‘Not for Sale’ – Everton have a bid for McGinn rejected

I'm not sure if this is an old rumour dug out by Sky.

A good player, a proper nark, would give us another leader on the pitch and probably fits Moyess' profile and not done and dusted at 30. And Villa need to sell.

Unless Moyes is planning on Iroegbunam or Armstrong going on loan or thinking ahead for the loss of Gana in January, plus maybe a replacement for the soon-to-be 36-year-old, I'm not convinced by this one.

He may be a decent player but it's unlikely he'd want to leave Villa for us anyway. This is not the type of signing I want to see us make, especially when we don't have the added games of European football to consider.

I'd rather we give minutes to Armstrong if we're going to 'rotate'... and I certainly don't remember Moyes being big on that anyway.

Surely bollocks from Sky this one.

However, Everton definitely need an additional central midfielder before the window closes.

Gana will depart for the African Cup of Nations for up to a month, and we can't be relying solely on Tim Iroegbunam and Harrison Armstrong as cover.

I doubt we even made a bid.

He is central to their team and they haven't made a signing.

File under gossip and clickbait.

Everton's John McGinn transfer stance outlined after claims over £18M offer

Everton did retain an interest in McGinn earlier this summer and there were enquiries last month, but no bid was submitted.

Insiders are 'bemused':

"How do you feel?"

"I feel bemused."

"Me too... can't quite explain it."

"Methinks the Grand Old Name of Everton is being used to try and flush out interest from the Magpies instead."

He's a player. Not a cheap deal, but someone who could help get into the Top 10. Can play multiple positions, and is decent on set pieces.

Hayden Hackney is a better long-term bet. Andrey Santos and Lavia at Chelsea should be considered on loan or permanent for the former.

We desperately need this alongside the young players we have been mostly linked with. A blend of young raw talent with a sprinkling of one or two experienced pros makes a lot of sense, especially in central midfield.

I'm talking more the No 6 or No 8 position where we have Gana and a lot of youngsters. Even Dewsbury-Hall hasn't had that much top-flight experience for a 26-year-old.

It seems Luiz heading to Forest. We still need a defensive midfielder with Gueye turning 36 next month.

I would have welcomed him 5 years ago but now, at 30 and £18M, he would be blocking the progress of someone else – like Armstrong.

Go and get Brownhill on a free for a similar player.

Not necessarily McGinn, but a good nark to help Tarkowski would be invaluable.

Sounds like Moyes wants another midfielder, so I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to West Ham for Soucek now.

Whilst a lot of it is clickbait, there are certainly many instances where we are being portrayed as a desperate unattractive club.

What happened to doing research and testing availability before diving in???

Very unimpressed with the so-called elite recruitment team up to now.

If anything, we need another 6 in the middle. Apparently we bid for Dion Lopy who is an interesting option.

Is he a right back now?!

Trying to get him in for Saturday!

Do we really need the pudgy little Scot? What will he bring? I've never really rated him.

Bringing his age back into the equation, he's 6 years younger than Gana. Some players age quickly when they turn 30, but Gana remains as fit as a fiddle.

I'm convinced McGinn will still be able to hack it for at least 3 seasons and £20M to £25M would be well spent money in my opinion.

Forest will end up buying him outright from Juventus.

Having missed out on every man and his dog this summer, Newcastle have their eyes firmly fixed on the next person to turn them down. He goes by the name John McGinn and he currently plays for Aston Villa. Everton previously made enquiries about the Scotland midfielder but nothing was doing.

We all know what positions are key to us, we just can't fill them. I'd hoped we would add some real quality; I'm finding it quite frustrating… and I'd wager David Moyes is too.

McGinn is good but if we upgrade midfield now it’ll be a different sort of player - ideally a proper specialist holding midfielder.

Can’t possibly be true can it? Must be some ‘client journalism’ from someone - Villa? McGinn’s agent?