Reports: Lookman close to Leipzig move

And are we clever enough to include either a buy back or sell on fee?

In any case l hope he fulfils his potential and gets to play.

Doesn’t possess the application and consistency.

Would be a great five-a-side player but has never really been good enough to stake a serious claim.

He has lots of potential and I hope he fulfils himself.

Perhaps with Juventus splashing out this summer this money can be used wisely to get a player from them as they will need to off load. Kean makes a lot of sense albeit a risk.

It became so frustrating watching him on the ball, convinced he would do some magic. Never happened. At least we're making a profit in terms of transfer fees, but he has to go down as another in a long, long list of absolute failures.

I forgot, it is the Everton Way. "After you, sorry, excuse me, don't mean to offend, err, is that too much? How much have you got? That'll do, if you should make a few quid on this, keep us in mind. Hang on, you forgot your change. No, no take it, you could have had a night out on that in my day. No, no, it's only money..."

Inept, as usual. THEY WANTED HIM, ffs. Utterly amateur shite.

Wish him luck though and hope with a change of attitude he becomes a success at his new club. Fingers crossed we have a sell-on clause because he is talented

£22 million, a few sporadic shafts of light? Job done, cash the cheque!!

Sadly he has only shown glimpses of repeating that early promise, changes of Manager can not have helped either, but he never seemed at ease somehow, his body language seemed to signal his mind was somewhere else. Limited appearances can't have helped, but maybe there was a reason for those limited appearances, as I have mentioned many times we are never privy to what goes on at Finch Farm and behind closed doors.

I do wish him all the best, and he seemed to be happier when he went to the Bundesliga last year, Auf Wiedersehn Ade!

Strange one this, I genuinely can't figure out who's got the best out of this deal?? We have made a profit but only time will tell.

It's no use analysing it to death; I suppose the club has to start the movement of staff now. I, like many others on this site, have a faith in Brands that wasn't there for a long time.

Regardless, I hope he does well there and fulfills his potential. Good luck Ademola.

Robinson gone as well. This is good, starting to shift players for money. If they are age 19+ and aren't in consideration for the first 11 then ship them on. We've become a waste ground for some time now for rank average ‘young' players. I don't like it, it doesn't serve us in any way.

If we can move him and Bolasie on, and sign Malcolm that be a decent upgrade on the team.

Serious Fraud Office are investigating us on both counts I would imagine. Brands is in serious trouble.

I just hope I'm not left disappointed over the next few weeks. We still need another three quality first-teamers in. Just get the feeling it will probably go down to the wire like last season and our business will be done on Deadline Day.

Absolutely spot on

We paid £25 million for Bolasie, £12 Million for Niasse, £27 million for Tosun. I forget how much for Klaassen. Would you like to take this chance to reconsider your posts? Surely, please, surely, you might consider the possibility that we have been robbed here?

Lookman will be a top player. Any chance you might post a comment that we have robbed Leipzig? That we will celebrate this? The utterly jaw-dropping silliness of this sale makes me worry about our financial stability.

Yes a lot of his appearances were as a sub but how many matches did he impact? Look at them lot over the park: Gigi comes on and scores 2 v Barca. Divock scores in the final.

Can't even moan about Lookman's age. Look what Trent is doing. Or even our own Richarlison.

If we hung onto Lookman, it'd be in hope and I'd like to think we're a club beyond that.

Has anyone else noticed that this summer there has not been a media frenzy to get certain Everton players to other clubs? Even Richarlison's goal against Man Utd has not sparked the usual shit storm.

£22.5 million for a player that has never had consecutive good games? It's never going to work out for him at Everton. Four managers (?) haven't thought he was good enough but Andy from ToffeeWeb thinks we've had our pants pulled down and the board are inept.

As I said, no offence like.

This time next year, one of us will look like an utter fucking nob... If it is me, I will, hands up, write an apology. Will you do the same?
By the way, I am at an age when I will need to be reminded.

Tommy, this is not personal, I agree with much of your passionate stuff, but Tommy, you have got this one wrong.

If you add in the fee for Vlasic and the rumoured price of Onyekuru, you are looking at over £50M so maybe Steve Walsh wasn't that bad after all!

The powers that be clearly don't think he is ready or right for us, they don't think he will work out, and I suppose are therefore doing what they consider is a good deal for the club.

At some point I guess we have to have confidence that they know what is best in the circumstances. I am disappointed because I thought he might make it, but my main worry remains whether or not we can get a decent striker.

Seriously, Andy, I respect your view but can't find any basis to agree.

In short then - no, we ae not being ripped off - this is the best we can get.

He never appeared happy to be playing for us, so like any bad relationship, just move on.
A question, what do you think he's worth?

I hope he does well but what I will always remember about him is a kid that doesn’t know what to do with the ball. Seems to turn, run, turn again, run, turn, run... then lose the ball. I hope it all works out for him and he becomes the player he wants to be but right now I still consider him a talent but it’s whether he can knuckle down, realise his talent and push on from it. I think he needs more game time but the way the premier league is nowdays you can’t really afford passengers on the pitch. Maybe Germany he will be allowed to progress.

Best of luck to him. Buy back clause for 15million would be great though.

Best of luck to him.

If Gana goes also there better be some sexy signings before end of the Window or this will be a washout for me and progress will not follow

Another Good player gone none of the "deadwood" seem to be going anywhere by the way
Our energy would better be served getting some of the bums who are stinking the place out, off the books ,rather than the player that Silva himself called "the future" of the club

I am concerned.

When we pasted Arsenal at our place he came on for a cameo then was straight down the tunnel at the end.

His body language was always poor.

His work rate doesn't match Bernards or Walcott's though I do think he has better quality than both of them.

Take the money and go and buy a striker pity they don't want Mirallas as well.

Yes £22m for an unproven kid who apparently lacks desire in training, but on the other side of this coin he has the potential to become a worldie.

I'm one who believes Lookman will spend the majority of his career at Champions league clubs, he will be a player who got away, and with the right manager he could have went for double at some stage soon.

But if Silva wont play him, and Brands agrees it's best for him to go then quite simply we have to trust the men in charge.

I myself feel our hands have now been forced, I didnt want to sell Lookman but it's becoming increasingly obvious that we are not the club for him.

If I had to guess what the future holds I'd guess he will become a full time England international and play for a bigger club that the level we are currently at by the time he is 24.

I’ve no idea what things were like behind the scenes but he always looked a bit like a player whose heart was still in Leipzig last year.

If a player doesn’t want to be at your club then nine times out of ten you’ve got to sell them. A real shame as I think him and Vlasic could be real stars in 5 years time. Let’s hope we got some excellent sell on clauses!

Are you addressing me?

If so, I’m not sure I’ve stated that Lookman is shite.

Personally, I’ve seen enough of him in the flesh at Goodison to see that he isn’t getting better than what he already is.

Maybe that is the fault of coaches not using him in a way that suits him. Well if that is to the detriment of how Marco Silva wants his teams to play then it is goodbye and good luck.

Personally I don’t feel that we will regret this one. I’m not saying he’s shite, but will he be better than a forward player in our starting XI come January? I think not. I think we can do better. That’s all

As for Robinson, I think he’s moved to a level that suits him. He’s capable of becoming a decent premier league full back, no more than that. Certainly nowhere near a level of a peak Leighton Baines, or even Lucas Digne currently.

Brent at #48 puts it very simply and very accurately for me, so thanks Brent.

I like to be pragmatic, at the expense of romance when it comes to football. I’d love more than anyone for one of these 21-24 year olds we have on our books to suddenly become a phenomenon, or even capable of playing first team football consistently at EFC to a good standard. But your eyes don’t generally fail you. And unless someone is seeing something I’m not, has seen it (it’s happened) with these players then all I see are a bunch of players who do occasionally well on loan spells at lesser clubs in lesser competitions and then absolutely do not perform for Everton when given minutes on the pitch.

However I accept the argument that he was never happy but I really believe this kid is going to haunt us. On the face of it seems good business for what he's actually produced but I was hoping that this season he would be given a real chance.

I do understand the clubs position though but there is so much dross that needs sold before Lookman. I believe in a few years the tone of toffee web will be much different on this kid.

But if true good business as all in all Molas heart, has not really been in it, in my view.

Good luck to him in Germany and the future, hopefully we can move and bring some strikers in soon..

For me he never seemed to have his heart set on Everton.

Have a look at his body language when we turned Leipzig down, then have a look at Gauye when we turned Psg down last season, one gave his all, the other had a face liked a smacked arse.

No use keeping a player if his heart is not in the club.

Gauye may well leave as well, but at least he gave his all when he had the Everton shirt on.

Might well do a job in Germany, but his heart just was not at Everton.

Delph has come in for a not sure, but he will be a decent leader on the pitch and in the dressing room.

They are the players I want, battlers, giving their all for the fans and the team, players that will give that extra when needed.

Good bit of business if you ask me for the price of Gomes.

If Delboy with us was a show pony, this kid was a mannequin.

He wanted away. Leipzig wanted him. We got a good price for someone never going to make it in the Prem. Everybody happy.

Whether it is down to his attitude or whatever, three different managers have seen something we do not know about.

Should really have sold last year and let the lad go when he wanted. Sale now best for both sides I think as he clearly wants to leave and go back to Leipzig.

Another £22m very welcome to the coffers I imagine.

Silva would explain in an interview in March 2019 that the young winger had not been showing enough in terms of desire on an ongoing basis at Finch Farm and that was a contributory factor in his lack of gametime.

”We know what his quality is and you know I believe in his quality since the first day I saw him, so it has to be same Lookman everyday with the same desire everyday,” the Portuguese told the Liverpool Echo. “He needs to understand what the coach wants coming from him, and any winger in our model, because, after that, the quality he has. He is a young football player but, being honest with you, I expect Ademola to be on a different level already this season.

“I keep believing, 100%, in his quality as a football player, there are no doubts about that, but what I want to see coming from him is the same desire coming from him, each day, to achieve that, to reach that level he wants and the level I believe he can play at."

Good luck to the young millionaire.

But that might be because the only club wanting to buy him were in the Bundesliga which isn't as flush as the PL.

I am saddened he wanted to leave but, as others have said, he struggled to get game time under 3 coaches and Silva was perfectly happy to give DCL opportunities...

Sir Alex Ferguson developed the moving bus philosophy at Man Utd. Those incapable of keeping up got left behind.

Like Deulofeu, and McFadden, Lookman will never be a world beater if he can't get his mind right. A mid-table Le Tissier who flatters to deceive.

Unlike Christiano Ronaldo who (no matter the club) diets, trains and plays with the passion of a 1000 virgins on date night.

Each year we have potential to be something more, and each year we get held back by players who echo the same.

Time to leave potential and hand-holding at the kiddies table and get our bus moving.

Lookman's departure will leave a seat (I hope) for someone who fights for it.

Having said the above, if he'd shown us more that just the flashes he did, EFC would have forgiven him his shortcomings.

I would actually take Bernard over him for his overall contribution and attacking ability. I believe we'll see a lot more out of Bernard next season.

Take the Lookman money and run!

What you said!!

Lookman will never become a week in, week out, top Premiership player,

An excellent piece of business; money in and a waste of space off the payroll.

That's all well and good, the moving bus etc etc... but it makes the assumption we have something better in his (or Gana's) place, As Fergie would have had the finances to replace potential with quality. We may end up with a bus full of deadwood at this rate.

Walcott??? A washed-up Arsenal reject whos career is long over. I actually think Silva was negligent in picking him ahead of the likes of Lookman on too many occasions last season.

I hope you are right in your assumption but I am starting to doubt.

1. I'm hoping we keep Gana as his attitude, body language and professionalism is better than Lookman's.

2. I trust Marcel Brands to bring in Malcom or another quality, young player who has a point to prove to replace Lookman.

3. We got our business going a little late last year. Marcel did extremely well with who he brought in. I'm expecting him to do the same this window.

4. Silva stated that Lookman worked hard only 50% of the time in training. Hate to say it but shit or not Walcott possibly gave more.

I think Ed is right. He wanted to move and engineered it with his attitude. We have quality in our team. Marcel will add to it and we will move forward.

But I am very concerned that we seem to be selling our promising talent, not selling our overpaid flops, and bringing more deadwood in with the likes of Delph!!

I'm very disappointed with our transfer business so far, except for the Gomes deal. I would hope to see Mirallas, Walcott and Niasse gone before the window closes.

Goes on loan to Leipzig, scores 5 in 11 appearances and they've been chasing him ever since and a season later land the man. Why couldn't our coaching staff get that out of him? Lookman, Onyekuru, Bowler all go out on loan to improve while we are reported to be chasing other widemen. How does it go, "In M&M we trust!"

Young players are supposed to go out on loan, if they are not getting enough game time for their own team, and Everton are reportedly in for everyone, so it’s probably anyone’s guess, who we will actually end up signing?

Why do you keep referencing Levy? What has he got to do with us? He's not chairman or majority shareholder and he probably wouldn't have got much more out of Leipzig.

The fact is, this kid has been given chances and not taken them. I see him at Everton as an impact player – someone to bring on when the game is stretched and defenders are tiring. We've got a good price for him and, as someone earlier said, there's hardly been a clutch of clubs queuing up to buy him.

Oh, and the kid needs to smile a bit more as well – he looks to be one miserable git. He might be more talented than say Calvert-Lewin but that lad would die for Everton and you can see what it means to him to play for us.

Take it from me, he won't be missed. One senior goal to his name says it all.

One your first sentence,Tony, how then would you see the comments above as I see a lot of frothing over the incoming Delph but just good riddance to Lookman who did seem to thrive during his short time at Leipzig, not that it seems to have done him any good on his return.

We ask for more firepower well Lookman’s return wasn’t going to be the answer with a low input like that.

Subs appearances or not, players have had a good impact from the bench over the years, Victor Anichebe was always good for a goal so too was the likes of Steven Naismith.

Lookman didn’t offer the same kind of threat, ran down blind alleys with not enough at the end of them.

What it does do however it tells us that if we are getting £22 million for a player that’s contribution was near zero , then if one of the worlds richest clubs in PSG do come back for Gana then they quickly need telling its well in excess of £50 million pounds of we don’t even talk!

The problem is, previously they were given long contracts on good money.

To move them on we therefore need clubs that want them and are willing to offer them either long contracts on similar money or even longer contracts with less money.

In short, those players are going nowhere until either their current contracts expire or we find clubs that have a set up similar to the Walsh / Koeman system of football management.

I'm not holding my breath.

We get £20M+ for a player who didn't even start 5 matches last season and didn't want to be here. People are saying its a poor fee but we got Gomes for £26M so for me its a fair price.

I just hope that there is a sell on fee so if he does become the next English superstar in the Bundesliga worth £75M we at least get a percentage when red Bull sell him on.

One thing it does flag up though, is the danger of loaning a young player out to a decent club in a different league. If they do well, can it turn their head and leave them unwilling participants in the Everton squad when they return?

Scoring 5 goals 2 years ago in Germany against bottom half sides (2 of which were against Wolfsburg who were 2nd bottom) doesn't justify what he produced during the 600 minutes he played for us last season, and the fact the manager had to go public about his lack of effort in training.

5 starts in league and Fa cup. 1 goal and 2 assists.

Walcott by contrast got 24 starts with 5 goals and 2 assists.

Its a shame he didn't get more of a run in the team but as has been said above it seems likely he did not do enough on the training pitch to earn it.

I've never really rated him, but that's I guess more to do with him barely playing. He has talent, but some players just don't fit at a club and he's always felt like one of those players.

Also, I just read that his full name is Ademola Lookman Olajade Alade Anfield Aylola Lookman, and the obvious part of that name is enough to get rid of him anyway!

We won't miss him, harsh as it sounds.

I view the comments, or most of the comments, as a mixture between sensible, and irrational, and had a post removed which claimed it was just a usual thread on T/W, with a mixture of under and overwhelming views.

It's all personal opinions Alan J, and whilst you seem to think loads on here are bitter, my own definition is that some people don't think enough before writing sometimes, possibly because they are on a website that is only generally used by Evertonians.

I'm happy we've signed Delph, and I'm sad to see Lookman go, but I don't think he will look back fondly on his time at Goodison, once he'd got his debut goal out of the way. So, for that reason, I think it's a good move for everyone.

Shame it hasn't worked out, wrong timing or perhaps wrong club. But £10 million profit on a squad player is a decent return.

He is the same age as Richarlison and has yet to look anything more than a decent impact sub to me.

I will have a bottle of wine bet with anyone who chooses?

Did EFC try with Lookman? I'm sure they did... but it never looked likely that the promise we bought would be seen at Goodison, though it was in Germany. Maybe Germany suits him better, who knows?

A sell-on clause must have been included; otherwise, we have been very naive as he will surely succeed in Germany and, when he does, Leipzig will more than double their money.

At the present time we got better value for £22m with Gomes and the present is all that counts.

Anyway, moving on, he just never quite seemed to fit in for whatever reasons despite showing early promise. Let's hope for some exciting, quality, additions soon.

He is extremely skillful, wonder-kid style feet.

Davy Klaassen has done pretty well (and he would have captained Ajax to the Champions League semis) had he been there last season.

If he goes, he departs without having been given barely fair chance at all. And at that price, the sell-on clauses should be 30%-plus or we are mugs.

I don't know if you were joking or not but I don't think Lookman will be worth anything like £100 million in 3 years time, not every young player is going to be astronomically great!

I remember about four years back hearing that Ross Barkley would be an international class world beater — he's hardly cracked on since 2015, arguably not even the player he was back then.

I highly doubt that he will ever be worth £100 million... however I can guarantee that he'd never be worth that whilst at Everton.

Marcel: "Well, we got him for £7.5M with add-ons and none of those have been triggered. He has 2 years left on his contract. We have a number of choices because I cannot see any chance of him signing a new contract in the next 24 months unless we massively overpay him. So we could do that - but that would be stupid.

"We could let him run out his contract - which could be even more stupid. We could play him every week and hope he does come good, but I think that is a risky strategy and could hurt the team in terms of results.

"The other alternative is we take the money now. That gives us £20+ million, £15m profit, keeps Mr Moshiri happy and gives me some opportunities to improve the team. Shall I go and talk to RB Leipzig?"

I guess Brands/Silva have their hopes pinned on either Kean or Leao but I predict we may regret not going for Haller. Big, strong, hard working, intelligent and knows where the net is. Could have been the striker to tie everything together and there are not a lot of those out there!

I hope he does well and I will follow his progress, it will be interesting to see if we have a sell on or buy back clause. As he has so much talent as he gets older and tougher he will become a lot better. In 2-3 years time we could be ruing this decision if we don't have a clause.

Silva clearly expected more from him in training than he was prepared to give and Phil #114 sums it up nicely. Take the money and invest in someone who wants to be here. Lookman never seemed happy to me!

Defenders of Lookman don't see him as a certain starter and we can all see he needs to improve the ugly side of the game but he offers something unique and will be more effective in the Deulofeu role. Koeman liked him but he was very raw at that stage so his lack of games is understandable, Fat Sam wouldnt have played Messi at that age and you could see that Silva wanted him to succeed but perhaps Mola was just too unsettled.

As much as I like our manager he said he would try to make him happy to get the best out of him. When Mola played he often did well and then was benched and not even the preferred sub.

With regards to attitude and Walcott being better defensively, you could see that no doubt Theo is the more wily and carried out the coaches instructions better but even after a game where Walcott chickened out of a challenge and downed tools like I rarely have seen from a player of ours, Theo was retained.

I wouldn't have played him for a month and this should have been a chance for Mola. For over half a season both Bernard and Walcott were poor but they kept getting chances yet Lookman showed he could be an asset yet got a few minutes here and there. Even when he changed a few games there was no carrot and he was quickly jettisoned... I don't think you can put that down to poor attitude.

Listen, if a player wants to go, show him the door but I still don't think he was handled all that well and understandable he was a little disillusioned.

I will judge the Window at the end however am very concerned we are letting a very promising player go for the price of a couple of months wages of the average hanger-on in the club, And my point stands the moving bus analogy relies on there being somebody of better quality (or at least access thereof) waiting to take the vacant seat, this is not the case in either Gana or Lookman in my opinion thus far.

It is more concerning to me that Walcott, a Fat Sam signing if ever there was one (hey, run fast and that will keep the crowd on your side) is not unpacking his bag in the MLS and you should be too.

If you want a washed-up Walcott who will work hard in training well no problem, I honeslty didn't like Silva's point about Lookman not trying in training (this is pub manager stuff for me) what he does on the pitch when it counts is ALL that matters end of story.

Ed's opinion is just, that an opinion, we do not know what is going on behind close doors and is unfair to say the lad engineered anything.

Thanks.

To be honest if we could have transferred Walcott for the same money and got his wages off the books it would have been better for me.

What’s done is done, and Brands seems to be slowly but surely balancing the books, even though some of the deadwood will be near impossible to get shut of.

We as supporters play no part in transfer negotiations, which is just as well in my opinion, [when you read the names being bandied about.] There are I would imagine, obstacles to overcome. Does the player's club want to sell? If so, what price do they want for him? Are we prepared to pay that price? Does the player wish to sign for us?, and other, somewhat minor details.

I have to place my trust in the ability of the management to secure players of quality, my role as a supporter is to "support".

I really hoped he would take over from Walcott, and Walcott could be free to join Newcastle or somewhere of the sorts.

For me our current forwards only Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Bernard inspire any confidence. Hopefully Malcom, or someone of his ilk will come in, and one more too.

If Walcott and Tosun are still part of the first team come August, I'll be disappointed.

Personally, I feel we missed a good opportunity with Che Adams, he'd have been a good addition as back-up/competition striker.

He just never seemed to be fully trusted to work hard enough for the team, which you simply can't have in an 11-man game. Having talent is one thing, having work rate and a team ethic is quite another. There are many players in world football with bags of ability who never reach the heights because they don't put in the effort. The very best players also have work rate to go with their skill.

Walcott may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for a manager he works hard and tracks back. Same with Bernard on the other side. Lookman rarely did that.

As for the talk of Haller - I read somewhere that he's "the rich mans Carlton Cole".

Still, he did well when he was last at Red Bull Leipzig and hopefully he can continue the form that he had when he was on loan there. I wish him all the best.

If £22.5 million is what we get for him, then that's good business for us and hopefully that will be used towards signing a quality striker.

Perhaps he prefers lederhosen.

Hello Jim,

You've got some fond memories of Anichebe there, I believe though that you might be looking back through rose tinted glasses.

He was with us for 9 seasons and averaged 2 goals per season in the Premier League, but it has to be conceded Lookman's record is even worse.

I'm not really one for stats although I recall Anichebe playing quite a big part in then UEFA Cup run in 2007-08 when he scored at Kharkiv, Nurnberg, Brann and Larissa I think.

He also weighed in with about 7/8 goals in Moyesies last season, couple of winners at West Brom and Newcastle.

Lookman comes on as a sub and to be honest, again, he's just Danny Cadamarteri without the goals (and old Danny boy was hardly prolific).

I don't know if fans want to believe that just because players are a certain age now they must eventually turn out world class, but in most of the young lads we've sold on, they just haven't been much at all.

Barkley has regressed, Rodwell, Vaughan, Jeffers etc etc.

There's only Rooney that's really made a monumental career for himself.

The only difference that I have to earlier posters is that I couldn't give a shiny shit what or how he does in Germany.

I don't know on what day of the week RB Leipzig (who nobody knew until recently) have become a bigger draw than Everton. Premier League stalwarts. Richest league in the world. If a player thinks they are, then fair play, get yourself over there and we will find a replacement.

With respect to the fee, only time will tell I think, just like it did when we sold Lescott, Rodwell and Lukaku for astronomical over the top fees.

One thing somebody else pointed out on Twitter today, if this is lad is so good, a young English talent that does usually come at a premium, why have no other suitors come to light? It is because they know his attitude stinks? Just a thought.

Sam, Haller is a very good forward. Much of an all rounder. I'd rank his style and ability similar to Salomon Rondon. I think he'll be around the 8-12 goal a season mark. I don't rate him any more highly than Rondon.

I don't think we have missed out on too much here. He wouldn't give us much more than what Calvert-Lewin is capable of giving us.

On that basis I think Brands and Silva are aiming at a level above that. Another 15-20 goal a season ‘forward' not necessarily a striker.

I'm comfortable with this. As £45m is still a lot of money.

To the other post who thinks Lookman will be an England international soon. My opinion only; he will never play a full international for England

Sad it never worked out, but he just didn't fit into our team so best cash out now while we can.

If he goes on to be a superstar, so what? He ain't doing it here...

Three full seasons football and the subsequent transfer window for the 4th season.

I will have a Malbec please! ;-)

Millwall away in the Cup and Southampton away in January.

Two games which were tailor made for him to showcase this so-called talent and try and take the game by the scruff of the neck but he just didn’t do anything in either and his application was equally disappointing.

That was probably it for Silva too I’m guessing.

Since we probably need to keep the ledger balance this year after two seasons of splurging, it only makes more sense.

Best of luck to him anyway.

As for attitude? Mirallas and Schneiderlin are still playing despite their complete lack of professionalism in the past. We read a lot into Lookman's ‘sulky' facial expression and body language, then condemn him for his attitude despite no evidence that he has ever said or done anything incorrect in his time with us. Meanwhile, senior pros who have treated this club and fans with complete disrespect still get picked. No wonder he is keen to join Leipzig.

Retaining Walcott and selling Lookman confirms this club is still some way off from having a coherent footballing strategy.

Totally agree, especially that Millwall game with the weather conditions. A tricky little fresh player straight of the bench like him should have should have ran riot against a pub team and won free kicks etc, instead he just got rid of the ball.

The Premier League is the toughest league in the world, especially the physical side, just look at the way Sandro and Klaassen shied away.

He's gone to the Bundesliga which to me except for Bayern and a few others looks to be about the same standard as our Championship without the physical side.

This is a smart move by Lookman.

Jagielka
Williams
Robinson
Vlasic
Charsley
Lavery
Lookman (shortly)
Galloway

Plus on loan:

Virginia
Garbutt*
Tarashaj*
Kenny
Dowell
Sandro
* never to return

So that is 14 out with 3 in. Net reduction of 10 from the 38. But we still have to shift Martina, Pennington, Bolasie, Mirallas, Niasse, Tosun, Besic, Onyekuru and McCarthy. Nine more. But that still leaves us with well over 20 plus the Under-23s. Obviously if all the above go we'd need at least two forwards and a winger, plus a centre-back.

I personally wouldn't put Kenny in that list, I think club also are giving him time.

£45m is a lot of money but if Haller scores gets around 10-15 goals a season and another 5 assists (and I think he will) it will be money well spent.

If we can find a 15-20 goal striker who offers the same work rate and front line defending as Calvert-Lewin then I will be more than happy. Perhaps Silva thinks thats what Leao or Kean are (or could be) but both are pretty raw. Time will tell but I think Haller would have been a strong addition to our squad.

Agreed. I forgot they also shifted Browning in January. There was an interesting article yesterday about Everton being one of the teams using what amounts to a dating app for transfers. Cuts out agents and middle men and hooks up clubs seeking certain skill sets with clubs looking to sell or loan players. They have an event tied to the app hosted at Chelsea today with Everton listed as one of the clubs participating. From what I read, seems Everton are utilizing more to offload than to buy but it shows some more forward thinking at the club and embracing technology which is good.

I disagree around poor management. I think it's more about finances. We have a huge wage bill and an 8th placed team. In order to improve we have to spend money to get better players all of which adds to the wage bill. They are making pragmatic decisions to sell the likes of Robinson and Lookman who otherwise may see their contracts expire before they ever establish themselves. If money was no object I'd wager we would have kept these players but it's a matter of the here and now taking precedence over one possible future outcome.

I don't think that Silva wants to rely on his central striker for goals. I think he wants his central striker to do a lot more than what meets the eye and I think he's happy that Calvert-Lewin can do the job he wants for the team.

I'm not so sure I'd bite anybody's hand off for a 25-year-old Salomon Rondon nor Haller as he is now. My point being, they are both very good strikers. But are they Champions League quality? I'm not so sure.

I know we only have Calvert-Lewin now but I think Silva and Brands want to identify and sign a Champions League quality forward player. So, if we sign Haller, it leaves £45M less in the coffers to go out and get that player.

If he is the best that Silva and Brands realistically thought we could get, I expect a bid may have gone in.

On another note, West Ham have done very good business by bringing in Pablo Fornals. I'm more sorry we missed the boat with this player who I think will raise many an eyebrow in the 2019-20 season.

I agree Silva wants his strikers to do more and that's why I'm surprised we were not in for Haller who, as well as a very healthy goal return, has 12 assists in 30-odd starts. He's a very hard-working player who gives a lot to his team-mates. I think he might be as close to Champions League ready striker material as we are likely to get. Sounds like we are going more down the 'potential' route which I am not averse to. I'll be much happier if we get Kean or Leao!

Yes, I like Fornals a lot. I think he may take a while to adapt but looks a really good player, I think he may prove a better player than Gomes in the long run. West Ham have done some excellent business in the last few years with the likes of Anderson, Diop, Fornals and Haller. I expect them to challenge us a lot more next season.

Brands seems to like targeting fringe players at big clubs as representing good value. If he could get Arias for £8-£12M, then think he could be a bargain option to push Coleman.

Nah, Mina has already tapped up his other mate Cuadrado, according to the Echo.

Indeed.

Add Yarmolenko to that list who, as we well know, is an incredibly talented player and now back fit after a long lay-off.

For me, Felipe is the best player in the league outside of the Top 4.

Marcel: "The Deadwood? Who are the Deadwood?"

Marco: "Well, Mr Moshiri said that Jim said they were the likes of Cenk, Belgian Kev, Jimmy Mc, Morgan, Yannick, Oumar and Mo Besic."

Marcel: "I love the fact our supporters are never satisfied. It is as though they think I have ignored trying to shift these guys. Do they not realise that you also need a buyer for each one of these? How many of our supporters would change jobs to take a pay cut so they are not going to want to just go when it is so cushy here?"

Marco: "Exactly!"

Marcel: "We might just have to bite the bullet on most of these. Three will be out of contract next summer, three the summer after... so I think if we can get them off the books as loans covering some of the wages, it may the best we can do. After all, if you were still at Watford, how many of them would you want me to try and buy?"

Marco: "Good question. One perhaps, but no idea which one... I'm joking. So who are we going to buy with all the money we now have?"
Marcel: "Ah, now that is an interesting question. I have been talking to... Actually can we do this elsewhere? I do have suspicions we may be being overlooked or overheard."

Wasn't Lovejoy in "Deadwood"? Surely we could recruit him with his antique wheeling-dealing skills to offload some of these?

There is zero chance of that happening. The guy has his pick of Champions League clubs, anywhere in Europe he wants to go.

Based on the evidence of the final 10 games, who would be dropped to make way for Lookman? Would it have upset the balance of the team? Both Silva and Brands appear to have a long term strategy which means buying players who will fit the system, or younger players who they believe they can mould to the system.

I suspect buying Delph means that Gueye will almost certainly leave. Will Delph be as effective, who knows, but we should remember that Gueye was bought by Villa to replace Delph when he went to Man City so whilst not identical they can play very similar roles. This again appears to follow the strategy of buying players who fit the system.

I am sure Brands would like to get rid of more of the deadwood but as has been said repeatedly getting rid of players who are on long lucrative contracts is very difficult. Selling "fringe" players like Robinson and Lookman whilst appearing to be going against the strategy of having younger hungrier players, is probably more driven by the fact that we cannot offload all the deadwood as we would wish and the need to generate funds to continue building a better team.

Other than possibly Gueye (which I hope we don't do) we are not selling any "dead cert" first-team players and the players Brands is bringing in are better than those they are replacing. Brands will not get everything right but so far he has made many more right decisions than wrong ones so I think we should trust his judgement on Lookman and see if the monies generated by his sale provide us with another quality "dead cert" first-team player.

Money talks. It is Brands’ job to make these deals happen. Nothing more, nothing less

Robinho didn’t even know he was signing for Man City when he went there. But they got the deal done. As did Middlesbrough with Ravanelli, a champions league winning international striker in the very peak of his career no less.

I hope Marcel Brands doesn’t rule anybody out. We got Yerry Mina last year when Mourinho was trying to convince the Manchester United Board to bring him in.

Whilst others don’t make their move, it is upto EFC to bring these players in.

Lookman's tenure at Goodison has always struck me as suspicious. Why would anyone of his background be so insistent on a (loan) move to Leipzig? It wouldn't surprise me if Leipzig is just an intended stepping stone...

Now, who in the Premier League have had dealings with Leipzig? Give him a year or so and expect to see him playing in an all red strip... and I don't mean Bayern Munich.

He's not good enough to play for them. This is the post of a fantasist.

German clubs have capitalised on the fact that talented young English players are not getting enough chances at Premier League level. The stakes, financially are too high now with TV revenue that most clubs in this country feel that experience is what is needed. If experienced players come in and fail then a scouting network or director of football can be blamed.

If a manager has the guts to pick players from the youth team then it is his decision and his alone. If he fails, he is getting the bullet and possibly ruining his reputation for future jobs.

How many players have the likes of Pulis or Allardyce ever brought through the ranks? Very few. But the phone always rings when a job is available.

In Germany, the attitude is very different. Particularly in the last 15 years following their exit from Euro 2004 when a seismic shift occurred in developing young players.

All they are doing now is identifying talent in England that is not being used. So if Lookman is a better option than the German equivalent that is available then they simply dangle the carrot of first team football and exposure to the large powerhouse German clubs and bring in the better player.

Is very simple, nothing complicated to it. No cloak and dagger, just simple basic sense.

I'm not too fussed about Lookman because I think he has been given enough chances to show what he is about and frankly I'm not that impressed. He was never given a multitude of starting eleven opportunities but I never did see anything in his substitute appearances nor rare starts that made me feel he warranted an extended run in the first Team just so we could see if he had it or not.

For my final thoughts, he gave the impression once he went to Germany, he already made his mind up, even had he played more games, I doubt he would have signed a new contract, his body language to me is he manufactured his move and has finally got what he wanted, to play in Germany.

If you look at our other youngsters, Stones, Barkley etc, the top clubs in the premiership were onto them.

Interesting only Leipzig enquired about him.

And finally in 3 seasons at Everton, he only appeared for the under 23s on 3 occasions, 1 appearance each season.

Even Davies, an established first teamer is well over double figures over the last few seasons.

Unsworth does a terrific job for the youngsters, does it not tell you anything that in 3 seasons, he has only turned out for Unsworth team on three occasions.

Like I say we never get to see what goes on in training, if 4 managers are reluctant to give him regular game time then something is not right.

Perhaps, Brands is being ruthless. If Everton are on a trajectory to win the league, is he good enough, or should I say, will he be good enough? I don't think so. He's had moments, but never more than that.

So being ruthless, maybe Brands is looking at him, and seeing players like Neres who are only a year older and so much better and thinking he should cash in and sign better.

If we get £23m for him and sign Neres or Malcolm, then i'll be made up. Ademola who?

However, if we sign no one of note, and Lookman rips it up in Germany, then Brands will be under pressure.

At Everton we love a trier and Lookman simply didn't do enough.

Both Silva and Brands wanted to build the future of our club around this boy a year ago. They refused to sell him as they believed in him and were willing to invest in his future. He had the backing of everyone, and the world at his feet so what went wrong?

After seeing him play and train almost every day (away from the communities eyes) for 10 months Silva changed his flipping mind and leaked to the world that he only gave 50%.

Not conjecture... Fact based on the opinions of the manager, coaching staff and very possibly his fellow team mates. Further, he no longer makes the grade as to what Marcel requires at the club. They have given up on him for reasons that you haven't grasped yet.

A player of his natural ability should have forced his way into a very poor Everton team. Like R Kelly, Silva was fighting for his life but still didn't trust the kid to come good. When he did come on... what did he actually do?

I'm still waiting for you to remind me of that epic moment that a fully fit, injury free, professional footballing wonder kid took the game and his chance by the scruff of the neck and led us to victory. Like your argument... it doesn't exist.

On a lesser note read my previous posts. I don't want Walcott to stay any more than you do. Stop using him as leverage to your argument. It's pointless.

I want our Lookman replacement to be a mean, pacy, skillfull, hungry Son Of a Bitch. Hopefully with part of the Lookman money we will find him.

I wish you and the lad well. Enjoy your evening.

The following link is an indication of German football culture and how well supported their clubs are, can you image this happening over here?

https://schalke04.de/en/inside-en/fc-schalke-04s-2019-agm-round/

It's a very unfair comparison.

I've never been to an AGM, but I seem to recall anyone could go until recently, that is until Billy from the Boys Pen decided they were a bit too boisterous and in his wisdom banned everyone (who might disagree with him)?

I might be wrong here, please correct me if I am, but we never achieved the attendances of the Schalke AGM.

Players with potential is a 'nice to have' as a succession plan when you are achieving and winning things, like Foden at Man City for example. We may have one or two with Calvert-Lewin and Davies who are prepared to be patient and learn and might come good longer term hopefully, but to get £22m plus for a 'maybe' player, I'd take the money every day of the week and go and buy quality.

Fair play to the lad for not wanting to be patient and wanting to play but I don't buy the 'he never got a chance' stuff, part of becoming a top player is earning the right to play and clearly the lad hasn't done that.

And Neil I'll take your bet also about him being worth £100m in 3 years ;-)

Before he banned ordinary supporters, ie, non-shareholders, Kenwright, as owner and Chairman, was asked a lot of awkward questions, ones that needed an honest answer. This didn't sit well with the chairman, so he banned non shareholders.

I doubt I will be going to anymore, although I do have the option through a Red fan, who is an Everton shareholder.

By all means call me a fantasist, but at least wait until the dust has settled on his career. I take your point about German clubs, which is very well reasoned, but in this case, my instincts just tell me otherwise.

The reason why you say he isn't good enough for the filth is based on his lacklustre performances for us, and on that premise, I'll remind you of Abel Xavier – you must remember his treacherous performance in a blue shirt against the RS shortly before he joined them.

Agreed, my conspiracy theory is somewhat more convoluted in this case, but I would draw your attention to the list of clubs that he was linked to: Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Leipzig – all of them have strong transfer connections to the RS.

I hope I am a delusional fantasist, but something still tells me that we are being duped... and let's face it, it wouldn't be the first time... I do hope you're right.

I love Everton Football Club and I try to be passionate and reasoned in my postings.

Tim @ 188 is another who seems to have taken great offence at my doubts over the multi-faceted transfer scenario he speculates about. Just my opinion.

I appreciate the supporting point about Abel Xavier. However, rather than provide any clarity about the workings of such a transfer, it only makes it all the more arbitrary.

Abel Xavier was brought into our club when we were in a state of financial dire straits. The 99/00 season when he joined, I’d say he quickly became one of my favourite players. He had an excellent Euro 2000 championship in a wonderfully talented Portugal Team. He was versatile, being competent at CB and RB. He also did a job in midfield on occasion.

He was more than good enough to play for the RS. In my opinion, of course

We still need 10 or more to go, but there moving on at a decent pace.

Gana will be next though, which is a shame, but Silva is starting to get the squad down to what he wants.

If you are a Southampton fan, I bet when you look back over highlight reels of the club there are fewer featuring Jim Magilton and many more featuring Le Tissier.

I let the coaches and managers worry about work-rate, team balance and whether "players put a shift in".

Lookman produced flashes of brilliant skill often coming on as sub and did make game changing contributions in a period (I seem to recall a cross for DCL to nod in that give us an important win at home against Palace last season; also his part in the equaliser in the FA Cup at Anfield under Fat Sam as 2 examples off the top of my head).

Sadly his impact faded as last season went on; we saw less and less of his flashes of brilliance. Pity.

However, personally I prefer to see more not less of these types of players and I shall be very sorry to see him go. I wish we could have nurtured him.

He is not a work horse. We have plenty of those.

It has taken quite a while for Raheem Sterling to develop into an Internationally acclaimed striker. I honestly believe that given time, opportunity and the right level of coaching, Lookman will eventually achieve similar status. It is folly for us to consider his sale.

Gaza was great in one game, alas it was against Exeter City in the FA Cup, saw Ginola put a great centre in that produced nothing, that's all I remember from their time here.

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/07/19/reinier-jesus-carvalho-starts-following-everton-on-instagram/

What would Levy have got for him? More than this. My night is ruined. Honest to God, I fucking despair.

While I agree he perhaps should have had more game time, we do not know what was going on at Finch Farm, maybe Silva saw something, that he would only play him as a last resort. At the end of the day Andy, if a player's heart isn't with the team, it's time to move on.

Market forces dictate a player's worth (generally) and with him not playing as regular for us there would have been a limit, and Leipzig knew what he could do for them, so basically wish the lad all the very best.

Loan him out for the season but do not sell!

He's a cross between Richarlison and Bernard. Still needs to improve the team mentality but he's talented and exciting to watch.

Just like with Vlassic we seem to be selling the diamonds cheaply before there polished.

Instead we give game time to Schnides, to Mirrallis, to Niasse who have no future, no potential and who can not be polished any further.

If the owner is going to bank roll us for 10 years and we don't need the money and can afford to buy who we want I'd still be disappointed but could understand it.

In fact why don't we throw £80M to Chelsea for Zouma and just get business done.

He has got talent but obviously his ego is ahead of his ability.

We can put £20m to better use than an impact sub who didn't make an impact.

And also who knows who we are going to sign in the next couple of weeks? I haven't a clue. We need goals to be successful. It looks like all teams are sending out feelers and will finally make moves with a day or two to go. I've lost count of the forwards we are supposed to be after. Then there's the 5, 6, 7 players we need to get off the wage bill... and the impact it will have on who we can afford.

It will also be interesting what happens to Bale. £550 grand a week. Not bad is it.

"Charlton stand to profit from highly-rated young forward Ademola Lookman's next move after agreeing a clause guaranteeing them a percentage of any fee Everton receive for the 19-year-old."

Charlton could profit from Ademola Lookman £10m Everton move again after agreeing sell on clause

In the future:

Manager of Leipzig: Ademola, Everton have triggered your buy back Clause, Marcel Brands is here to discuss terms for you to return to Everton.

Ademola Lookman: tell them to eff off!

So what good is a buy back clause? And why does everyone mention it on every sale like we’re Barcelona or Real Madrid?

Good luck to him, maybe he will work harder on his all round game.

Good luck to him, but no tears shed here. It’s good business all things considered.

We have more than doubled our money on a player who didn't want to be here and contributed zilch when he had the, albeit limited, chances.

All round a good deal for a player who will never, in a month of Sundays, be a top Premier League player.

He's stalling on his contract because he wants to go to Bayern.

We have to back the people making these decisions to get it right. If we are here on August 9th and we haven't added a Centre Back, Striker and a wide man, then we can ask questions, but until then can we try and be positive because are negativity just provides are neighbours with more to beat us with.

Now we're selling him for £16m rising to £22.5m for a player that has done absolutely nothing for us. Good business. Good luck to him.

This applies on here, Facebook, all other social media and real life.

As with most Transfer Windows despite wanting to get business concluded early, it all boils down to the bigger players in the 'game' who leave things to the last few days, then one big transfer triggers a chain reaction.

Then it's madness for a last minute scramble!

One year left on his contract, insists onLeipzig from the off (Whatever fixated him on that club?) and still we come away with up to 22 million for a never-was.

Liked Brands from the off, but liking him more and more as time goes by.

The only point to such a clause is if the player is uncertain about moving and the selling club have lost faith but want to hedge their bets (Barca with Deulofeu, a Barca fan and academy product and Mina, flopped but only at the club for 6 months).

Need a central defender and striker asap please.

The Fekir deal has to be the signing of the window. Top player, very strange he hasn’t gone to a bigger club than Betis.

So Fekir has gone from a French club that is probably the number 2 in that country to a Seville team (Real Betis) that has not even qualified for the Europa League.

Does that not tell you something. Money talks.

I think age changes expectations. Realistically top eight in the league at a push. Good cup run if the manager thinks it's worth it? The league title is out of three clubs. Sadly our expectations are the same as when Moyes was in charge but we do have quality players.

The excitement of a new season is felt with realism. However we have hope and that what matters.

Players will come in. We just have no idea who.

We have limited time so before Bale comes to us ( ffs give me some credit) what do you's think?

Neres...Linked but a maybe for me

Malcom...yes please

Zaha...hahahahahahhaaaaa

Zouma...wishful thinking but not dead as of yet

Arias...good idea at RB

Doucouré...Watford will ask for Bale fee where as West ham will get £ 40 mill said price lol, I want him here if Gana goes.

Bas Dost...bit like Andy Pipkin, Yeah but no but yeah

Moise Kean...Yes please, but don't buy at a stupid price

Mandzukic...Nope, just no.

Usmanov...not ready yet =}

Alderweireld...Roma bid apparently accepted?...We are as good no? Yes I know but still

Boubakary Soumare...Just sign him please imo

Or dead wood.

Just a few thoughts: What do you lassess n lads say? Tick tock

Brands/Silva no doubt have their top options and then a number of back ups. But they are prepared to wait till the last minute to see if they are able to get their first picks (which is what happened in the case of Mina). It's not ideal but there's not much you can do if the selling club over-values initially and the player wants to see what else comes in. Better to be patient and get the right player(s) then to jump on board something that doesn't fit right.

I still think we will bring in 4-5 players in the next 2 weeks depending on who leaves. I hope:

Leao/Kean/Diaz
Malcom/Neres/Traore
A fast CB (Soumaoro/Kimpembe/Kamara)
A RB (Arias/Maehle/Reece James)
And possibly a Gueye replacement (Sangare/Sammesakou/Berge)

To use an old one: If Carlsberg did transfer windows that would be......................

I can't even allow myself to dream we'd get them but if we did? Well I can't say because it just won't compute!! :-)

Lookman thinks he is too good for Everton, so it would seem. Silva's recent predecessors have really made a mess - without that Silva would likely have shaped this young prima dona which would also have meant Lookman stayed at Everton.

I reckon Watford would charge us £40m-50m given the enmity and i'm not sure he's worth that to us now that we have bought Gomes.