said you like and die as a manager by the impact of your signings, he must therefore believe he can score goals for Everton. Please be correct, Sam, starting Friday, if at all possible!

In a world where data communications are so powerful people like Steve Walsh or the owners of the club can virtually debate these deals from their desks. I know at some point people will want to meet face to face, but we seem to do this the wrong way when other clubs appear to get it right.

Niase has been lined up to provide counselling whilst he builds up his fitness to Premier standards

The last time I checked (a few minutes ago), €27 million is worth just over £24 million. Did the Turks lower the price?

Trouble is, so far none of his jaunts to places new and exotic seems to have borne fruit. Does this make him the highest paid waste of space at the club? After his trip to Turkey last week it seems we are now conducting face to face talks with their club president. in London! Is Walsh even involved any more?

I just don't see the point of Walsh or his grand title. Transfers are no smoother than before his arrival and if anything, appear more protracted than ever. If this one falls through after the player has openly said he wants to come here, it says a lot about Walsh's skills (or lack thereof), as a negotiator at this level.

Maybe he's best suited to unearthing gems for the U23s from Fleetwood Town, Stalybridge Celtic etc.

Somehow that makes me feel more confident in him.

It seems, however, based on subsequent claims, that EFC only offered €24m (㿁.2m) and have now upped that to €27m, either with or without further add-ons included (which would take the final price higher, perhaps to the 㿅m that Orman was after).

What are these odds we have paid over and who sets them? I'm genuinely curious.

Seller has valuation, names price, buyer has separate valuation, they negotiate. Buyer then either pays and gets or doesn't and doesn't. There is no third party valuation of "the odds" in there as far as I can see.

No Tosun tomorrow night I guess.
Surely one day we will win there again? Niasse to score!

What does this guy Walsh actually do?

Being Kenwrights mate is he a 'go for' or even a glorified scout, either way he needs to take some responsibility for the ridiculous signings and valuations paid.

Does this make him the highest paid waste of space at the club

I think that honour belongs to Schneiderlin at the moment, hoping that changes quickly though

Not only, but also, he has secured by virtue of his Silver Tongued skills 60,000 lucky Turkish Eye Keyrings, these will be a must for every Evertonian in the coming months!

He has also promised Cenk, if things don't go according to plan, he will arrange for him to officially change his name via Deed Poll, from Tosun to Tosser.

Well there you have it, and you were all worried, is there no trust left in this World?

If it is , I will toast his arrival. It is a new beginning as far as I am concerned. The first step on a new path following the disastrous Koeman era, and its associated failings.

It would be wrong to heap all the responsibility of improvement onto Tosun's shoulders. It is a small step in the right direction and it proves the club is learning and acting.

Support the man , he may be earning big money , but he has shown desire to be here. He deserves respect for that and encouragement.

Let's welcome him with open arms to our great club.

I hope we keep Sandro and Klaasen. Send them out on loan to toughen them up.

I wish him all the best but can't say i'm super excited. The one thing we are crying out for is some pace and movement in the final third; not totally convinced he will bring that.

Still very unsure on our current recruitment team, seems like we are spending alot of money without making things much better. Of course Tosun has not even worn the shirt yet let alone kicked the ball but worth pointing out that him and him and Siggurdsson cost the same as Firmino and Salah

What do people think of N'Zonzi? He never seemed that great to me whenever I saw him play for Stoke. I'd take him over Schneiderlin though.

There's a lot of deadwood to be cleared when you look at our squad.

I just feel that we have often spent big on the wrong players. We got Bolasie when I felt Zaha would be a better bet. We got Keane when i'd have preferred Maguire. We got Siggurdsson when we already had Rooney and Klaassen and were crying out for a Salah-esque player. Schneiderlin was added to what was already a fairly slow midfield. We didn't get a left back even though Baines is getting on and we had no other left backs!!

Its just feels to me like the recruitment process has not always been well thought out in terms of the balance of the team.

Then folk can write a good piece of vitriol now, save it and insert some reason for it before publishing at end of Jan.

Think that's a goer?!

Please lets show this lad some patience 'eh . and maybe young Tom as well ?

His attitude is exemplary by all accounts and he apparently even takes a personally hired football personal trainer with him away on his Summer break to keep in good shape! Could have a few words with Ashley Williams

Best of luck to him. Hopefully he's more Shearer than Beattie.

The blue tide is rising, we just need it to drown the incompetence men who steer the blue ship.. before we can sail into new glorious waters of success.

It's like butting the wall sometimes on ToffeeWeb.

Pretty harsh starting him for the derby, he'll barely see the ball surely.

If Liverpool score first, the alternative tactic will test if Allardyce has the ability to organise effective forward play. High balls will be useless. We are unlikely to get the high chance that lead to the goal in the last game.

Sandro has disappointed in his area so let's hope this guy does not.

Bolasie is finding his feet and also has zip so one hopes maybe these two can strike up a good partnership.

Give Tosun a chance...as for wasting Barkley money on a slow player...do you really think Barkley has pace?. The reason we hardly won any away games with a hotshot like Lukaku was because slow Ross was unable to quickly link midfield with attack.

I disagree with Allardyce. the problem isn't with the strikers. It's that they are not getting any chances created by a dreadfully negative formation. As for too many number 10s under Koeman...we now have too many holding midfielders being selected by Allardyce.

Chances aren't being created. Pele wouldn't score with these tactics.

Will we ever have a go at Liverpool at Anfield? It would appear not in my lifetime.

As for this dragging on, we are 4 days into the transfer window and have agreed a fee. This is with a team who appear to be playing silly games over the fee.

Is it just me that thinks that the whole transfer window information overload is the issue here? Sky have some kind of blog now where ‘experts' discuss transfer rumours. Why??

On top on their nonsense transfer page which runs all season commenting on hearsay. Reminds me of the old ceefax/teletext rumour pages where you would see rubbish, then could call an 0800 number to hear rubbish.

The January 1st deals like Van Djik and Diego Costa were all sealed out of the window. Let's calm down a bit.

Don Hutchison jizzing in his pants is certainly a good barometer for measuring a successful signing. Apparently he couldn't get any blood flow for Klaassen or Sandro but filled his boxers with man juice when we signed Pickford.

It's a very good sign indeed and shouldn't be easily dismissed. I now have zero doubt that this guy will be a huge hit.

Shudder.

Everton not only got a top striker but also a passionate footballer with good character. He is also fluent in English and German. He is made in Germany like Mesut Ozil.

For £24 plus million (and looking at the transfer fees in the market now), and urgent/obvious need for a goal scorer, Everton just got hit the jackpot.

He formed a good partnership with Hutchinson and Talisca up front not so much with Negredo though, another forward. The concern is whether we can give enough service to him from midfield. Sigurdsson's and Bolasie's play will suit him well though.

In his press conference he was asked about Sandro and he said we hadn't had any offers for him, but said he wasn't interested in players going out on loan which I think is right. He was also asked about Mirallas and he said does Kevin want to go, is the club right for him and is the transfer right for us. I think a simple we are open to offers would have covered it. No mention of Klaassen, but from his earlier statement he won't be allowed to go out on loan.

I would have liked someone to have asked about Lookman and how come he has hardly had much game time since his brilliant goal against Apollon Limassol. For me, he is the one player who can go past people with his skill and pace, and seeing we are not blessed with this type of player I cant understand why he wasn't on the bench against Man Utd. I just hope with Bolasie recovering from injury this doesn't restrict Lookman to look elsewhere.

As regards this guy, videos can make anyone look good. The Sandro videos were excellent, bit like the eighties quote "Nice video, shame about the song".

I hope he does something, I really do, but at the moment after all the money that has been wasted over the last twelve ,months, I'm not holding my breath.

At the moment he's too much of a risk as we are still poor at the back if we don't have every outfield player organised and prepared to defend.

I prefer Vlasic and Bolasie and think in time that those 2 and Tosun up front may be enough to gain 7th. Which is as good as it could get this season.

Our major problem this year was not the signing of the players, it was the appalling strategy applied.

In fairness to this lad, Besiktas were clearly trying to raise the price but he seems to want to play for us.

I really don't care what system we play against Liverpool. I am far more interested in games following the Derby when I hope we can play attacking football. We do have other players who have speed. Tosun can feed off them as long as he doesn't just receive Hoof-balls that Calvert-Lewin has had to contend with up to now.

What worries me is that most of the foreign players we have signed have been used to a far more sophisticated way of playing compared to the hoof it up the pitch/park the bus style Sam prefers.

The result being that by half time they are completely knackered after chasing lobbed balls for 45 minutes.

Do our players ever practice quick one twos on the edge of the box?

I can remember discussions in the pub over which players we'd like to sign because some guy had a cousin who'd seen a good striker play against his team.

But now, people spout as fact the witterings of the half baked media pundits whose job is to fill endless seconds of SKY TV news reel or TalkSport phone in with the filling between the bread of their advertising.

We all speculate on who we'd like our club to sign (and yes we'd all like Aguero or Messi but it's not going to happen) so depending on our levels of ambition or realism we demand the board sign Dembele, Luke Shaw, Fellaini or Jesus Christ. But what do we know? How many of us actually know which players are under contract, which ones have kids just settled into a school or an ill mother in law the wife doesn't want to be too far from?

Let the club know we expect better by all means. But let the guys paid to do their jobs get on with it and don't waste all that time writing about every player in Europe who would improve the team.

Oh for a bit of media hush followed by the announcement that we've signed 2 strikers, a left back and a taxi for the deadwood.

Link here (in German, obv.) : http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/intligen/startseite/714206/artikel_vorteil-bayern_everton-kauft-tosun-fuer-30-millionen-euro.html

As a fellow dinosaur, great post.

To all those saying that we don't have good enough players, let me just remind you that most of this squad managed 7th place last year. Fact is that we are much stronger than last season with the purchases made this summer. The only weaker part of our team this season has been in attack where Lukaku has been vastly missed. Barkley was one of our most creative players last season, as he has been for the last seasons, but we bought replacements for him in both Rooney and Sigurdsson. We also have Klaassen compared to last year, and altough he hasn't set the world alight yet, these are players that could do the job Barkley did.

I would say that the main thing that got us into this mess is that we didn't manage to replace Lukaku. Before the window closed in August we hadn't lost a single competitive game. In fact we did almost manage to beat Manchester City away... A team that has only lost four points so far this season, and until recently we were the only team to get points off them. So up until the window slam shut we were good and confident, but after it did shut and we hadn't bought a replacement for Lukaku, the whole squad seemed to be deflated, and lost the upcoming games and were instantly drained of their confidence. It didn't help that Koeman constantly changed formation and players in the starting lineup to try to find a solution to the malaise.

So I would say that the players are good enough to challenge the top six, but I'm afraid we won't under the current manager, since he is too focused on defence. We could easily play the possessionfootball we played last season now with the new striker, but I I don't think Allardyce has the knowledge to do it. So until he's gone I'm afraid the purchase of Tosun is null and void.

Trouble is we are both perpetuating this t'interweb thing.

I'll get back to my whippets now and later crank up the stove.

Shipping the deadwood out is great in theory, but who wants deadwood these days?

Furthermore, it's no use, assuming we do move a few, or all of the above, by bringing in wood that is on the turn, or riddled with woodworm, dry rot, wet rot, you name it!

Mahogany, teak and oak should be the minimum, no balsa or kiln dried firewood! :-)

"Rangers Scott Signs For Spurs"

"Kendall joins Liverpool"

The other one that I and others wanted us to go in for in the summer was Iheanacho, who went from City to Leicester. He's been poor. Dembele is mentioned again above, I really want him in the summer as well, but he has been poor. My favourite of the lot was Kasper Dolberg, but he's been dreadful. That's four players most would have loved to have seen come, especially me, and all are likely to have flopped (on the form exhibited this season).

Tosun is someone I had not really paid attention to before, but having read up on him, watched a few videos, and seen the reaction of Turks, I am really excited about this one. I have a good feeling about it. He sounds like Straquelursi but with technique. Of course he's not got the same height but he's a big bull of a player and works very hard on and off the pitch. He's just what we need.

I have cheered up now that I have seen your latest rib tickler

Martina has done better than expected defensively, but it's like attacking with one less man, Calvert-Lewin has been great but he needs help and competition. We also need some creativity high up the pitch, and Sigurdsson is too slow to do that. If Barkley gets fit and plays out the season like he played out last season, then we would be a team transformed.

Hope he comes good.

I think we paid 25 million for Lukaku... the world's gone mad.

People actually get paid for these opinion, even when they can't get his age right.

Word of advice to those people, if you ain't completely Blue, then run now while you still have a chance of keeping your sanity. COYMB

Hate watching the modor derby, Might go fishing for the night and leave my radio at home.

Whats the worst that could happen??

Stephen I was a national champion swimmer in wellingtons .

We need to go after them, as that will surprise the shit out of them. Throw in the new guy; he's match fit so why not; then let Sandro or Siggy play off him.

What the fuck am I saying; it'll more likely be pack the middle with CL running the channels and 90+ minutes of keeping the score respectable.

I am Turkish but I closely watch Everton as well as other EPL teams, one thing strikes me the most is that specifically Everton just lost its ability to come up with young promising players and now spending a lot of money on foreign players...like West Ham...

I can see now a litte bit of change by bringing the new goalkeeper- Everton needs young talented player and some more time to turn them into a good team

I bought a copy of Football Manager 2017 about 6 months ago and signed Tosun for around 6m for us. He had 3 blinding seasons scoring 25+ goals each season before selling him for about 30m to Chelsea. So when we were linked with him in real life I got a little excited, but then recounted the joy and despair of my Champs Manager days with Bakayoko.

I remember saying the same thing about Sandro. Hmm.

Tomorrow, let's see what happens.

If he can link up and use the pace of Bolasie /Vlasic/Lookman/Lennon/Sandro or a new signing like Welbeck he can be a success.

Alan Shearer wasn't Alan Wells , but he didn't let it stop him banging them in left right and centre.

Cenk looks like a CF in the Shearer mold. If he can be half as successful we will have a diamond.

For weeks they have been saying 4 5 even 6 nil, that was before they lost Salah and Coutinho and we got Bolasie and McCarthy back, add to that just short of 8,000 Evertonians in the stadium and only Keane as a recent injury.

If Tosun plays any part in the game then that's an added bonus., you have a midfield that could consist of McCarthy, Rooney, Bolasie, and Siggerson.

It's hard to remember the last time we went to Anfield with an almost fully fit squad, Jesus we normally have a shite bench, it will be filled by players that can called upon.

We will not have a better chance of ending our dire form across the park.

Chin up Paul, we can win this.

Sod's Law tells me that, sooner or later, we have to beat the RS at Anfield, hopefully tomorrow. I just hope you're right.

COYB. FTRS.

Quite often poor RS sides have beaten us when we had been favourites, like the 2012 FA Cup Semi-Final. I hope you are right Brian and it isn't Alamo football for 90 mins.

A stellar career in Germany, one reserve game led him to scarper to the land of his fathers where he won the Toto cup and some other titles that even our beloved blues could have won.

Somewhere down the rocky trail this term maybe Sandro and Tosun can be sold on as a package deal to some other mismanaged side as useless and more useless.

What sort of career was he supposed to have crammed in before turning 20? He was a youth team player who made a single senior start and moved on because he was unable to make the breakthrough. If he was thinking straight, he should have just thrown himself head first into a wood chipper right there and then and had done with it, because not a single footballer in that sort of situation has ever gone on to achieve far greater success elsewhere, have they?

The price of "useless lumps" may have soared, but proposing a player be sold, before they have even played a single game, is proof positive that pulling your arse cheeks apart prior to posting still doesn't cost a single penny.

Brilliant. Your negativity is astounding

If we don't sign someone, we are incompetent. And if we sign someone, then they must be incompetent and, de facto, we are incompetent

You're a star.

Welcome back, Rob. Fancy us to do them this time!

Maybe Liverpool have offered 29m to Besiktas up front , 500 000 to his agent ,and an extra 10 000 pw wages.

They will announce his signing at 7pm and will watch the match betwixed King Kenny and Ian Rush.

Sorry, just trying inject some humour on this dark and dreary day.

Oh wait, I just said it!

Gonna miss it aren't we?!

I suppose it might be better to get him in and trained up steady rather than risk another player with a long term injury because he's thrown himself about to impress!!

What the FUCK is the club playing at? GET HIM SIGNED!!!!

He's in London. I wonder if West Ham are sniffing?

Hopefully Big Sam will demand an answer over why we couldn't get it done in time and transfers will be another area we tighten up and professionalise in. Allardyce has to get the club running properly off the pitch too, not just on it. He's got the experience to transform the club.

On a serious note, I don't know more than this, pal. It's in The Echo. But this doesn't surprise me at all. The words 'professional' and 'Everton' just don't go together any more, unless it's 'professional screw-up'.

Fuck Off, Everton FC. The hard-working fans who go home and away are sick of this amateurish crap. Get your acts together, you shower of twats.

Pray tell chaps, how do you know this to be true? Surely you've some evidence to support your accusations (implicit or otherwise) against named persons. Can we see it please?

It suggests a negotiating practice which is out of date and/or that we continue to be in a financial position where every penny saved matters. Not exactly a New Everton.

He has been here since the window opened, 5 days on and still trying to get it over the line.

I was hoping Sam would be going all out for our last chance of Silverware by signing our biggest area that needed fixing in attack.

I'm not blaming Sam for the deal not being done, as again we just cannot seem to get a deal done smoothly.

Looks like we are banking on keeping them out rather than us having a go at them; great shame, he could have made a difference at some point tonight.

Blaming Kenwright solely is the most ridiculous unhelpful answer.

Chris (#359), of course we've no "evidence"; however, top clubs in the main get their transfer business done with the minimum of fuss, paying what it takes to do that.

How was it the Shite were able to pre-negotiate and finalise a deal for VVD such that his signing, done and already dusted, could be announced on 1 January? Why weren't we doing the same with Besiktas to have this thing completed on the same day?

We hear that the fee has been agreed between the Clubs for a couple of days now; so you think, good now that's it all done and dusted.

Apparently not, how could they go this far; and let's not forget our Director of Hoofball made a special mission to Istanbul; to iron out the wrinkles, while most of the negotiations were taking place in London?

I cannot for the life of me, believe that they still haven't agreed personal terms; if it's over a locker, Ross's is available now, unless that deal hits a snag too!

I was scathing of Koeman for not registering Garbutt, but surely the club should have de-registered Byrne on New Year's Day and put Garbutt down? Surely he could have been training with the first team in preparation?

Or has Allardyce run the rule over him in the behind closed doors game and decided he's not good enough? If so, why aren't we getting a left-back in quickly?

"How was it the Shite were able to pre-negotiate and finalise a deal for VVD such that his signing, done and already dusted, could be announced on 1 January?"

Quite easy I imagine when you wave a world record 㿷 million for a defender under their nose! And they likely fancied they have that cash to spare when Real are sniffing around a certain Brazilian and muttering "𧵄 million". :)

There you go again making statements based on supposition. Kenwright is not "my man". I've never said he is. I am just challenging the 'knee-jerk' culture among some on TW.

Brent is right Sam Bryne. One of the kids who is too old to be called up for "free", he's clearly not going to play for the first team, so de-register him and register Luke Garbutt. Or is that the straight forward thing to do?

Basiktas holding out for more... canny Chairman...

And now Cenk Tosun still to agree personal terms (apparently he has been at Finch Farm, but hasn't signed in time for the Derby game)...

VD had already agreed most of it 7 months ago in a cafe in Blackpool.

And they've done a fair bit of business over the years (Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Sadio Mane and Nathaniel Clyne) so they know how each other works...

And back when the 'meeting' was grumbled about the offer for VD was reported to be £60mil... Southampton held out... and agreed a fee of £75mill with extras.

But I share your frustrations that we seem to have these protracted transfer saga's...

The same thought had occurred to me.

Sam does play games. I remember his mind games about Tim Cahill just before one EFC match against one of his teams. His words about Cahill 'looking after himself' were clearly designed to plant some thoughts in the officials' heads.

I suspect tonight's plan is to try for a draw and take them back to Goodison.

Is that why they turned you down, Dermot?!

Since he became chairman we have seen a catastrophic series of events which would have forced any other chairman to resign.

Almost 20 years after his buyout of the club we are still being run like a championship club.

That is why people are fed up with him not just this latest saga.

Most people perhaps don't remember this, but we only landed Tim Cahill after his transfer to Crystal Palace 'hit a snag', when the then-Palace chairman Simon Jordan refused to pay a commission to Tim's agent.

In the summer, though, we were very quick off the mark, signing Pickford, Keane and Klaassen in a jiffy. Was that a sign of an improved professionalism, still under the same chairman?

This latest twist is not unexpected and no surprise after a lifetime of mediocrity in transfer deals.

This delay is no surprise and let's see what happens tonight.. Good luck to all Evertonians tonight and let's hope we get some luck in this game...

Will get a text soon and should be sorted “imminently”.

Imagine what it must be like supporting a competent football club. Weird probably.