Boro in talks with Besic and Bolasie but Villa enter race for winger

I think if not for the injury, we could have got some value from him but as it transpires it was wasted money – no point lamenting it now. Boro can sign him and Besic if promoted.

I estimated @㾸M, I was totally gobsmacked when it was revealed that 㿈M had been wasted in bringing his sporadic talent to Everton.

Bernard is obviously here now but who knows when he will be fit and firing?

They knew we needed to sell, they also knew that if a deal couldn't be done that day that our desperation to offload players would mean loans would be an option. They effectively held all the cards and called our bluff.

I would only loan Besic & Bolasie to Championship clubs as long as it was written into the deal that they were obligated to purchase them for a pre-agreed fee if they get promoted.

I can't see (Bolasie in particular) them having such a stellar season that we would want them back as first-team options anyway.

I absolutely agree, if they go it has to be with a guarantee that they buy the player or players if Besic goes at the end of the loan deal. I think the Bosman ruling has made life a lot easier for players, who are now in a win win situation.

They all want 3/4 year deals but if they perform they want away well inside the agreed length of the deal, but if they don't and the team get relegated they are guaranteed the same wages that was agreed when they signed. The idea of the Bosman was to stop clubs holding on to registrations of players after their contracts ran out. But with all the mercenaries around football they have made it into something completely different.

Only if he may be out for a few weeks, I'm not sure we should let Besic go, especially when Gomes is a few weeks away from being fit.

Offload, one way or the other, ASAP.

Bolasie will surely move on. A decent bloke from what I have read but limited as a footballer, a kick and run winger with the odd good cross. I wish him well and hope he has a good career at Boro.

To my mind, in most cases, if they are not producing the goods from an early age, then they never will.

How do you figure Lookman hasn't produced the goods? He wasn't getting on the pitch so went to one of the top clubs in Germany and produced, goals and assists.

He should not be lumped in with Bolasie and Besic who have been around for years and never been good enough. Completely different scenario.

We have no other player currently fit that can sit in the hole between the back 2 and dictate the play. He broke up play and now there is movement ahead of him let's see what he brings to the team.

Davies didn't have a bad game but we lost our shape a bit when Schneiderlin went off injured. I'm sorry if you can't see that. We got rid of some of our squad players and improved the shape of our play... which wasn't hard.

There is no point keeping him around if he is not playing.

We are in the process of building a team that can compete for a top 6 spot. Some of the players we have are good enough, other players are still not top 6 class. But it is a process and we started.

Leipzig need to come up with the £30million, is the message I think is being sent out to them. Silva was genuine in what he said regarding Lookman

. Besic needs more playing time. He does try but needs to up his standard more consistently.

I am becoming more impressed with the Brands /Silva partnership by the day.

I know we have Joe Williams, but he's never played in the Premier League. A League Cup game would be ideal perhaps; but if Gana gets injured we have a serious issue until Morgan, McCarthy and Gomes are fit.

Same goes for Yannick! Puts everything in but the output is sporadic to say the least.

Interesting season ahead for the True Blues. Not yet used 4 of the new players but heaps of positives already. What a difference a day (season, manager, director, attitude) makes, eh!!!

I'm sure if he goes there on loan and plays well, hopefully come January the deal can be resurrected and they will sign him permanently

Schneiderlin, Gueye, Davies, McCarthy, Gomes, Baningime, Williams, Connolly, and Besic.

We need Besic off the books. Schneiderlin might be available for the weekend, in any event he won't be out for long. McCarthy was already off his crutches on the first day of pre-season. He's not playing at the weekend for sure, but it's not long now for him. Gomes is similarly not far off, Baningime has had his own issues but should be fit now, Williams played for the U23s last night, Connolly is out on loan.

So clearly we do have a lack of cover, but the simple solution would be to delay the loan for a week until our mini-crisis eases, and then to get him off our books. I wouldn't keep him for the long term (ie the season) just because a number of players are out for a couple of weeks more. If we really are stuck, then we can try Gylfi deep, or even Baines in there. These wages need to get off our books.

The other solution is a free transfer and we have been linked with Marhcasio of Juventus and Veloso formerly of Sporting, Genoa, and Dynamo Kiev. I don't think they are the answer. Veloso is well past his best and his best wasn't that good. We need to drop wages, not to add more on.

Surely, this is the kind of situation where you dip into the youth setup and give someone like Joe Williams a chance.

From reading the reports Joe Williams was impressive last night which was watched by Brands and 1st team coaching staff. I understand the new goalie also impressed.

I do hope that any talent coming through is encouraged and rewarded with 1st team appearances

If it's just a body which has the physical capacity to take up space required he's okay, but then so am I and I'm available for far less. He tries, and that's admirable, but just effort isn't sufficient for where Everton want to be now.

I wonder if we could put a clause in that we have the right to sell him in January if we get an offer from somebody else.

Besic likewise.

Bolasie looked to be forming a great partnership with Rom. until the injury basically put him into a spiral and he just hasn't had the confidence since.

Besic can be tremendous but wild tackling is a drawback.

Good luck to them both!

But Europe still has till 31 August to sign players, so European clubs can still by our players, which is ridiculous, so why can't our clubs say transfer day means no player after that date can be bought or sold? Now we seem to have another anomaly, the Championship had the same deadline day for transfers as the Premier League, but they are still able to take players on loan... madness.

I would much prefer one window per season and the window closes for everybody on that date. That way, everybody would know that whoever was on their books on that day would be there till the end of the season. So, if a player is having a stellar season, nobody can buy him off you half-way through the season, as happens now.

And I'm seeing two reports that Joe Williams will be loaned to Bolton this week, although Birmingham and Bristol were also both in for him. Ideal timing for him, go get 'em young man and come back to us ready for the first team!

Bernard, on the other hand, appears to be best in and around there. He only plays on the wing because people think he's too small and therefore can't play in the middle. If David Silva can play in the middle in the Premier League, then why not try Bernard there? It'll be interesting to see how Silva plays these cards.

The move MAY be as good as a sale. There is talk that there could be a clause inserted that triggers a sale should Boro be promoted. Talk is that the amount could reach 㾻m.

Actually it just says "possibly" so hopefully that doesn't become a sticking point. His wages are an issue though.

Having said that, I don't care who's pushing for it as long as we get the rumoured 㾻m for him and get him off the books!

I really hope we have better luck with injuries this season and that the new signings have plenty of time to get eased in. It might take until Christmas to have a fully fit, well-oiled squad. I look forward to that day.

Yeah until they realise he's crap then he'll be in their rezzies as opposed to ours.

I do feel sorry for Bolasie with that injury he had but he was hardly setting the place alight even before that.

Good luck to the pair of them. Please show me I am wrong.

Once again, my abiding memory of him is trying to be a smart arse with no-one near him and putting the ball out of play due to said smartarsedniss.

£28m for him??? Feck's sake

He was also asked again about Lookman, he said I have made it very clear he is our player I think he is technically very good. He knows because I have told him he is our present and future. Seems he aint going anywhere if Silva gets his way, however upset Lookman might be now as soon as the window for Europe closes next Thursday that will be it. I am sure he will then get his head round it and Silva will then give him game time. Leipzig must have been sick when we sacked Allardyce as he would have let him go.

“Allardyce would have let him go” — what are you basing that on? Allardyce stated he didn't want Lookman to go on more than one occasion!