The best deal ever

I remember your utter frustration when Moyes continually opted for Hibbert's more defensive qualities over Coleman's swashbuckling style. I think it was you who first suggested playing Coleman in front of Hibbert.

Duffy was different. The move away from Goodison Park probably helped him. He wasnt getting a game here and he needed to play in order to improve through experience. He had obvious qualities, but he was simply too slow. Opponents soon picked up on it. As with others before him, experience taught him how to compensate for that lack of pace; he learned how to "cut the ring down" and he has become a very decent centre-half.

It's only when somebody asks you who you thought shouldn't have been allowed to leave that you realise how seldom it is that somebody leaves this club and goes on to be a better player.

We all knew Wayne Rooney was going to leave at some point — but then quite why Kenwright bent over so readily still has me shaking my head in disbelief. It was bad enough we sold him a year before we needed to, but to let the richest club on earth have him for about half of what we knew he was worth was criminal. To agree to let them pay in installments was an affront to the concept of negotiation.

I promised myself I would never be arsed discussing Kenwright again... but what a complete merchant banker that guy has been.

On great signings? Seamus has some pretty fierce competition. People like Cahill and Sheedy must at least be on a par with the signing of Seamus but, for me, whoever got Reidy to sign on the dotted line probably pulled off our club's best bit of business in modern times.

As for Seamus, I doubt if we'll ever see a finer right-back in our side that could hold a candle to him. And a great lad to boot. What a pity we've never been able to lift a trophy while he's been playing... Criminal!!!

Arteta and Cahill has to run them all close as well.

Coleman is a once-in-a-lifetime fee, though — 㿨k in this day and age was simply stunning.

Seamus is also a very good player, and also comes across as a very special person, so let's hope he fulfills his dream and picks up the FA Cup next season.

Rooney is the obvious bad sell deal, but I remember Everton sold Don Hutchinson, rather than give the captain of the club a pay rise, and he was sold for a pittance. I'm sure he was sold on again for a lot more money...

For not far short of two whole decades he was our rock. He played 578 games for us at a cost of... wait for it, less than 𧶼 a game (wages aside). In that time he was named in the PFA Team of the Year four consecutive times, listed as one of the world's top ten goalkeepers by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics on four occasions, and was named one of the 100 'Greatest Players of the 20th Century' by World Soccer magazine. And at the end of the 1984/85 season he became the first ever Blue to be named Football Writer's Association Footballer of the Year. And all for less than 𧶼 a game, dude!

Had he not badly damaged his ankle playing for Wales in a game (in Iceland, IIRC), causing him to miss the last 10 games of the 1985-86 Season, and the 1986 FA Cup Final, we would surely have earned us the one extra point we needed to win the league and we would likely have completed the double also.

With those comments, you have effectively done the equivalent of a ToffeeWeb mic drop!!

Spot on. 👍

Nev the Save from the "in my time" category.

Oh, to have players of their cailbre at each end of the pitch nowadays!

I admit I'm biased as he's my all-time Everton hero, but I do believe he tops any Best Deal type table.

١,000 for Dixie Dean, adjusted for inflation, is in today's money approximately 㿗,000. Can you even imagine what Dixie would fetch today? 𧴜 million? Just shows that a) it was a great deal; and b) football transfer inflation is absolutely shockingly astronomical.

"Neville was an absolute giant of the game and the only EFC player I've seen, who could be legitimately argued to be the best in the world in his position."

I read this sentence at first thinking we were using surnames in this thread. I was trying to fathom whether you meant Neville as holding midfielder or right back... then the penny dropped! :)

Andy, love your loyalty but it's time to let go of the Duffy thing. The sale was fully justified. He wasn't good enough to be a starter for us back then -- his only appearances came when both Jags and Distin were hurt -- and he isn't good enough now. He's reached the top of his potential at the bottom of the Premier League, and good for him, but as Darren says the transfer to Blackburn allowed that to happen.

His value rising by 500 times is something special, beyond the realisation of 99.9% of all investments ever made, let alone in the money lost venture that is football.

Haha, very good. I should have used Neville's surname. 'Saveall' — as me and the lads used to call him!!! We were still in school when we came up with that one.

Next to him Southall and Reid with Sharp and Bobby Collins also worth a mention.

It's a pity today's mercenary bunch and greedy agents don't take any notice of that but, for me, the standouts are those who contributed to the most successful period in the club's history and arguably formed the best team in the world for a period of time.

Neville, Reidy and Sheeds with a nod to Kendall who was also the most successful manager in our history.

But, as many others on this thread have mentioned also great players, Reidy, Seamus, Sheeds, and in context it illustrates the many great players who came and made Goodison their arena, and have sealed their rightful places in Everton history.

If we can recreate even half the same aura and vision these players had, this current squad will be on the right track.

Link

Some selected names from the nominations:

Dixie - £3k in 1925 = a mere £180,875 today.
Seamus Coleman - £60k in 2009 = just under £80k today.
Neville Southall - £150k in 1981 = £570,215
Kevin Sheedy - £100k in 1982 = £350k
Peter Reid - £60k in 1982 = £210k

A superficial perusal may conclude Dixie really is the greatest bargain.

As already commented by others, these numbers show how ridiculously inflated transfer fees have become. Not one of those players in their prime would go for less than £50 MILLION in today's market. One or two of them would be around the £100 MILLION + mark.

You can't get a non-league footballer for those prices these days.

Have to include Stones, bought for ١M sold for 㿞M.

Oh to have them names available in their prime. I reckon Stones will move on to get first-team football. Probably beyond our reach but worth a go?

I was with you every step with Seamus. He's an absolute steal. By far the most astute signing in my time following the Club. Others can speak to the historical signings before my time, but for me Seamus Coleman blows them all away.

And I've said this before, but you couldn't ask for a better human being for your Club. He's as down to earth as they come. No Hollywood, no flash, just balls-to-the-wall effort and attitude. Married to his childhood sweetheart, and my good friend here in the States from County Mayo tells me he's from a small fishing village. Just salt of the earth type of stuff.

My dog's name is Seamus for crying out loud. I just love the kid.

Shane Duffy! I too, although not quite as vociferous as you, always liked Duffy. I never, ever understood why we sold him. He's a solid CB whom we absolutely could have used through the years, no question.

With a ton of Irish heritage running through my veins, and being known over here by friends as, "he's Irish" or, "he comes from a big Irish family", I too take a hell of a lot of pride in the Irish players.

I realize that doesn't make a lot of sense to a true Irishman, and it seems very plastic. And frankly it is. But it's an identity thing that I think carries some weight. I have cousins - all of them sans one set - who are 5th generation and are 100% Irish heritage. Not a one of them "watered down" like myself. There's an absolute culture, albeit again American in flair, that runs through us.

All you'd need to do is go to one family reunion, one wedding, one funeral, one "thing" in the Crowley / Meagher Clan, to see it. It's real, and we take a lot of pride in it, in an honest moment.

So the Irish players for Everton I take a very fond liking to, and Duffy was one I loved.

And Seamus is just on another plane altogether. He is 100% gold, and for me the single best signing of my Blue life, personally.

Great post! I laughed out loud when I read it and said, "Oh hell yes."

A fucking statue of Seamus should go outside Goodison / BMD when he retires. Hyperbole? A bit. But for Christ sake the money we saved on signing a player of his quality, the statue is practically free in the end!

Of those not already mentioned above, I would add Peter Beardsley, who I thought was a steal. He arguably kept us afloat for a couple of seasons and was then sold for a healthy profit if memory serves.

He was great also when signed until his injury.

Others include David Wier, Alan Stubbs, Timmy Cahill, Mikel Arteta, and Gana Gueye.

I think had we won trophies with those players, many fans of other teams and pundits would of held them in higher regard. I would love us to sign a couple of kids like the benfica duo mentioned in another article, just to see them develop into £40m+ players.

Kompany certainly took his chance to resurrect and outstanding career when Stones was injured, He made himself impossible to drop. However, Stones will be moving nowhere. He will start next season as first choice center half for the best club team in the world.

When I think of the ignorant criticism Stones received from the philistines when he was here, I could weep.

"I want my defenders to bluddy well defend . .GETRIDOFTHEFUCKER !!!"

It will be Laporte and another to start next season. Laporte will be first centre-half on the team sheet.

It remains to be seen if Pep starts Stones in the first game of season. My money will be on he won't.

We can agree that Seamus is the best value signing since Sky invented football in 1992.

Chris #13, I'm sorry to say, Neville damaged that ankle on a bumpy surface at Lansdowne Road in Dublin in March 1986 and not in Iceland. Now redeveloped as the Aviva Stadium, it is a pitch that Seamus has graced on many occasions.

As Brian(50) says only a bad injury stopped us from getting more years from a whole hearted and committed player, doesn't stop us looking back with admiration at the time he was with us.

Sorry to say Andy, as good as Joe was there was no comparison with the fabulous Duncan Edwards, that's not a slight on Joe, there is hardly any all round midfield player who I have seen since who could better the standards set by Duncan Edwards, whose career ended in tragedy at Munich, Barlow of WBA and Beattie of Ipswich were built like Duncan and were very good players but still not on the same level.