Everton may be looking to sign up Nathan Aké

Perhaps signing him would be a sign that Moyes intends to play O'Brien at RB all season as Ake provides an alternative 3rd choice CB if not needed at LB or DCM where I actually think Ake could do a great job, though I'd be surprised if Moyes was buying him for that.

The Leon Bailey deal to Roma includes a £19m option to buy. Why are we missing these deals?

They're all fan sites. Not one of them is legit.

We need a RB and RW.

What the hell's going on?

I'm sensing that something isn't right between Moyes, Kinnear and the rest of this 'transfer committee'.

Although Ake has spent quite a bit of time in the sick room himself...

Would he be better than Mykolenko at left-back? Yes.
Would he be an improvement on Keane? Yes.

Man City and Pep have said City have too many players and need to cut down the squad; I am certain there could be a deal there.

Everton could play a higher line with the above player, he has pace and would connect our midfield and defence better. Hopefully free up Grealish and others going forward.

We currently need experienced players at this stage, build a better league position, young players can then follow over the next couple of years.

To my mind, these are both David Moyes type buys if Kinnear can get them over the line; not sure that was the case with Aznou and Barry. Ake can play in a number of positions along the back line so gives Moyes more options.

Should we sign Dibbling, I hope the fans will be patient with him and not expect miracles because of the fee. Remember the player can't control how much Southampton want and what we end up paying if we do get him, although I see no point in putting in another bid unless you are confident of getting the deal done.

Read Jake O'Brien's piece in the Echo were he says the whole team were well below what was expected and said they are determined to put matters right this weekend, I am sure we will see a much better performance than the Leeds game.

Get this done Everton by tomorrow; otherwise, Sunday's result may not be the one we want.

Everton and August, eh???

It would be a good signing, the sort of quality player we need. But as others have said, it must be accompanied as an absolute priority by a RB and RW, and these need to be first choice options, not fillers of promising youngsters. Ideally also a more defensive minded CM.

I'm not remotely convinced by our central attackers but we don't have the resources to fix that this window and will just have to go with what we have.

The devil will be in the detail.

He is good on the ball, and can pass to a team mate, which we couldn't do against Leeds. I hope this is true, but wouldn't hold my breath. He will probably end up at Forest.

As we witnessed on the US tour and this past week or so, it only takes an injury or two (Branthwaite, Tarkowski and now Mykolenko), and we are patched up at the back.

As much as we like to feed on these rumours, are they bad for the club's chances of getting the player?

Moyes is pissed with the leaks on injuries, and I get that – why give opposing teams a heads up?

Some transfer rumours may alert other clubs, affect prices... We don't have any solid detail yet, but this one is now open to rival bids if it's got legs.

Players aren't interested in our new stadium, they are more interested in playing in Europe: This obviously doesn't apply to the three players who have left teams who are playing in Europe, to sign for Everton.

This must also apply for people saying players don't want to play for David Moyes.

My guess is that TFG are very prudent businessmen and, although this is not a bad thing – especially when you remember the mess we found ourselves in with PSR, I believe that success to our new owners won't really involve them needing Everton to be challenging the big teams.

They have purchased Everton to make money, rather than to make us great again.

With queues around the Goodison block with people queuing for Mansfield tickets, and my son informing me he was in line to be dealt with at 4:50 pm today if he wanted to stay on line and wait from 10 o'clock this morning for his own tickets, I do hope they realise that, if they put enough time, money and effort into it, they could definitely start helping to make Everton great once again.

If this has mileage is there enough leeway in the kitty to get this done? Will it sacrifice RW and RB solution?

Furthermore, I know injuries can't be foreseen or predicted, but if it were to materialise, why did we give Keane another year?

May we and Davey Moyes be grinning in late evening on 1 September. 7pm that day, the window closes, isn't it? Maybe some after-hours deal sheets coming through again, but hopefully all done and sorted by the deadline.

Before the start of the season would have been far preferable, of course, but PSR and our position versus teams higher in the league and in Europe, it may come down to the proverbial wire again of course. May the pieces fall into place as needed. UTFT.

West Ham got shut of Moyes, why?

Be interesting if it is dealt with hush hush or wether it spills out into the public!

Be a huge shock once people find out who it is……

Potentially, therefore, those suggesting this story is wide of the mark are most likely correct.

The transfer window doesn't close; it slams shut!

We are being left behind by clubs like Forest who have spent £140M and are not finished. Get your fingers out EFC.

Also it's rumoured that, having lost Eze to Arsenal, Spurs are preparing to make a bid for Dibling.

I hoped for better under new owners, I know we can't match some for spending, but more ingenuity, more guile, addressing the right squad issues with a blend of experience and youth.

Thus far, it's been very underwhelming.

They probably told the suspected mole they were signing Ake to see if it appeared on the Bobble.

Furthermore, I know injuries can't be foreseen or predicted, but if it were to materialise, why did we give Keane another year?

Ake is obviously neither but we're at the point of struggling to put a team out and, positionally, he fits exactly what we need.

All comes down to the price and the wages. There's a point where this becomes value.

I think Colleen's sparring partner started some rumours the other day by suggesting Everton sign her partner. God help him, stuck with her. Mind you, he might get rid of his frustration on our opponents instead of her and score a few.

Very good players should be able to play well in a few positions but he's not really what we are desperate for, is he?

I've said before, if Moyes won't play certain players, get them sold; if we can get a few million for them, do it.

Mind you, between you and I…

I did too! :-)

Instead, we just hear about left-sided players, and while we are dithering, other teams are strengthening.

(Source - Giulia Bould, BBC)

It was mole hunting. Great spot.

She said we were out of Dibling race last week but now we're back in. Lots of games being played.

Harvey Elliott, 22, off to RB Leipzig. Leeds sign another striker. Bournemouth make winger Adli their seventh signing. Arsenal highjacked Eze from going to Spurs; now Spurs are after Dibling.

Meanwhile, Everton sit and ponder, Moyes wakes up and tells press he's been contemplating his navel.

Asked about transfers, Moyes says, "Say what?" Angus writes postcards to his mate Masters telling him the Mersey waters are a bit murky and he won't be here long.

B&Q tell The Friedkin Group, "Sorry, no more blue paint, but we have slate and concrete gray." Meanwhile, the Everton squad tell Moyes that, like him, they don't know their arses from their elbows.

Although I can't see Everton paying him £160k a week for the next 2 years of his contract, or the £20-25m to get him out of City (as I don't think we can loan him) for a player that turns 31 next birthday.

I like him, and would take him if we could also get priority positions fill as well (which I doubt).

I often wondered if getting relegated would have been beneficial longer term as it would have cleared out the dead wood. But it was always unthinkable.

Anyway, here we are, a few more dead woods later. Disgrace of a football club.

It was Agnes in the canteen all along, earwigging...

For fuck's sake, sign a right winger. Stop fucking about..

Can anyone recall hearing anything from him in that time?

But I am more concerned about the Gooners going for Eze... as I'm pretty sure if that happens then Palace won't fuck about going for Dibling!

Kid has been playing CF lately but seems to have done a job at DM and AM over the past few seasons so easy to see why he’s linked for versatility. Looks good on YouTube of course! He’d probably be counted as 3 new signings then.

Like our Davey boy, I do wish I could just sit and contemplate my navel, especially on match days. And like Moyes, my excuse would be, "I don't know my arse from my elbow!" 😕

Why is it so hard for this club to buy a right-back?

If Moyes had found the mole, the dithering dickhead will bury it alive to get rid of it!

Dibling off to Palace now.

Everton, the Spurs of the north.

It was a complete revelation. He said if you take a player on a 4- or 5-year contract on £100k per week, the club will pay him £50k per week and the other £50k will be paid in lump sums.

But the really interesting bit is if the club sold him say 2 years into his 5-year contract, and provided the player hasn't asked for a transfer, the selling club have to pay what's owed in his contract in full, plus any bonuses that are due.

He also said in some cases the selling club will still pay part of his wages. So it's no wonder the likes of Issak won't put in a transfer request as that could cost him maybe £30 to £40M.

I never knew that the selling club had to pay up his contract in full if he never asked for a transfer.

I see where Bailey injured again in training with Roma, some on here disappointed we didn't go for him, but that was his big problem at Villa, injury prone.

Because he stifles their natural attacking play with his "Mustn't lose and hope to nick a goal" tactics.

Ryan Bertrand was on the other day that his base was £35k per week at Chelsea, but in a successful season it was nearer twice that sum with win, apearence bonuses etc. Aaron Lennon was on a mad appearence bonus at Leeds when he made it young.

Grealish has arrived. It was also generally reported that Dibling wanted to come to Everton but the two clubs couldn't agree a fee.

It appears a club thing, ask Giroud's Mrs.

It's mainly because we've been absolutely atrocious for nearly 15 years now.

For God's sake, Everton, do something now before another rot sets in.

The new lad may be injured but may not be ready anyway from what I saw against Roma.

The list is short of class players we've signed in their prime, and some of those are debatable. Everton have struggled to attract top class talent.

This isn't a Moyes issue. It's haunted the club for the entire Premier League era, and why we've come precisely nowhere.

I could be wrong, but I would have thought the cost of outstanding wages would be reflected in the purchase price.

Another thought to float:

Whilst I realise that LB cover is 'only' a medium-high priority (unless Mykolenko is out for an extended period) I was also wondering if there was an angle in trying to prise (28-year-old) Ben Chilwell away from Chelsea? He is one of a bunch they are trying to offload.

I would have thought he has hopes of a return to the national squad (like JG) – in which case, attitude shouldn't be a problem, and who knows, could persuade him to lower wage demands.

Could he even be our other loan signing?

Giroud wanted to sign for us. It was his wife that refused to move up north.

We actually need to do it. Break the rules and deal with the consequences, no one will go to prison, this is not a serious business, it's just football.

Why aren't we allowed to spend £150M on players if other teams have spent way over double that? None of this is about fairness or accountability, it's about control and power.

We have to transgress and break the rules slightly with a bit of ruthlessness or we will be stuck in this position forever. There's nothing to be afraid of.

Show some savvy and don't just hand over the books this time ‘round, Moshiri-style; the suave financial operator that he was. Thanks for the stadium, anyway, Moshiri.

We need Ake and Dibling, and a few others, so get them.

Any of those lads know how to put out a fire – and there were plenty of those on Monday Night.

This transfer window is really, really getting to me now!!

We have a problem signing top players. Weve probably spent a £1B in the Premier League era gross, and the number of top class players would struggle to make an 11 spanning nearly 35 years.

Ashley @85,

Chilwell is an interesting idea. He ain't going to get into the England squad without playing regularly and seems to be one of those who has fallen foul of Chelsea's peculiar transfer strategy.

Dibling still seems to be on. I've not seen anything concrete about the Palace or Tottenham rumours, so as it stands, probably Facebook and social media speculation.

I always liked Ake and thought we should have gone for him when he was at Bournemouth.

And nothing, not even the merest hint of a believable rumour.

What in God's name are we doing?! Has it escaped their attention there's a very significant game on Saturday, the first home league fixture in HDS?! And we will go into it, after a week of accomplishing sod all, with no right side to the team whatsoever!

I am boiling with fury now! There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of perfectly decent right-backs and right-wingers in the world's top leagues.

Sign Players Now!!!!

No thanks. No way.

Signing average, adequate, faces-in-the-crowd players like that is one reason we got in this mess in the first place. That's how we got Martina and El Ghazi and Maupay and Tosun.

Not for me. I say sign good ones, the best we can get. That's how a mediocre, lower-half club gets better. Not by signing more mediocrity just to fill the holes, just because they're readily available.

No more Delphs and Klaassens and Rondons. Buy quality or don't buy.

There are "hundreds and thousands" in baking... premier league quality footballers... not so much.

To the modern player who is unlikely to "know his history", we are just a poor, middle of the road premier league team with no success and a shiny stadium which is not alone going to make the recruiting difference.

Would you rather spend half the season watching a team with no right hand side (which continuing situation would, in my view, put us in real danger of another desperate relegation battle), or accept that we may have to compromise in one or two positions just to give a semblance of balance to the team?

I answered no, because I know it’s going to take time, but I did say that I had expected the squad, to have been bolstered out a bit more by now.

The problem with your last sentence@95, is that quality costs money and Everton, can only spend so much money, but at the same time, we definitely need a few more players.

Wait and see, has frustratingly (to my partner) become my catchphrase, because every time she talks about her son, getting a transfer, I keep saying that anything can happen in football, so we can only wait and see.

Although I haven’t got the greatest opinion of TFG, I think the only logical thing we can do is wait and see what the squad looks like when the transfer window closes, because only then will it be possible to judge them.

I just hope I have got a little bit more confidence in them when the window finally shuts, then I’ve got in them right now🤞

There was me stupidly thinking Everton would get to play their first home game in the new ground at the traditional KO time...

1) a Unicorn (any colour as long as its not red)

2) This week's lotto numbers.

3) and a RB...I understand that might be a bridge too far, but give it a go, as Mr M. Loaf said - 2 outta 3 ain't bad.

There's a YouTube video out there that has Stanley Unwin and the Bill & Ben voice over guy having a 'conversation'...sounds like our transfer policy being discussed.

I say we should never again buy -- and be stuck with for years -- a mediocre player who can't truly make us better. Buy quality or don't buy. I think that's exactly what this new team is trying to do.

And when they've bought their limit, or failed to bring in everybody they wanted, loan players can fill in the holes, and they're gone after the season.

So I still think we'll see a flurry of three more loans right before the deadline. When that smoke clears, we'll be able to judge Moyes, Kinnear and Hammond on their window work. It's in their hands.

Not TFG's, by the way. They hired Kinnear to run this operation. It's on him and Davey.

At this rate we will have to rename the manager as Desperate Davey.

Ashley #106, my best guess is that the Friedkins bought the best PSR counsel available and then did everything they could -- dumping players, selling Goodison, selling the women's team -- to push that PSR limit as high as possible. Then they handed that limit to Kinnear and Moyes with a license to buy whoever they wanted up to that line... and no farther.

I firmly believe that it's Moyes, Kinnear and Hammond -- not the owners -- who are weighing every pound or Euro against that strict budget in deciding how high to bid for Dibling, for example. I don't believe TFG itself is much involved in the negotiating process.

Or is he just in us for himself, eventually he hopes, as has been the case with another bogus owner/chairman for more than half of my loyal 70 year life as a Toffee?

It's a sorry state of affairs to have to build a squad like this and we are unprepared for the season ahead.

In Moyes I Trust, TFG will have to put their money in as we can't compete with this squad.

Typical Board activity when they know we should stay up but won't compete on the trophy or European front. Why spend a ton of cash to move 3 places higher in the Premier League?

Losing patience fast. The lustre of a new ground and being a competitive team is fading fast.

I was concerned before this summer that any transfer committee led by him would err on the side of caution and would overvalue the usefulness of PL experience. So far of our purchases 5 have come with PL experience and 2 have not. It remains to be seen how much those 2 will feature in Moyes starting XI.

Our primary RW target Dibling also comes with PL experience and is quite possibly overpriced as a result.

I will hold off judgement till the window closes. Hopefully the last week of it will be a successful one. I'm reminded of two deadline days:

In 2013 Everton had started the season with uninspiring draws against West Brom and Cardiffs when deadline day arrived and we brought in Romelu Lukaku, Gareth Barry and James Mccarthy who bought solidity and goals between them and contributed majorly to us getting 72 points that season; our highest total in a long time and ever since.

Contrastingly in 2019 the team was looking (as ever) a little short of pace and bite out wide and the calls for a winger or two were loud with expectation high for deadline day. But as deals fell by the wayside we ended up overpaying for Alex Iwobi (a player I liked) who was never a traditional winger and struggled to make much impact in his first season which saw Everton fall out of the top ten for the first time in 4 years as they limped to 12th.

There seems an ingrained belief at Everton that the best business can be done or has to be done very late in the transfer window; sometimes that can work out (as with 2013) but sometimes you can end up being left short with other clubs not having time to replace departures. We badly need 3-4 new players. Hope the committee have called this one right.

We will end up with some 33 year old free agent winger on deadline day that no one else wants.

Somebody has to be in charge, you have to have rules even in an Anarchy.

For me this Director of Football lark...for want of a better term... works 2 ways (or 3 if you count 'not working' as a 3rd option)

1) Manager / Coach driven says - I need a Peter Reid type and the 'DsoF' Roy Kinnear & Wally Hammond prepare a list of Reidy types we can afford, the Manager/ Coach ranks them in order and says - Go get em.

2) 'DsoF' driven; we've got you this player consults notes - Terry Hibbert, looks great on YouTube, he mightn't be exactly what you want, but you're a top class coach on big money - so Coach him.

I prefer option 1

#toomanychiefs

I don’t know if it’s for lack of money or, arrogance, but we are not an attractive proposition despite having a shiny new stadium.

Money counts, and if you pay top dollar all this, “I wants European football” counts for nothing. Players want money, that’s why they go to football deserts like Saudi and Qatar

If Spurs want to pay £50M for a player with 2 goals and no assists last season, good luck to them. That's a signing Moshiri would make. And plenty on here would be going mad about it.

They have lost out on many of their targets already, despite being able to offer Champions League, and their fans are very unhappy about that. No idea whether or not Dibling will end up at Spurs, but it is far, far from a done deal as Ray was implying!

Dibling's Premier League experience consists of 1 year so I would say he is definitely overpriced. Good luck to the club who finally get him. I sincerely hope it's not us.

Just giving an opinion here, Sam, not having a go — I always look forward to your posts.

Not sure what Dibling is on at Southampton, but I would guess at far less that Luiz at Juventus!

We need more technical players that can retain the ball.

Anyway, it’s all pure speculation. I read that X player hasn’t moved from one club to another because his agent wants a £10m commission. Sickening

It is frustrating when you see the likes of Garnacho and Sancho being out of reach when some years ago we would have been near the top of the list for such players.

As we move closer to the end of this window, my usual optimism is slowly dissipating.

Our midfield would be able to play higher up the pitch if we had natural fullbacks to give them team some shape and balance.

Leeds play with hide/wide players who pinned us back for large parts of the game on Monday and while that won't happen every game, at the moment we'll be targeted in that area I'd imagine.

No news on Myko's fitness but having a natural left back would really help the cause. If this Ake 'news' is true we should be going all out to sign him given he's a quality ball playing centre half who can also play left back. He's even drifted into and played a bit in midfield for City.

Targeting City's bench is a tactic I'm fully behind.

I only hope that we bring in a few quality players by the end of this window, because I’m certain there are loads of Evertonians, beginning to feel exactly like Phil, and especially what he wrote in his last paragraph.

People quite rightly or wrongly say that Dibbling, might not have changed the game at Leeds, but sometimes it’s more about changing the mood, because the players in our squad, will all be definitely hoping for a few more reinforcements

I think only posters who continually make disparaging remarks about fellow posters are no longer tolerated.

That's a closely guarded secret to keep us all, by and large, respectful. Seems to be working BTW.

I like Dibling. I think there is a chance he develops into a really top player. But he's not there yet.

Everyone out there, who is available, is either; too young, too old, too short, too tall, too fat, too thin, too slow, too ugly, too handsome, too cocky, too shy, too expensive, too cheap, too boring, too maverick, too cowardly, too physical, too thick, too clever, too loud, too quiet, too smiley, too sulky, etc, etc, etc,………………

If we can’t find this unworldly person then perhaps we shouldn’t bother.

They have a chairman, who puts his hands in his pockets and because he comes across as aggressive and also very determined to deliver success, then it’s clear that Nuno, won’t be getting an easy ride.

It reminds me a bit of how Everton, once were, especially us Evertonians, before we got completely kidded by a conman.

In the case of Nathan Aké, I can't see TFG/the board wanting to buy a high earner having just let other high earners leave the club. Grealish is different in that's it's only a one year deal for the moment.

Talking of John McFarlane, has anyone heard from him? As well as exchanging on these pages, I've had the pleasure of meeting him a few times, once with his Grandson. He's a font of Everton knowledge.

I'm still trying to get my head around whether it was just a bad day at the office (which happens to all teams) or whether it was something more fundamental.

Two obvious problems are that: (1) we are still undercooked; and (2) the players performed like they have hardly played with each other previously (which they haven't).

I suspect we still have a problem we have had for years: when our best team plays, we are a match for most oppositions. But when there are injuries in key positions, we cannot call upon much talent from "the stiffs".

Palace fans are also moaning about not signing players. One made a point that Oakace are going in for players, but agents are then punting them around other clubs - in the hope to get better deals.

Palace aren't a bad sude and have European football. Theyre not big payers, but a good stepping stone club.

The only teams that getting deals done are city, Chelsea, arsenal and United. Prestige and money. The rest are lower in the food chain, and will pick up players at the end of the window.

Everton lower in the food chain, as they're baukling at breaking a transfer record set EIGHT YEARS AGO. No other club in the Premier league has an eight year old transfer record.

Football moves on, and the last 35 years has proved that we aren't keeping up.

All players that could be in the first 20 players, but have been sold.

They're not too bothered about the lack of European football.

Here are words used in his team talk:

ickle weed
ikl wid
little weed
Waddle oo tik oo dop?
/wadl u tik u dap/
What do you think of that?
Gloob a waddle a hop.
glub a wadl a hap
Gloves as well as a hat.
loblob
lablab
Nob a nob?
lovely
flobberpop
flabapap
flowerpot
Fuck yupe, Fuck you.

The driver of the fire engine 'Barney McGrew' always had his eyes closed, no wonder they never found a fire.

A bit like our manager, we will go down in flames and his excuse is, eyes wide shut!