Leipzig open bidding for Lookman

£12 million??? Who are they kidding in this day and age??

Double that and it would be more like a starting offer!

Hopefully Silva has convinced him to stay. Cracking player. Everyone but Allardyce could see that.

Agree with Simon and Gordon that, not only is the figure an insult, but we should do everything possible to hang on to him, and convince him of his future with us.

Offer him a new contract with a first-team player's wage. He's been here 18 months now, so due a rise or extension.

It will also put to bed any speculation.

I wonder how that meeting with Marco went. Did Lookman say he wanted to stay or does he want to leave? I know he can't leave just because he wants to because he's under contract, but we all know it's tough to hold onto a player who actually wants out.

I hope Silva and Brands have convinced him that he's got a big future with us. He's a cracking player who will only get better.

So we sign him for £11m and sell him for £12m? What are those idiots on?

Tell them to shove their Red Bull where the sun doesn't shine.

If I were Brands, I'd tell Leipzig to shove that bid up their ass!

I wonder if this bid has coincided with Lookman's meeting with Silva. Some newspapers like the Mirror are inferring Lookman wants to leave. I really hope that isn't the case but if it is, the fee would have to start at double that derisory offer. If Brands has any sense, he would also add on a sell-on clause.

Offer us $30M then we can talk.

Sounds much like they've offered to reimburse that which has been paid out in transfer fee and wages. Haven't they got a full back that it was reported we were interested in? If it has to pass then may be an exchange may be in order although I'd prefer a proper assessment until January at the very earliest.

£30 million in today's market I'm afraid.

Probably a little too early but England need an out and out winger. I would expect him to be in the euros in two years and Ashley Young. Reject any offer.

Lookman is a feisty player who, confronted by the archaic attitude of Allardyce, took matters into his own hands and arranged his own loan period.

Feisty is exactly what EFC needs and what we have been calling for from the lethargic, "couldn't care less" attitude of the majority of the first team squad in recent seasons.

Hopefully, Brands and Silva have shown Ademola that there is truly a "new dawn" at EFC in which he and his playing style will figure greatly.

Ademola is the type of player we need to keep, not shed.

Any offer from anyone should be met with a blunt – "This player is not available for sale" statement.

Lookman is exactly the sort of player we should be keeping and nurturing. There doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason to consider this offer seriously. Mirallas and Bolasie will almost certainly leave in coming weeks, so there should be opportunities for this talented young player in the coming months.

At this stage of his career, Lookman can’t afford to down tools. Reject the bid and he’ll fall into line. See where we are in 12 months time.

Perhaps he felt so comfortable in Germany that he wanted to leave (and the fact that he wasn't respected by our previous manager might make him want to leave us).

Tell Leipzig to jog on, the cheeky bastards, tell them to hand over the money they received from the dark side for Keita (£50m) as a minimum with a sell-on clause – then we might start discussions.

Leipzig wouldn't have made the offer unless Lookman's representatives hadn't given them the encouragement to believe he wants to move. Marco needs to carefully assess his state of mind. What we know is that he Is a strong-willed character who successfully stood up to Sam.

I agree that the offer would need to be at least doubled or the player needs to be told he has to honour his current Contract. It is potentially disruptive to have a player in the squad who doesn't want to play for the Club. I very much want the player to stay but I fear the worst.

Will Silva see things in Lookman that more than one of his predecessors didn't?

I suspect the lad is too cocky by half to settle into the much-lauded benign atmosphere at Finch Farm. I think he's on his way!

I think Lookman shows promise, but when watching him play for Everton, I have felt he has not always made the right decision, and he seems to go out of the game after about 30 minutes (Deulofeu??). However, if he can sort those faults out, he would be brilliant!

You have to remember how old he is Tony, still very young and not long out of Charlton. I'm hoping that after scoring a winning goal at Goodison he'll get us again, he'll feel the love from the supporters and his teammates. It's probably a distant memory for him at the moment.

If he does end up going, Sam will have the last laugh and he'll be giving a firm two fingers to us, because he knows how much we rate him.

I'm not on Twitter but I'd consider joining the site to send him a message convincing him to stay.

Tony – I agree. He is a promising talent well over-hyped on these pages and not yet worthy of the £30m price-tag bandied about by some.

I've said it before on here, Lookman has to stay. He will become one of England's best players in a very short time. But to do this, we have to let him play. By that I mean the fans have to allow him to fail occasionally without bemoaning every missed pass or trick that doesn't come off.

He is a potentially special talent. I used to laugh at commentators who raved when one of Cantona's arrogant flicks landed at the feet of a team mate. They ignored the four that lost his side the ball. We have to let this lad know that he is wanted here, warts and all. Only then will we be able to benefit from his exciting talent.

Many good points. I am in 100% agreement that Brands & Silva shouldn't allow Lookman to leave. He is too good a talent to lose out on.

A team built around Pickford, Holgate, Coleman, Davies, Lookman and Calvert-Lewin and maybe one or two others will trouble most Premier League teams if Silva is able to coach them well.

I saw the highlights of most of RB Leipzig's games on TV after Lookman joined them on loan. Lookman was played on the left, Keita was played on the right. Most Leipzig goals came from the left, and Lookman scored more and created more than Keita. And those cheeky fuckers milked the RS for (I think) £54 million for Keita!

There are signs that Lookman could be a special talent. He's shown some glimpses in games. He has a good touch, great ball control, and excellent acceleration. He struggles with shooting, lacking any real power in his shots, his passing needs work, and his crossing is also below par. He is very inconsistent.

All wingers are inconsistent. Wingers of his wage are even more so. There's a lot of work to do on his game. He is far from the finished article. I have complete faith that Silva is the right coach for him and will make him a better player, like he did with Richarlison at Watford.

Martin, your story about Cantona can be applied to Lookman and Barkley. When Barkley was here, he got stick for wasting a lot of opportunities. Whether it was just down to Koeman or Allardyce, or it was the lack of Barkley, without Barkley, we struggled to create many of these opportunities. I'd gladly accept a player wasting them, just to have a few of them a game that can come off and create a goal or two. Which means we need patience if and when he makes a bad decision that leads to a move breaking down.

Leipzig just got £60m for Kieta off the RS. Lookman was starting to look better than him when they were both on the pitch.

Lookman has got massive potential resale value. Lookman is improving.We may not be able to keep hold of him if he demands a guaranteed starting place, but I would be gutted. Maybe Silva wants Richarlison instead of Lookman.

If we sell it is one that will come back to haunt us. Lookman is special and the best young talent on our books.

No, no, no. The club should be keeping and playing Lookman!

This is a test whether Everton can attract players who see Everton as the Club to progress their career. Lookman initially joined Everton with this in mind. But he insisted in January on a loan to Leipzig, against the manager's wishes as he seen this was not the case. He was right and has progressed his career and value as a result.

Leipzig have put in a bid with some knowledge of possible player approval. Brands and Silva have to convince Lookman that his career will progress with Everton and that Everton have changed. There will be bids from other clubs, so his value will be realised.

Lookman is a game-changer. He takes risks in possession – and while that means that he does give the ball away more often than your average sideways passer, it also means he is more likely to create goalscoring chances for himself and his team-mates. Plus, he isn't afraid to get shots in on goal.

Last season, we had multiple games where we failed to even register a shot on goal, and here we have a young player – one of the standout talents at the Under-20 World Cup last summer – who we're at significant risk of losing.

Yes, he's still quite raw, but in terms of natural talent and potential, I think he is the best young player we have in our squad. He's quick, he's imaginative, he's tenacious – and I'd like to see him starting.

What I feared most from the Allardyce appointment. It looks like the player wants away and RB are looking to shaft us on the price because we now have a reputation for being total incompetents in the transfer market.

Time to play Daniel Levy type hardball methinks. Remind player he is contracted to Everton. Slap a £50 million fee on him. 25% minimum sell-on clause. Tell RB to fuck off and never contact EFC or any of its players again – and that Lookman is not for sale to them at any price. Warn agents there will be adverse consequences if they act to undermine the club in any way.

We can still try to convince Lookman that he will have a key role to play if he performs well for us and an improved contract will be the reward. But also tell him that if he doesn't show commitment and perform, he can see out his contract using Niasse's old non-locker. Losing £10 million on Lookman in order to show we are no longer a soft touch is a worthwhile investment in my book after the huge amounts wasted in over payments etc in recent years.

Bitterly disappointed if we lose a player of Lookman's talent, but Everton FC must come first.

If we sell a player like this, then the Moshiri era is done and dusted as far as I'm concerned. It will look negative and have a negative impact on this club.

I know Brands and Silva need some time to repair the damage but, if they don't see some sort of marked improvement this season, the club is in trouble.

I love players like Lookman, in the same way I loved how Deulofeu played for Everton. Players to get you out of your seat.

I also recognize they are players who can frustrate and disappoint. Fans are very quick in criticizing and forgetting what they offer when they don't impact on the game.

Managers in-game also have low tolerance levels of a player not producing the goods on the day. Three times last season Lookman was substituted at half-time having started the game – twice for Everton, once for Leipzig.

It's worth remembering Lookman's schooling in professional football started very late; so, in that regard, he has lost out on 5-8 years of his football education.

Some mock such training as taking away or suppressing innate instinctive skills a young player may have. Others consider it essential to teach good habits in the fundamentals. The truth probably lies somewhere between the truth.

We certainly shouldn't be selling him, but nor is he at the level yet which secures him a regular starting spot.

When he is good, Lookman is very VERY good. He can also be very peripheral, anonymous even.

Potential he has in abundance. Consistency... not yet.

We badly need pace in the side and Lookman has it. He is certainly not a player we should be looking to sell. I cannot imagine he's one of the top earners so no pressure on the wage bill.

It would be a utter madness to sell him at any price. Huge talent.

A joke of a bid if true. I'm not sure if they could afford him.

The issue is not just that he is a talent, not just that he can roast defenders with ease and score goals, it is that he is the blueprint for future Everton players. If we are to sell, it would have to be for an extremely high price or Moshiri, his vision of the future for the club, and his influence will just be seen as lightweight.

If the player wants to go, then more fool him. This is the league to play in. He should only go on our terms; however, I still have doubts on Everton's conduct in transfers when it comes to getting the best deal and not giving in when an unsuitable bid is made. It is time to be strong and hard-nosed.

On the current form he was showing with Leipzig, he is worth £30m plus more. A good young attacking player with plenty of flair and can pick out a good pass.

If possible, then we should try our best to keep him and try to get the best out of him. If he is determined to go, then we have got to get the most money possible which, for me, is £30m plus lots of extras.

Nicely put, Jay. It's also worth remembering that Silva was responsible for bringing in Richarlison. He was inconsistent whilst Silva was there, but when he was good, he was very good.

After Silva left this applies: "Managers in-game also have low tolerance levels of a player not producing the goods on the day", and Richarlison did not have the same impact.

So that gives me hope that Silva is the right manager for Lookman, that he will have a high tolerance and will get the best out of Lookman. I just hope Lookman can see it too.

All that is in my mind is he is a World Cup champion, someone worth investing in. It's all papers, with the price and what we are going to expect, but we can only wait until something happens. With some new faces on the pitch and a gameplan, he's gonna thrive here. Wait and see.

I think the lad is worth more but, to be honest, he really hasn't had a chance to progress at Goodison Park. He appears to have impressed in Germany and just maybe should get a real chance under Silva. Many players didn't show their best under Koeman and Allardyce for whatever reasons so maybe the new regime can do better.

Sometimes players just don't rise to the next level as expected and Everton have had their share of those types of players. Lookman will get a chance during the Summer... unless he is bent on leaving, so it's up to him.

Steve, we need to be more worried about Lookman's agent.

This is not Lukaku. Lukaku wanted to leave after the first bad season under Martinez, he was convinced to give it one more year. He did and it was just as bad. Then he was convinced to see how it went under Koeman, he did and we got 7th but, with the contract ticking down and his value set to go past it's peak, we were in a difficult position last summer.

Lookman has 3 years left. He can't wait that out. His wages are low. If we want to let him rot to teach him a lesson, we can afford to do so. We hold all the cards here. Lookman and his agent will do what we tell them. So he will have to stay for at least this season if we tell him to.

As I said above, Silva needs to make him feel wanted and to say give us a season, and we'll have a chat next summer. Then, with the contract down to 2 years, it's either extended or he's sold.

Agree with Steve. Club has the upper hand in this one.

If he gets a chance and he's good enough on a semi-consistent (nobody is always good) then he plays and he should be happy.

But I'd only let him go in this window if he's just not part of Silva's plans, which I can't see being the case to be honest.

Leipzig have made a bid of£12M for Lookman and have been knocked back. What's wrong with that? Maybe they'll come back with a bigger offer, and we will knock them back again or will open negotiations for a bigger price. That's how transfers work.

I wish, on reflection, Everton had opened talks last summer with some low offers instead of diving in with some ridiculous bids and even more ridiculous wages. We can learn something off other clubs in the way we go about transfer business, or maybe the new DOF is already well clued up.

With the need to reduce the squad, Silva may well sell him at the right price. He will want his own choice of players as far as possible.

Dave,

We did yours with regards to Sigurdsson and that transfer went on and on and on.

Regards to Pickford and Keane we got them in early, but didn't Walsh just come out and say we paid a lot less than stated?

Steve (45),

I like Sigurdsson... but when the asking fee got as ridiculous as it did, someone with a bit of sense (Was there anyone at the club with sense???) should have pulled the plug and went elsewhere.

Yes, Walsh was explaining how he was telling Everton we had to sign him; he even told Leicester to sign him; he said he never cost £30M but it will rise to that if Jordan reaches the potential expected of him.

But that was common knowledge when we signed him; same applies to Keane and also Lookman... we never paid £11M for him but it will reach that if he reaches certain stages in his career with Everton.

Lookman has pace and knows where the goal is but, like Bolasie, he is inconsistent and not a team player. He also seems to have an attitude problem with little or no respect for authority.

He will either mature and become the player he can be or he will become another statistic like Jeffers, Barkley and Rodwell.

If he wants to stay and fight for his place I will be delighted but as others have said it seems his agent has already encouraged Leipzig to make the move.

Dave, I agree about Sigurdsson. We should have walked away. I posted a lot of comments before he came saying so. We overpaid and we got ripped off. But he’s here’s now and we have to get the most out of him we can.

The point was we tried negotiating last season and it didn’t work. So we have done what Leipzig did. Let’s just hope Leipzig do what we didn’t and walk away.

Cheeky gits with that bid, tell them to get lost!

On another note, I'm starting to get extremely nervous regarding our lack of transfer activity — even to the point that this coming season could end in disaster.

Lee, this is why Silva and Brands have come in. They're here to avoid making new signings. If Moshiri wanted to splash the cash, he'd have gone with someone like Ancelotti. Expect very few signings.

"A team built around Pickford, Holgate, Coleman, Davies, Lookman and Calvert-Lewin and maybe one or two others will trouble most Premier League teams if Silva is able to coach them well."

Is troubling most Premier League teams this coming season the summit of our ambitions?

I only want players who want to be here. Regardless of talent, they have to want to play for us. I would like to think that he does. If he doesn't, then jog on.

In my mind, Lookman is a new signing this season. If he was owned and playing for Leipzig, banging in the goals, assisting, and playing with skill, he would be on all Premier League clubs' radar. Especially at his young age.

This season, he will have more maturity and more composure. He will improve his consistency levels on what he has shown the Everton fans so far.

In some respects, we should be thankful for Leipzig giving him that invaluable experience. Maybe we should be more disappointed if they didn't make an offer and want to sign him! But sorry, he is going nowhere.

Lookman is at the bottom of his upward trajectory and I am really looking forward to watching him play for us again. If I see his name on the team sheet, I will be more excited about any forthcoming game.

If I think about players who could make a difference against the top six sides, Ademola is one of ours I think has the mentality and talent to do it.

Tell Leipzig that SuperKev could do a job for them, and the fee would fit nicely into their pecuniary fantasies.

Amit, Ajay is obviously optimistic that these players go on to be top 6 quality. You obviously doubt that. If they are to do so, they need regular games and they need them now. If we can be brave enough to stick with a few quality youngsters and harness them all together then you can keep a side together just like Spurs did. Man Utd achieved greatness on the back of a great generation of kids.

Are ours good enough? Well five of them won the World Cup, the best one didn't go and another was a year too old. Why not give it a go?

Only if they take Bolasie.

Steve @ 54. If our benchmark for the coming season is "troubling most teams", we are back to thinking like the plucky underdog.

It is not an indictment of those players. It is an indictment of using this as a yard stick by which to measure how good (or not) a given bunch of players are.

My view is we need to aim to break the top 4. We can't get there signing Cenk, Theo and Gylfi. We can by signing and developing players who can be top 4 class. Identifying them early is the problem.

No way we should sell this gem. Very high hopes for him playing on opposite side to Walcott, the pace these two will provide and with goals will be invaluable.

Oh yeah, and fuck off with that bid, you cheeky fuckers.

No way should Lookman leave. End of.

No sale, we need to keep hold of this lad and play him on a regular basis. He can create chances and score goals. Add in his young age and we could have him around for years to come and also save us a fair few million quid along the way.

Worth keeping — where else would we get a great potential for £11 million?

Steve Ferns is absolutely right. It is very difficult to buy a team – Man Utd tried back in Atkinson's day and failed; Man City has had a few goes at it and it only worked eventually due to unlimited funds; Chelsea haven't managed to plug the gaps since their title win...

To my mind, we have to develop the youngsters whilst getting the spine of the team right. Pickford is clearly the best we could wish for in goal so we need a big dominating ball-attacking centre-back, a ball-winning centre-mid who can hopefully play a bit too, and a striker. Play the youngsters around that spine and they might develop into top-class players.

I think this could be the season that Dominic Calvert-Lewin blossoms. He has all the basics for me – apart from scoring when he should – but this is (as I have said many times) just what Sharp was like until Gray arrived and taught him the art of a centre-forward. Put the right team in place around him, get Ferguson working on him every day in training and I think he could be a terrific player.

I wonder if Callum Connolly could come through as a defensive midfielder? He played very well there last season on loan. Joe Williams is a possibility and Kieran Dowell must be given his chance in pre-season.

I'd love to see Antonee Robinson given a go at left-back – rather than splash a load of money on a Scottish player who has never played at this level – and use the cash for that Dave Watson style centre-back who would galvanise the rest of the defence.
Oh – and Seamus for skipper, please.

Let's be honest here: Lookman has potential and has had few chances at Everton but he has never looked anything other than a risk to be picked regularly for the first team.

Potential means nothing until it's turned into consistency; stringing together 10 games at a high level so he cannot be left out of the Everton first team should be his first target.

It's different playing in the Bundesliga than it is in the Premier League, so hopefully Lookman is hungry and wanting to show the new management team how much he has to offer Everton. Let's not forget, it wasn't only fat Sam who left him out.

He will receive credit and all that comes with it when he produces in an Everton shirt for me. This should be a great time for him at Everton but first he has to put in the performances as this is surely is his time.

As for the bid, it's nice others are interested in the talent we have but the door must remain firmly shut.

Thing is with Lookman, he was clearly unhappy with lack of game time under Koeman and that was made worse under Allardyce, who did the 'old school' shtick of 'drop down a league and learn your trade, sonny.'

So the real question is, why would he want to stay with us, especially after what seems like a happy spell at Leipzig?

Looks to me that this summer, either he'll be persuaded he's got a future here, or he'll be another wage off the books. As ever, my view is if they don't want to be here, let them go at a reasonable price.

I see Yarmolenko and Wilshere are both close to signing for West Ham and Lozano is off to Man Utd. There's 3 we can cross off the list.

Some people on here giving the German club a bit of stick for their opening offer for an unproven player with us. The German league is not as tough as the Premier League.

Why slag off a club looking for a bargain, or trying to take advantage of a player who may just have liked his time in Germany? Everton have been doing this for as long as we can remember – right?

Current flavour of the month, Pickford, will be ripped to pieces as soon as he says he wants to win things, play at the highest level, etc etc – just wait and see.

Is Tierney worth £25 million? Well probably, but he's not worth a starting wage of £75 grand a week – which I'm told is the stumbling block.

I have a feeling and Brands has warned us that many young players will get a chance this season and perhaps some that step forward, excel and surprise beyond our original expectations. With this in mind, there is surely a place for Lookman and also Vlasic in our starting line-up.

As for Robinson and Connolly etc, until you try them, how will they learn and show if they have what it takes?

Ralf Rangnick reckons "We're still in talks over Ademola Lookman - we want him back and he wants to come".

If that's true, then are Lookman and his agent going to go all Billy Big Bollocks and demand that he's given first team opportunities at Everton if he stays? I mean, all due respect to those above who seem to have seen Lookman playing like a modern Stanley Matthews, but all I've seen with my eyes is a kid with potential who loses the ball a lot. In fact, I wouldn't mind him being loaned out again, this time to a PL side, to get a bit more experience. Silva will make his own mind up - will he be dictated to by a squadie who was sent out on loan?

I dunno. I'd love him to stay just to see if he can actually make the step up, but if he really wants to go then let him go. £20m. Doubt if Leipzig will pay that though, so they can fuck off.

No more fucking loans! Get these lads and play them. Lookman is vital to our future, if we can't keep a good kid, who else is going to come here?

Red Bull are cheeky bastards. Crewe Alexander were a nursery club, not Everton. We buy and pay these players to use them. Just do it!

Dave,
You are right: it is difficult to buy a team... but it is even more difficult to build a team of inexperienced youngsters whose confidence may be crushed by monumental thrashings.

Man City and Chelsea have proved you have to buy success with Leicester being the only exception in over 25 years of the Premier League — and they didn't do it with youngsters or players they developed..

Generally speaking, we should only bring one or two youngsters into an experienced side IMO.

It is a chasm between U23 and the Premier League and would take exceptional youngsters to make the jump.