The puzzling questions over game time for Charly Alcaraz

Or is it just Everton buying on the never-never again, similar to Beto and Chermiti?

If he plays 45 minutes in at least 8 games...

That's not a problem, is it? He's got that in 3 games already. 5 games in 9 matches shouldn't be an issue.

I like him. I think he's the most exciting prospect we have so far — such a pity that late shot vs West Ham screwed wide of the goal.

After all, he seems to have a fucking obsession with Everton and producing Everton-related shite.

"Real Mardid wear 'football shirts' and so do Everton" – Stefan Borson.

"Possible friction at Everton as some 'squad players' prefer extra mature Cheddar to the regular mature cheddar in their sandwiches" – Stefan Borson.

"If you combine the words 'ever' and 'ton' you get Everton, who..er...may be chased for compensation by Burnley. Or not, I don't really know tbh." - Stefan Borson.

"New Everton CEO in 'Bishop and model' sensation! Angus Kinnear recently lost a Bishop from his chess set and in the same week, made an Airfix model of a Spitfire." – Stefan Borson.

Etc, blah, waffle, ad infinitum

[What the fuck is wrong with me? Why the fuck do I look at that NewsNow link?]

Why did you start your post with a full stop at the start of it — I'd been trying to rub it out for about five bleedin' minutes before I realised it was a punctuation mark.

Could have given my iPad a virus!

I hope we keep him and the days of farting around with player deals is the Everton of old, he's a decent attacking player who seems to work well with Beto.

A no-brainer.

Imagine getting him for the same price as Maupay!

Not an unusual deal really. You loan a player and if he makes x appearances you have an obligation to buy him. Now one would presume that, if he doesn't make those appearances, that Everton can still buy him at the agreed price. Or does it?

If Everton are trying to hold off on the appearances in order to try for a better, reduced price deal, it could well backfire on us.

Personally, I don't think this is the case and the story/ies going about are clickbait bullshit. I guess we'll see in due time.

Don't dither, Everton. No jibe at Moyes there, just get it done.

Either of them would be a more than qualified replacement for him, with the long-term gain of experience for them, and David Moyes to get more of an evaluation of the players in his squad.

I'm hoping we're not gonna be the Everton of old and a certain amount of professionalism now exists because, if we miss out on Charly through trying to get him on the cheap, it'll be a travesty.

He certainly has talent and charisma and £15M is nothing for a player these days so he is definitely worth a gamble IMO.

Let Harrison go back to Leeds; sign Jesper – he has pace and will be a match winner soon!

Get it done and get onto the next one, we need at least half a dozen players in for pre-season...

I'd pick a game to drop Tarkowski as well, probably Ipswich at home, to look at O'Brien at centre-back and Patterson at right-back.

If the manager gives players opportunities and we lose/ draw then he'll get pelters. It's very rare now that managers have any room for experimentation, even in dead rubber games.

Btw, talking of pensions, my financial advisor said to me earlier "Looking at your portfolio, I think you should have enough money to last you the rest of your life."

This made me feel very relieved until he added "As long as you're dead by next Tuesday."

(I'm here all week...but...er...maybe not next week)

Premier League experience and they usually play decent football.

Defensive midfielder, 31, with 187 appearances, scoring 12 goals.

100%!

Currently Alcaraz and Ndiaye are (imo) the only actual..um..footballers (?) we've got.

What do I mean by 'footballers'?

Crafty, quick thinking, can pick passes, can hit the target, have good feet, etc.

We've decent centre-halves and the rest definitely 'put a shift in' (to use an awful Shearer-ism) but we're short on brains, guile, skill… so I'd deffo sign him.

He's okay. Does boring things well but that's about it. Would be great if we had a vibrant young attacking side who needed a steady Eddie / experienced head to hold it all together. But that's not really us right now...

I'd sign him in a heartbeat, even based on the very little we have seen.

Who's making up the SIGN CHARLY NOW banner for the next home match?

Yes, I'd love to see a few more with the quality of Ndiaye and Alcaraz — maybe in the near future.

It's too soon to gauge how valuable he will be. I like his appetite to run at the opposition and think he will make a contribution, but I don't see him as being a real star.

Any relation to John Ruane who wrote and worked on movies in Oz?

Actually I worked for 8 years in Dublin and when the census was released there one year, I discovered that at the time of the famine, dozens and dozens with the surname 'Ruane' were sent (by the British obvs) from Ireland to Australia (Van Dieman's Land?) to penal colonies, often for sheep stealing (guessing that was for food but with these rural types, who knows - attempts Benny Hill expression).

I will be very surprised if he gets nine starts. That would take the matter out of the club's hands and leave us no option but to sign him.

What for instance if he picked up a long-term injury after reaching the threshold? Or a better player becomes available at a cheaper price? The club will sensibly let the loan period pan out before deciding if the player meets our needs.

It's six and has always been six from the start of his loan.

It was previously reported that the purchase obligation would activate after eight appearances, but the current information indicates that it is six starts.

The loan deal will become permanent if the Argentine midfielder starts six games and plays 45 minutes in six other games.