Everton could offer Rodrigo immediate Premier League return

Please give Tom Cannon a go even from the bench, tell the lad that he's part of the squad this season, leave the al arses alone, we have enough of them already.

One thing Brazilians have shown is their preference for money. I can't see him remaining in the Premier League if Middle East money is being talked about.

I'd like to see him join us, but I'm not holding my breath.

Paul Kossoff - he's too young give him his first chance when he's 35/36 🥳

Last season played 35 games and scored 15 goals with 2 assists. He missed 6 games with an ankle injury. Before the injury he scored 9 goals and 4 after it. Apart from CF he can play, RW, AM and SS.

Whilst at Leeds, since August 2020, he has played 97 times and scored 28 goals with 5 assists. Last season was his best, for goals scored. He is a current Spanish International. For £3M he would appear to be a real bargain.

Anyone who thinks we shouldn't sign this guy for that fee is mad.

If Thelwell and Dyche fancy the idea and the reported money to Leeds isn't a wind-up, then what are we waiting for?

Sounding them out costs nothing except a bit of time. He is 100% better than what we have got!

ps: Keep Cannon. I have a feeling in my water that he could come good given the opportunity.

Get him in, he was Leeds Utd's best player, cut to the chase… he can score goals!

An added bonus is he's a spring chicken, only 32.

We desperately need strikers.

We created a lot of chances last season which if even some of them had been converted would have got us out of trouble.
If he could score 10 to 15 goals for us this season, it would take some of the pressure off.

I know he's not Harry Kane but that's the market we are in. Never mind his age or lack of sell-on value, we need to be concerned with the here and now. Forget the future until our financial problems are behind us and we have achieved some sort of stability.

If we can get him at the right price and wages go for it. He's got to be better than anyone we signed in January, oh yes, I forgot, nobody and Maupay!

Sign him and a younger striker with potential at the right price but move now!! – before he goes to Saudi, or Forest or Bournemouth or Luton or some other marquee club!

Don't think it looks too bad if we can replace Maupay with Rodrigo and Simms with Cannon plus Calvert-Lewin, that leaves us in a less vulnerable position than last season in the forward areas.

Possible room to then bring in another centre-back and Ashley Young as cover.

That would probably be all of our business this summer.

If the fees are correct, then for me this a no brainier... sign him, he is a good player.

Adapt, improvise and overcome should be the new Everton, motto.

UTFTs!

Don't think Everton would be willing to pay the salary Rodrigo is currently on - 100k a week !

This is exactly the sort of signing we need to make right now.

I wouldn't want us to stop looking for another, younger option (maybe that's Gnonto even) or rule out playing our youth, but this is a perfect stopgap and with a better track record than many we've previously targeted. Remember Dennis? Looks like a lucky escape!

Yeah Oliver, £100k a week is Dele Alli money! It's not for everyone! (Obviously a sad joke.)

But seriously, the club should be upfront about this, they are taking up a lot of column inches and broadband with many of these, articles suggesting interest in a whole bunch of targets.

A question for all if the club came out and said "We are unable to pay transfer fees, we are barred from doing x, y and z. We are in this position and need to do this" would you appreciate that? Could Kenwright and Moshiri garner some goodwill, with some transparency? (I guess some transparency would actually be opaqueness?)

Would a mea culpa make any difference?

32 years old, why not?

Jump on the gravy train, Rodrigo.

I think we need to look at the player rather than generalise based on age. I always thought Rodrigo was a good player when I watched him.

He scored 15 goals in 35 games last season and has 28 caps for Spain. He is experienced in the Premier League, and at £4 million would be worthwhile.

I assume we would also aim to sign a younger forward with potential, but I think Rodrigo would be a good addition.

I've just commented similar on another thread Steve @16.

I don't care for age. Can they do a job and have the desire? That's what matters.

A lot of these elite players look after themselves for a lot longer now. I've never really got the age debate.

We could flip the argument around. Put faith in a 17-year-old kid who the vast majority have never seen play, or an experienced international player?

It's a conundrum. You need a balance of youth, potential and experience. More than ever, it is a squad game made up of a blend of all of those components.

Everton need a striker who can finish. Rodrigo is proven at being able to do that. We not talking about a side consistent enough to challenge the Top 4, but a side that can survive in the Premier League.

Everton this season as before will have that cobbled-together look, with multiple changes to cover tactics and injuries. That is the lot of a manager in a club like Everton. The upside is that opposition teams will not have a predictable training week ahead of an Everton game.

Of course we would all like a set team of good players, but the reality of the Premier League is that such a team would be tactical fodder to Premier League coaches.

The difference between the top and bottom of the Premier League is the money available to spend on the bench. Everton don't have the money to spend on the bench and some of the players they have spent money on can't make the bench and some should not be even on the bench, such has been the standard of recruitment.

Another overlooked factor is, having spent a lot of money on a player, who is going to tell Moshiri a mistake has been made? I often have thought that players selected to play in the team were there on the basis of their transfer fee and contract, rather than their ability.

Put another way, 1 year ago, approx £15 million was paid for Maupay. The first question that would be asked if a replacement was sought for him is, okay, sell him for £15 million. The difficulty is that he was never worth that fee. Try telling Moshiri that, who knows fuck-all about football, and pays your wages. This happens a lot to the muppets at Everton.

Yesterday, I was talking to a manager of a team that has won two Championships two years ago. Asked him how things were going with the team. He told me he had left. He had wanted to suspend three players on disciplinary issues. The Chairman told him it would split the club. He resigned. He now helped out coaching a team, leaving the manager to deal with the muppets.

This is an interesting one, if we can get a couple of good seasons from him coming off the bench, it might be worth the £100k wages given the extremely low fee apparently involved.

That said, if it's Rodrigo, Young and a loan winger, I will be very disappointed with the business done. If we have any money and out of the players linked so far, I would much prefer Piroe and Gnonto, players with high potential, and who wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Them and Manning who is available on a free and could push Mykolenko for a stating birth.

I think we should sell Onana, not because I want him to go but because a) we need the money b) his stock is high right now and c) we can't afford to lose 3 midfielders for the African Cup of Nations. Replace with a European player.

Good post Jerome. (18) A very interesting point regarding our poor recuitment and what Moshiri has been told (or hasn't!).

Yes, the rich clubs have a bench of players that would be in our first eleven if we had them. I can see what you mean how poverty-stricken we are in terms of talent.

Well we definitely need a goalscorer and if Rodrigo, with Premier League goals to his name is available for £4 million, then I hope we get him.

To have a goalscorer playing against them, it would also make a team think twice about attacking us with the cavalier attitude they have shown in the past. We'd be more of a threat to the opposition that we've shown in the past.

He would also be a good example to Tom Cannon, who I hope will progress to become a Premier League Number 9.

Steve #19,

Ref Onana, I tend to agree in cashing in at this point in time, particularly if someone is willing to stump up £60M+. As a club, given where we find ourselves, thanks to our senior management team, we need to be pragmatic in our financial dealings, and given that Onana seems to be one of our most saleable assets, we can't be too “sniffy”?

Considering our only other major asset is Pickford, there's no question which one should be sacrificed, and unfortunately that looks like it's gonna be the way forward from hereon in, strategic sales to reinvest?

Onana splits fan opinion, although I think we all agree that he's a work in progress and if he ultimately becomes the player we all hope, it's gonna be in a couple of seasons and our priority is next season.

It very much looks as if we'll be flirting with relegation again next season and Onana is currently guilty of too many goal-threatening mistakes that quite frankly we can't accommodate in a relegation battle. Our immediate priorities are not a defensive midfielder who doesn't defend too well, but lie elsewhere.

Alternatively, Jordan has proven a lifesaver for us and did so again with an outstanding save in the final minutes of the Bournemouth game that ultimately kept us up every bit as much as Doucouré's outstanding goal. So we're gonna need that level of reliability going into this season's battle.

By the way, just for the record, if he stays, we won't be losing Onana to the African Cup of Nations because he is a European player, being a Belgian international.

Eric (21),

A good post. According to Martinez, one of our many former managers, Onana is phenomenal!

It's not often Martinez is right but I think he's wrong again.

Jim #20,

A very good point regarding the striker. It was clear that teams last season were sitting back seeiing what Everton could do.

Whilst we were watching and getting frustrated looking at the missed chances, poor finishing, poor positioning, loss of possession, and out-of-position players, they were lapping it up. With no threat, they just pushed the defensive line up the field at the beginning of the second half, supporting their attack and high press on a vulnerable deep Everton defence, often with success.

As you say, someone who can put the ball in the back of the net given a chance, will make them think before they push up, giving Everton more space to play, particularly in midfield.

We are going through the usual off-season speculation and rumor mills that will link Everton to everyone and no one.

It is known by us all that they don't have the funds to compete for anyone who realistically could improve this team next season and so getting over-age freebies may be the only option.

We do have a few youngsters that may be ready to step up if Dyche fancies them but, if not, what can we expect?

The offensive qualities were proven last season to be non-existent apart from that odd Brighton result. If there is no positive change in that department, we are in for a rough ride again.

I did like what I saw from Rodrigo last season but, as people have said, these over-30s are only interested in big paydays towards the end of their careers and who can blame them?

I would like this player, however, how can can we even contemplate doing business with Leeds United when they have threatened legal action against Everton in consecutive Seasons?

Steve #19…….Onana will 100% not be going to the AFCON, because he plays for Belgium.

Meanwhile, Andros Townsend has been training with Burnley, and could be offered a contract by them.

If we got Rodrigo for this kind of fee, then get some decent fee for Maupay, then that would be a good bit of business and a definite upgrade in threat.

I have a feeling Maupay having just arrived on a good contract won't want to move on just yet, if we do move him on for a decent fee we will end up contributing to his wages.

I hope Cannon gets the opportunity to impress this year the way Simms was given a little go. Give Cannon a little chance if he doesn't make the grade his stock's still pretty high from his good loan and get another decent fee.

Cannon's play is more clever than Simms, he works harder than Simms, always on his toes, his movements are so much better and has that natural striking instinct. His one downfall in a Dyche side is his size, yet he could fit nicely next to Calvert-Lewin.

Broja on loan would be an option, he's been injured but the lad could do Calvert-Lewin's job when absent.

Rodrigo is beyond simply providing goals, he can run the final third. His movement and possession are levels above who we now have up front. We need to find a wage structure that suits us both and convince him that another Premier League club contract would improve his future offers and not by a little.

I think Danjuma is a better bet. Rodgrio is too much of a risk with injuries and there would be too much change in Everton's attacking play to accommodate him.

We also know Everton would be after him since he signed for Everton before. He also would come on a 1-year loan with the option the buy which would suit.

Rodrigo is having a medical with Al Rayyan in Qatar according to Romano.

Also he played 90-100 matches in 3 years for Leeds. This 'injury-prone' stuff is a bit of a myth.

Gone to SA.

Qatar, not SA