Abdoulaye Doucoure unwilling to take salary cut to stay at Everton

Be careful what you wish for. You will struggle to find any supporter who thinks you should stay and be paid the king's ransom you already have.

All about the money. I think that you may have upset/annoyed those supporters who believed just how keen and motivated to stay with us. Not true is it? Crocodile tears.

New era. Leave the Moshiri mess behind, including most of the players such as Doucoure, who are holding the club to ransom.

Moshiri and the greatest ever Evertonian aren't there anymore to grant you your wish.

But for that salary, he is a very poor footballer in terms of ability and basic passing. He has been extremely poor this season despite scoring a few goals. He has lost pace as well and isn't as aggressive as he was few years back.

With the new stadium, a new Everton era begins. We have to replace these players with hard working but skilful players who can impact games consistently positive.

Beyond 30, best running years behind him.

He could have stayed on reduced salary as a squad player, but not on these terms. We can do better.

No other club in Europe will pay him what Everton do. Saudi it is then.

Well, yes, to us he has. He's one of the very few players we've had who make a genuinely positive difference to the way we play. He's one of the very few successful purchases we've made.

You've only got to compare our win ratio with him in and him out of the side. Problem for him is his best attributes are shown when we don't have the ball. And that just doesn't float people's boats. And he's 33.

Sorry Doucs. He goes with our heartfelt thanks for being a top pro, but there's no way you're getting that money next season — even if compared with Mason Holgate and Michael Keane and the 20 other wasters, you've been worth your weight in gold.

If he wants more money good luck to him, I don't see anything wrong in what he's saying it's his opinion, time to say goodbye

His goal in the first minute at Brighton, followed by a second to put us 2 - 0 up en-route to a 5 - 1 win.

I didn't know at the time, but a certain Alexis Mac Allistar pulled one back for the Seagulls, but we were out of sight by then and McNeil thumped home the 5th.

Good luck to him, but if there was any chance of him staying at Everton, he's just talked himself out of it. He probably knew anyway.

I think a lot of fans don’t seem to realise why managers love him so much, as he’s one of the best players in the league out of possession, especially leading the press, closing down spaces and blocking passing lanes for opponents trying to build attacks.

However, as others have pointed out, the actual technical side of using the football makes him look pretty mediocre. I want us to move on to more technical players like Alcaraz and N’Diaye, even if it means losing a bit of the unappreciated work that Doucoure is so good at.

Forever grateful for that winner against Bournemouth,

There's nothing wrong with wanting a few quid, regardless of how high your wages are - being paid £100k a week or whatever he gets, doesn't stop you wanting more. It's a consequence of living in a capitalist society.

He's a footballer so he gets a lot of stick, but he's not doing anything the rest of us wouldn't in the same situation.

I don't rate him as a footballer - managers like him because he runs about a lot (see Jack Harrison)

I certainly can't see another Premier League club offering him £130k a week.

Can't really blame him. Leaving Saudi-style money on the table would be impossible for most players. And very few would swallow the loss of face attached to the kind of salary reduction that's being suggested.

I get that the money football players are on is obscene but that isn't Abdoulaye Doucoure's fault.

I wish him well.

Good luck getting paid a fortune Abdoulaye.

These modern day footballers are so incredibly disconnected from the real world it’s hard to believe. Surrounded by money grabbing agents, wags and hangers on telling them they’re the greatest thing since jammy dodgers were invented. No wonder they live in dreamland.

A man who can’t pass the ball, successfully, further than 5 yards to a team mate should be on £500 p/w max. Not a penny more.

I was doing a job in a shop, and asked for a few more bob, at the same time as asking for some time off. Not my smartest move in life (to be fair, I was 13).

The boss said “I think you are looking to work for an hour a day, with an hour off for lunch. Off you pop”.

It stuck with me.

But he doesn’t Ray: ‘No, I should have an increase. I’m only 33 years old and think I have three, four years easily in the Premier League’.

And he’s also either a lying twat or getting bad information: ‘There were a couple of players playing for Everton, I’m sorry, on an even higher salary and not playing as much’.

Loving the past tense.

You should also learn to shut your big mouth up lad when it might be the right thing for you to do. I suspect that most Evertonians want to see the back of this £130k mediocrity who runs around a lot and scores the odd goal. But now with this stream of deluded mammon shite a good proportion of them will be thinking of you less kindly.

There’s only one place you are going to Ab Lucre and you deserve each other.

Keep talking in the past tense please.

I reckon he’d be taking a hefty pay cut.

Sounds like VAR for players wages...

Dicko’s is now a very pleasant bar, “Around Eight”, occasionally frequented early doors on a Friday.

Good luck finding a team willing to pay you more than the £130k per week the club have been paying for a few goals per season for a middle-distance runner with little to no creativity and poor passing range.

Think Sheedy, Steven, Kanchelskis, Speed, Arteta. This is the level we need to aspire to.

• Salah's new contract = £400,000 per week

• Combined goals and assists 2024-25 = 46 (28 goals and 18 assists)

• Cost per goal/assist = £8,695.65

• Doucoure's goals and assists 2024-25 = 4 (3 goals and 1 assist)

• Based on Salah's contract and applying the same multiple, Doucoure should be on: £34,782.61 per week (£8,695.65 x 4)

In summary, fuck you, Doucoure.

Obviously he'll lose out to "Mo".

Round Eight, just looked it up. Not been there Peter, we'll have to raise glasses to the blues next time I'm in L23 mate.

Not much more to say that hasn’t already been said above ….

… except one final point to add …

… this gentleman was responsible for getting 3 kopites sent off at the end of the last ever Goodison derby.

Count them.
Not one. Not two … but three of them.

That alone means he will always have my eternal thanks.

Brilliant!

Pity for you to leave believing you should be paid even more. You lose the chance of a dignified exit.

Thanks for your service. Bye Bye.

I'm sure that will haunt him for ....

If he thinks he's worth more and is prepared to stick to that then fair enough. He's not worth that at Everton but maybe someone else will pay him well.

Goodbye and Good Luck.

Second good news would be to sign Alcaraz, that would be perfect business.

For once in a lifetime, surprise me, Everton!

What we need is players who are good when they have the ball. How you can earn so much and even think that you should be paid more for running around without the ball is masterful.

“Being paid £100k a week or whatever he gets, doesn't stop you wanting more. It's a consequence of living in a capitalist society.” There is nothing inherent in capitalism that says you must be greedy. That only becomes the inevitable consequence when you remove moral values.

“A stunner that sadly also-rans like me could only look at.” Hang on PF. Didn't you say that sharing a taxi to Goodison from Lime Street with Amanda Holden resulted in both of you missing the game? Are you now saying that the failure to make it to the stadium was due to an RTA and a trip to A&E?

“Paying extra salary for an extension can sometimes be a better bet than replacement especially given how weak a squad that we have.” Well, perhaps, but PSR is heavily affected by wages and ‘sometimes' it may be better to redistribute the money, especially if you are actually taking steps to strengthen the squad (which you can't do simply by retaining the same lot).

“Seriously who would take a pay cut if they didn't have too?” But that does happen though, doesn't it? In real life, and sometimes to footballers as well?

Not to mention infuriating an entire section of RS fans to the extent that they will be frothing with rage at the mere mention of his name for many years to come. Priceless.

Does he have no recollection of his childhood and the life of an ordinary man? He is now so out of touch all he can think of is increasing wads of cash for a mediocre try hard who gets the odd goal.

Sorry but he's all that is wrong with football. Kick him out.

Tone-deaf footballer? Wow! Never seen that before.

Bit of an enigma, got the spectacular in him and got the "What the fuck was that?" in him too.

Never before has an athlete masqueraded as a footballer as well as he has.

And when Amanda and I bumped into each other at the rank she was dazzled and she made that clear in the taxi before we crossed London Road. And then it was simply a case of asking the driver to go instead to a well-known hotel not a million miles away from our new home. It began in the lift Si ....... [left blank in respect for Amanda] ....... and ended in darkness and I had more shots on target than our beloved team.

Looks like there's something he loves more.

Ultimately, they do have to look after a lot of people. Agents, managers, financial advisors. Sometimes it doesn't work out too well. Sometimes they're not exactly primed to have a career outside of football (ie, not managing, coaching, or media). A few are smart enough to do it.

To be fair to Doucoure – we're only the 3rd club in his career (not counting a loan). So maybe he does have some form of affinity for us.

But this ill-informed interview (on the Ben Foster Podcast) has probably put an end to whatever hopes he may have had of staying. It should also be remembered that Everton didn't take up the option to renew his contract.

Therefore, if there's any announcement that he is staying, either someone's lied to us, or someone's dropped their demands.

For the sake of the health of our fellow ToffeeWebber, Mr Knox, I hope he moves on.

None of us would willingly take a pay cut in our walks of life, so that isn't an issue for me.

How he has been playing is more of a concern for me if the club were considering keeping him on for another season or two.

Odd that he's come out in this manner. As I said earlier, he must have known that an extension hadn't been agreed, because usually these types of things are shrouded in secrecy until an official announcement is made.

Reading between the lines, salary must have been the sticking point. If so, then good on the club for holding its position.

Let's see if he starts today, as he's very much been a nailed on starter most of the season. That might tell us something. Or not, it's impossible to predict the murky world of football contracts and football.

Easy decision for all parties.

It's fashionable currently to bash Doucoure but last weekend kept up a long established pattern of us struggling without him. He's played the fifth most minutes in our team this season so, when he says he's important for the club, he's not wrong.

It sounds like he's got offers at or above his current salary so personally I think he's more than entitled to refuse a cut. If he leaves, as seems likely, I think he deserves a fond farewell as a player who always gave everything in his almost 150 games for Everton and was instrumental in keeping us up at a time of negligible investment into the team.

Okay, we know they are well paid. But like any job, there will be a base salary, likely to be lower than speculated, topped up with bonuses and benefits.

In the case of a footballer, the add-ons will be win bonus, goal bonus and whatever else is built into the contract.

Given the season we and Doucoure have had, I doubt he has been hitting the alleged £120k a week. And that's all it is, alleged. I don't know, none of us do.

But it's getting late, too much dry white, reading Graham Swift's new collection Twelve Post-War Tales – you would like this, Danny – and enjoying a new recording of Korngold's Violin Concerto, and feeling generally benign with a last glass before bed, and the 8:30 alarm.

Besides, I like Sam and he's 9 times out of 10 correct.

Thanks for the recommendation. I can see the audio version on Amazon.

Marching Down the Goodison Road, Danny, which for me here means marching down the stairs and grinding some coffee beans.

There are many very ordinary players earning very high wages at many clubs.
He has worked hard and obviously has a knack of scoring the odd important goal.
The perplexing thing is his poor touch and poor passing. I find it incredible that his technical skills are that bad in the Premier League.

Time to move on.

Next up….. DCL?

I just don't get Blues saying "Who can blame him?" Or "Who wouldn't want more?" Most footballers are working class lads who have worked hard and made wonderful lives for them and their families but, honest to God, how much does anyone need?

It is fucking obscene.

It's up to him and only him to set his worth. If he truly believes he's worth more then fair enough.

It's up to Everton (or another club) to decide whether they want to pay it.

However, his goals were useful, but dried up after his injury last winter. His overall game has deteriorated; he's not a No 10, and many would argue that our attacking output has suffered from having an athlete rather than a footballer in the position.

As a club, we need to step away from giving such contracts to non-saleable assets. He has to go.

A shame that, because of his stupidity, it will be with some of the good will diminished.

I guess it comes down to it meaning more to us than to the hired hands.

That sums up people, for me, people like Doucoure who really very greedy people. Fans used to say footballers only have a short career and they need to make the most of it while they can. That doesn't apply these days with top players, whether they have the ability or not, because they make enough in 3 or 4 years to last them a lifetime and they are still healthy enough to make more n other fields.

Hoare 2010 was a fruity vintage!

Hope you're doing well.

Maybe he's already had the heads-up that the club isn't prepared to renew his contract at his present salary level.

I certainly hope that's the case.

I think he knows the club’s stance on his future and he spat the dummy out.

It will be interesting to see today’s team news.

I don't think anyone would stick at their job for half the money, if they could get another job at the same or more? Why would footballers be different, just because of 'loyalty'?

Football is the most double standard environment going. Players are jettisoned and forgotten about from youth level upwards without a thought. But we all jump up and down when they offend our sensibilities.

His comments are inadvisable and will rile a lot of fans. But again that's double standards as some of the comments fans make about him are x-rated!

Good luck to the lad. His goal kept us up and he's always given everything, despite his limitations.

We don't know what his contract was, but it seems he's had offers at least as good from elsewhere where they wont be paying a transfer fee for him.

Thats another where we have let his contract run out and he's leaving for free if thats what happens.

What do we do now, go out and pay good money to buy a replacement for him?

The point on the kids getting jettisoned is about the 'loyalty'. Fans expect loyalty from players unconditionally, but players don't get it back.

For me, the 'well he's on loads of money anyway the greedy so and so', just doesn't add up. That's not the way things work. Footballers get paid what they do because that's the market they work in.

I don't think we should be renewing his contract anyway, but don't understand why we would expect someone to accept less than he could get elsewhere. And if he doesnt just call him a 'greedy entitled fucker'? Seems a bit harsh to me.

Professional footballer's are in a different world to those "normal" salaried employees and I don't mean by the difference in amounts they're paid.

When us normal folk get a job the salary is agreed and there's no end date for that salary. Footballers have a finite contract and if come the end of that contract they're not at the level they once were AND they're in their early thirties then they're going to, or should, expect a renegotiation.

If Doucoure thinks he deserves an increase he's way off the mark.

Be interesting to see what happens!

Seems very much to me like we've got another Sean Dyche type situation here... Someone at Everton who has deserved [maybe... sometimes... a lot of] prais.e.. occasionally... but not nearly often enough... yet they clearly beg to differ (with pretty much everyone else!) Again, lol...

After all, this is a player who can't usually pass an important ball to a team mate during an actual game, for shit. And he is also well past his 'prime'/ (When was that, again?) Yet he – honestly? – believes he's worth oh so much more than the OTT monthly salary (imo) he's already getting from us?

Naah, mate. Sounds like you're fucking your own Premier League career up, to me! Or maybe that's your point or 'plan'? That you don't really believe you have much of a 'top tier' football career left, so you're having a last verbal 'throw of the dice' and crossing your fingers, lol.

So, what next? Abroad to some no-mark team in a no-mark league, where you'll likely at least get silly money that's also likely to be way, waaay, more than you're actually worth?

That it, to hope we do as the divvy feckers will probably do pay and pay you a good monthly chunk of also-silly money for no justifiable reason, anyway? I don't think so!

Oh, and by the way... Fuck off, you greedy bastard!!!

(By the way.. Please remember that we've got a great new stadium to look forward to. What we don't need are any not-at-all great old players begging at the gates for fortunes while telling us they're worth every penny!! They, you, are just not!!)

Never been a footballer. A hard-working runner, with some key goals, but in my opinion a poor midfielder overall who ruins more attacks than he creates.

Worst passer of the ball I've seen for us in years. No footballing brain. Not sure I blame him for refusing a pay cut, but I won't miss him.

One thing I'm looking forward to next season is not seeing Doucoure with his head in his hands after he ballsed up a 5-yard pass, or scuffed a shot.

"He works hard" is another one that gets trotted out, isn't that the bare minimum we expect of any player?

I won't miss him at all, we need more from our Number 10 than a few goals and non stop running

Cesar Luis Menotti

I wouldn't hate for us to keep him, at a reasonable salary, but equally I don't think Everton should be offering many (if any) players £130K or more, certainly not at 33, when we need to lower the age of the squad.

Ultimately, as much as the heart is involved, this is business and these deals are about using the head. On that basis I think it's fairly clear that after the Saints at Goodison and 'howay' to the Bar Codes we'll be saying a fond farewell to Abdoulaye. Let's give him a good send off!

P.S. I understand salary was also the sticking point with DCL, but then again Newcastle didn't want to pay those wages either, so it remains to be seen if/where he'll go. Here also, I'm happy if he stays, but prepared to accept he's on his way.

In the case of players out of contract such as Doucoure and Calvert-Lewin we don't have to go out and pay millions to buy replacements if they stay. I would keep both if the new contracts were reasonable.

I find it highly improbable that players that we are looking to sign take into account any views expressed on ToffeeWeb. If they did, they might actually be encouraged to sign by the surprising number (to me at least) of easily satisfied who expect no more than running about a lot.

More likely, they would realistically assess the likelihood of linked-up play alongside utterly abject players like Doucoure and choose to go elsewhere.

Let's be clear: Everton fans are not the cause of annual relegation fights and low-quality signings.

Liam (various), people may have a variety of motivations for career choices and not all of them are a bottom line of more money than they will ever actually need. We can also choose which ‘influencers' impress us.

*Son reading from 'for sale' Ads; There's a guy here wants $250 for a xxxxxxxx
Father; $250? He's fuckin dreaming.

Likewise for Mr Doucoure.

Football is money daft, this we know and baring the Saudi League, the daft money lives in the Premier !eague, but nobody else is going to match what he's on here - he's just not that good...or young enough.

Half a loaf is better than none Doucs, a bird in the hand etc.

Thanks for the goals mate, feel free to drop in the new place anytime you're passing.

He's fuckin dreamin.

However, all good things come to an end. He is now too old for the type of football he plays, and too expensive for us. All the best, and enjoy your time in Saudi.

'Liam (various), people may have a variety of motivations for career choices and not all of them are a bottom line of more money than they will ever actually need'

Tbf that's not what I said mate. I said I don't know anyone who would accept half of what they were on in the same job. I know a lot people choose their careers with money not being the bottom line. I include myself in that.

'We can also choose which ‘influencers' impress us.' - I don't really understand what this means?

It’s not the same ‘job’ if you aren’t the same player. The employers aren’t the same either and they have proof that the previous employers were reckless in their generosity.

Some people could recognise that change in circumstances and roll with it.

It’s not as though he’s being offered less than millions per year to play anywhere.

Let’s see where he ends up. It still won’t be 100% proof either way, so but it will likely indicate what his ‘priority’ is.

Palace, Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham, Brentford all win more than Everton without him in their team. I think it is possible.

He's not getting any younger, he's extremely limited and painful to watch. I can't fault his efforts but hope that our future includes fewer and fewer players who rely on effort alone.

If he does move on, I wish him health, wealth and happiness.

Everton managed to sign good and younger players, but Doucouré didn't get what he was thinking he would get. I think his wage at Neom is lower than at Everton.

In addition, there is a difference to play for a club in the Premier League with 50 thousand supporters in a top modern stadium, than playing in the Saudi League for a team with virtually no supporters.

On what basis are you saying Doucoure is paid less at Neom than at Everton? What's your source please?