Rumour Mill — Week of 4 May 2025

Stones? Really?

Kleindienst is nobody's superstar, but he can really score. Having a fine season in the Bundesliga. Saw him beat Bayern last year with two second-half goals. Not sure why he's available, but interestingly, one of the other clubs rumored to be after him is Roma.

Stones is surely a non-starter. £200k per week wage and still under contract for another season.

Kleindienst is more interesting as you say, Mike. A nothing lower league journeyman until he got promoted into the Bundesliga with Heidenheim at age 28. But 12 in 33 in his first top flight season last year. And 16 in 30 for Borussia Monchengladbach this season - and a few for the German national side too now. Quietly impressive.

How is he scoring these goals?

Well, they play in a 4231 - very Moyes. They have productive wingers in Hack and Honorat. They the versatile and pacy Plea also in attack too. All four have registered good goals and assists this season.

The play is generally counter attacking, aiming to suck the opposition in and then hit them on the break. They also make the most of set pieces etc. Again, not unlike Moyes' Everton.

So he might fit in.

However, although he's scoring at the same sort of rate as Ekitike of Frankfurt (who all the Champions League sides now want), he's clearly not in the same league. Ekitike is a superb footballer with exceptional technical ability and pace. Kleindienst is more the tall guy who finishes off good chances presented to him from quality wing play. If we don't present him with the chances, he doesn't score. For a 29 year old, not sure that's a good use of a large part of our kitty.

Good description Robert. We already have a 28 year old version who will cost zero if we re sign him. Staying fit for purpose and providing the opportunities will be the key, plus we'll need a good back up for the inevitable injuries.

I could Imagine Stones, sitting deep either side of Branthwaite and O’Brien, smoking a big cigar😂

According to Greek show ‘Athletic Sunday‘, Everton have now submitted their opening proposal to land the Panathinaikos right-back, Georgios Vagiannidis.

Was at Inter Milan, but didn't make it.

Vagiannidis.... Sounds Awful.

Simon(#6); And imagine if he was to play in front of Virginia!

Vagiannidis is free I think. He nearly joined Ajax in January when Rensch (linked with us) left for Roma.

He's more a back up I would have thought — like Lars Jacobsen sort of standard — rather than a first choice

I don’t mind young Championship players Dan Neil and Tom Fellows, and I like Esteve the Burnley centre back, but I would also like a mixture of quality foreign players. We should get the average age of the squad down to 24/25 year olds as we had in the 80s.

Interesting the mention of 4-2-3-1 being Moyes-like. That's what we're playing right now with the players we have, but his traditional default used to be 4-5-1. Maybe he's evolved and moved on?

I have no issue shopping in the Championship or lower, but I
would like to see us looking in the Belgium, German and Dutch leagues. The likes of Denmark and Croatia can throw up the odd hidden gem too.

Kleindienst is an interesting one for a couple of reasons. Consistent goal-scoring record at all levels he's played at and he has had a good season for Gladbach. Also, 4 goals in 6 games for the German national team.

He will be 30 in August, so the ageists might not approve, but I'd be comfortable with it.

Ironically, and tongue in cheek, in English, his name roughly translates to "little service". He might fit in well!!!

Linked with Gustavo Hamer. Player of the Season in the Championship I think.

Pretty creative, not a lot of pace — Sheffield United will be wanting a lot more than £15M paid for last summer.

This smells like an agent wanting a new contract, rather than genuine link.

I hope it's only rumours regarding Stones, he's on massive wages and too injury-prone.

Didn't Moyes sign him from Barnsley?

The Hamer rumour has been running for a couple of weeks, Ian.

Not sure we would sign him and Alcaraz.

Christy, yes, Barnsley. And then we went back for their next superstar centre-half. A friend said he was even more highly rated than Stones.

Mason Holgate.

Ronald Koeman rated Holgate very highly. Carlo Ancelotti rated him even higher. He told us that Holgate was a future Everton captain and gave him a 5-year deal making him one of the highest-paid Everton players. A very, very talented boy.

I bet Holgate himself would struggle to explain it. He impresses the world's most successful manager enough to give him 5-year contract. Then seemed to lose everything before the ink had time to dry.

I've heard people say that 90% of the game is played in your head. Unfortunately for Mason Holgate, his head seems to have left town long before he did.

Up there in the company of other supremely talented players. Those who lost it all … just when it seemed they had gained it all!

Colin back then wasn’t he even on the verge of being called up for the full England squad, and being watched by a few top teams, down hill ever since.

That's a good assessment of Holgate, Colin. Like many before him, potential that didn't materialise.

I watched him playing for West Brom against Derby a week or so back, where I had an eye on Harrison Armstrong. Mason looked out of place at that level.

Different position, but Cadamarteri springs to mind.

The mind boggles, Al!! #7.

As long as we have two big ones up front. (Pathetic eh?)

We cannot do what Chelsea and Nottm Forest did a couple of years ago, by bringing in a host of players; it didn't work for them and it will not work for us.

You can clearly see a handful of players coming in, but we will still have a number of out-of-contract players and loanees on the books, gradually being replaced over the next year or two.

Danny, for some reason a photo of Billy Kenny and his 3-day benders and then 2 days on the white powder and retiring at 21 came up on my PC.

The Joy of Six: football's lost talents

Holgate didn't go down hill, Christy. He fell off a cliff.

Danny, I watched the same game. He looked clueless.

Phil. Billy Kenny. What a sad story.

There are people who comment on here who know him and his family well.

A genuine talent. And a very passionate Evertonian. I believe his dad played for Everton at some level.

Not just in Everton circles, often dubbed a lost talent of English football and the Goodison Gazza.

I hope he has faced his demons and is well.

Holgate, Kenny and Alli.

It's not just about ability. People like Doucoure have been showing us that for years.

But if the mind ain't right..... ?

It's either Mason fell off a massive cliff, or Carlo couldn't give a monkeys.

I note that same month he gave a 5-year deal to that other defensive titan, Michael Keane.

It was so sad about Billy Kenny, he was so talented.

He needed a senior pro to look after him, but back then there was a massive drink culture. In the present day, it's a hands-on approach and looking after the players' welfare.

John # 19, if we could afford quality, I'd be more than happy for us to sign more than 10 first team squad players this summer.

It was very high risk financially but high volume buying has given Forest a good and deep squad in a short space of time.

It will be very hard to have a Top 8 quality squad until we've spent more than £25M on 10 more players.

Robert, nowhere near your database but £40M normally, and I stress normally, will get you a decent player.

Over the 8 seasons 2016-17 to 2023-24, 92 players were signed by Premier League clubs, 79 by the Sky 6 (85%). We signed 1.

Now there are some failures, Grealish, Antony, Pogba, Darwin Nunez 🤭, but the teams buying the better players do better. Well, that's rocket science ain't it!

I'm not sure £25M players are enough. But our 1 was someone we overpaid and did not deliver as much as we should have expected.

Phil @27, here is a list of all players bought by Premier League clubs for more than €60M. (It is very very hit and miss.)

Fernandez
Grealish
Rice
Caciedo
Lukaku
Pogba
Anthony
Gvardiol
Maguire
Nunez
Sancho
Lukaku
Cheating Dutch CB
Fofana
Havertz
Pepe
Kepa
Hojlund
Debruyne
Marmoush
Havertz
Di Maria
Dias
Casemiro
Szoboslai
Mudryk
Isak
Rodri
Mahrez
Morata
Cucurella
Fernandes
Laporte
Solanke
Mount
Pulisic
Aubameyang
Sterling
Alison
Lavia
Yoro
Nunes
Ndombele

It looks like Premier League sides have a terrible record of €60M plus signings – but it doesn't hurt clubs if they can just keep spending.

Love the description of the guy Southampton sold for £76m
Priceless.

If we're talking football Rumours and not the very excellent Album by Fleetwood Mac, here's one - BMD won't be ready until early October and thus our 3 or 4 games will be Away games.

Now that's a Rumour I could do without having spent up large on flights from Brisbane, hotels etc. for the last two weeks of Sept.

Simon - naughty lad! Quick though, Ha Ha!

Derek, I hope that rumour is wrong. Based in Adelaide, we've planned to go to UK and Europe last couple of weeks in September and early part of October, taking in at least one game at BMD.

That rumour might have something in it, they’ve dug the pitch up and no third test event has been announced, no pitch, no match, not a lot of time to get the pitch ready, have a 53000 test event and achieve the correct certification to start in August.

I have thought for a fair while now that we would not be ready for the start of the season and that that would be something to do with public access and safety. Derek, 30, seems to be suggesting albeit through rumour something else. No mention of a third test is revealingly critical here. I share Derek and Jeff's concerns in the club that says fuck all other than that stream of shite from that divisive NBA fella who SSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO gets our history.

I don't think there will be many seats or much of the turf left to sell.

Many will take there's as a keep sake.

The best bet might be to keep an eye on eBay!!

There are the Celtic rumours Paul, but that's all they are.

Having attended the 2nd test event with 24,999 others, the stadium is ready barring a few cosmetics, which I presume the club and the project team are still working on. I keep saying, the outside as you walk in, is as impressive as the inside. You'll love it.

The transport infrastructure has been well debated. Having experienced the bus on the way to the stadium, I walked back to the Pier Head and took a left towards Lime Street. It was quicker.

That's okay for me, but not for everyone.

If it isn't going to be ready, then announce it quick. It gives a chance for a load more to make one last visit and for them to leave the seats and pitch behind after Southampton.

Derek - its not difficult to see this. I was at BMD the other week and there is still substantial work going on in the corner sections of the ground

Rumours eh?

The truth is that the club have requested the first three games to be played away.

Danny..what are the Celtic rumours ?

Just that Alan. I usually take them with a pinch of salt until something is announced or from a reliable source.

I wouldn't mind it personally if the case. Although we once played them at Goodison in a pre-season friendly and they took the entire Upper Bullens. They would bring about 10,000 down.

Cheers, Danny...

I didn't realise it was about a pre-season friendly(?) I was looking for a rumour about a 30-goal-a-season striker! 😁

SkySports saying Leeds are looking at Beto.

If we get 30m for Beto we should sell. He did well with direct through ball and work hard, good attitude. But quite limited in overall play.

It will probably end up something daft like a straight swap Beto for Harrison.

Billy Kenny is on a way to long list of Everton so-called prodigies developed in Finch Farm, and Bellefield before it, before crashing to earth as more or less nonentities when it comes to winning trophies.

Mike Buckley, Ronny Goodlass, Tony Grant, John Ebbrell, Barn-door Barlow, Cadamarteri, Jeffers, Barkley, and many more besides were regarded by us lot as "game changers", but none of them showed it.

Rooney, the only one who did, did next to sod all for us wearing our shirt, albeit he seemingly achieved way more joy wearing our pyjamas - sometimes in the company of his wife.

Finch Farm - what's its purpose?

Alan McGuffog 42: I was looking for a rumour about a 30-goal-a-season striker! 😁

And speaking of 'a 30-goal-a-season striker!' Alan:

Andrew Ellams 43: SkySports saying Leeds are looking at Beto.

GiveMeSport have the balls to claim this morning:

Everton Interested in Re-Signing Spurs' Richarlison. They want a loan with an obligation to buy

Unless David Moyes is doing what he does best — damping down expectations?

How is it that all these clickbait sites seem to adopt the same journalistic style? I'm beginning to suspect they are all run by the same giant internet ad-mill somewhere in South-East Asia...