The Blues eye Tomas Soucek as new midfield target

Any thoughts anyone?

How many people thought Gareth Barry was only fit to be put out to grass when he joined us.

He also has goals in his locker, which we are short of from midfield - around 6-7 a season.

Not sure he would start for any of the teams above us.

Who knows how he will perform at the new stadium but based on his performances against us at Goodison over the years, Where, like Lewis Dunk of Brighton, he always seemed to raise his game and score/create against us, he could be a good asset.

£12m is like £3m in 2015, so, not peanuts but not caviar either.

There might be something in it, or it could be lazy journalism putting 2+2 together because of the Moyes-West Ham link.

Nothing to get over-excited about just yet.

For those who sometimes quote "in Moyes we trust", if, and if, it was to happen, we'll have to trust his judgement.

That said, and with a more positive outlook, can you imagine the trepidation on opposition defence's gaces as the land of the giants (Branthwaite, O'Brien & Soucek) queue up for corners and set pieces?

Not high on Jacob Ramsey either. £30m would be alot for someone who has fallen off quite a bit after a good first two seasons.

We need hungry young players with pace, desire and ability.

Players like Soucek should be a last resort at the end of the window or not at all.

I’d much rather sign more of a ‘footballer’ like Douglas Luiz but, like so many other fans, I believe our limited money is best spent on a really high quality right winger.

We need goals from all over the pitch. It was a big frustration for Dyche and seemingly Moyes agrees. At 12 million he doesn’t need to set the world on fire but he adds goals assists and graft. Let’s get this type of experience in to help the younger lads along.

Players play longer nowadays. No longer are they all busted flushes at 32.

We need goals from all over the pitch. It was a big frustration for Dyche and seemingly Moyes agrees. At 12 million he doesn’t need to set the world on fire but he adds goals assists and graft. Let’s get this type of experience in to help the younger lads along.

Players play longer nowadays. No longer are they all busted flushes at 32.

He wouldn't be my first choice West Ham player to bring in if given a wish list but a good player and sensible option.

The price? It all depends on other targets, priority positions and remaining budget. Hopefully the big money deals will be spent on quality, creative, attacking options. But I am not privy to any of that.

It’s a squad game in the modern era, and for me Soucek is an upgrade on Doucouré. We need strong reinforcements in the squad, especially ones that give us options in terms of how we might want to set up against differing styles of opponent.

I seriously hope any rumours about Jacob Ramsey are true. He has been unlucky with injuries but absolutely has the potential to be in and around England squads for years to come.

I'm not anti-female but my priority with the majority of sports is the male game. Happy to read and watch plenty of sports of both sexes but I dislike the attention grabbing headlines of transfers at the best of times.

I wish both Everton teams the best for the season I really do, but I have no passion or much loyalty to the Everton womens team.

I don't remember the Pink being sold in south Liverpool Paul. I used to pick one up in town on the way home. A shame it's not still around. It was always a really good immediate post-match read on the way home, with the Toffee Girl and Kopite caricatures at the top of the front page.

As long as it’s not mikhail Antonio

Our midfield would be overrun with him and Gueye in it. Not concerned about his age, just his lack of output.

A decent squad player and £12 million over 3 years would be decent business.

Where is this information, please?

Check yourself, you football slut. We can do better.

I don't know why I even posted it (wishful thinking I guess), it won't happen but I'd love it to.

His biggest attribute is his heading ability, we need more than that in midfield.

Really though no one will really be happy with any of these signings or links until we’ve got the RW forward in like Hutchinson etc because that’s what really upgrades the front 3.

In those pre internet days many used to buy it religiously and post over to relatives in Canada and Australia?

And take a 9 point hit in a couple of years.

And in the meantime do everything you can to circumvent the penalty like the big clubs do.

And if that doesn’t work. Take a 9 point hit with an excellent squad of players.

"then the pink late afternoon...the punters loved it."

You could have phrased that better.

Isn't that Lukaku you're describing? ;-)

It must be a dying trade these days.

On Soucek. I wouldn't describe him as a carthorse. A glamorous signing? No, of course not. I hope that if (again if) it was to happen, it wouldn't mean Armstrong going out on loan. He's already benefited from a loan and is a different type of player.

This is Moyes' first window. When he arrived in January, he inherited what he left and the Alcaraz loan will already have been agreed.

So now, he gets to influence which players he wants and we can judge him on that, through performances and results.

Of course we need to throw a little bit of experience into the mix but we already have Pickford, Tarkowksi, Gueye and McNeil in the team plus the likes of Coleman and Keane on the bench.

Soucek is a reliable, mid-level player who will get us a few goals. But he's not a brilliant footballer who will elevate us. As a squad option he'd be great but he won't want that and I suspect Moyes would start him every week. Think I'd rather get Brownhill on a free and put that £12m towards a more exciting prospect.

Or maybe spend a little bit more on someone like Douglas Luiz who, when fit, is a CL level player. Though depends what his price is; not sure i'd want to pay much more than £20m for a player of that age and injury record.

Also, I’d argue that Armstrong could learn from someone who’s been as effective as Soucek.

It also means that me and my daughters can do the “he’s soooo Czech!” joke more often.

We need better quality and more players. Would Soucek add quality? Questionable depending on opinions. Would he be a useful addition? Probably.

We have survived on 12-14 core players with not enough young players coming through for several years. With injuries and suspensions, that is not a recipe for progress, let alone success.

I know it's not purely a numbers game, but we do need depth to compete on 3 fronts.

I do think that the idea of getting him for £20m is wildly optimistic when Juve spent €50m for him a year ago. Football Italia reports we offered them €30m, which seems more reasonable, but they said no thanks. La Gazzetta dello Sport says Hammers offered even less.

I'd like to think we have a shot at him. If he wants to get back in frame for Brazil by next summer, he need lots of games, and his best chance of that is with us.

And he'd be way better for us than Soucek. Somebody to build around.

I like the player a lot. Significant upgrade on Soucek. But would be wary spending too much our pot on a player with limited resale value. Depends what offers Juventus get but seems like they don't see a future for him. I think £30m would be too much, should be getting the next Luiz for that amount. Someone like Lamine Camara or even Bouaddi.

We have to strike a balance with a younger average age for the 1st team or a mixture of young and experienced.

Whatever we do this summer, the squad for season 2025/26 will probably be no better than 10th in the Premier League - and realistically more about 12th.

We will not win the title or compete the Champions League places this coming season. At best (and this is not to be sniffed at) we could sneak a place in Europe or even win a cup.

However, the main aim must be to build a squad which can start competing consistently in the upper reaches of the Premier League and have a much better chance of cup trophies - and done well we could do that in about 3 summer windows.

If we buy a player like Douglas Luiz this summer - it will likely be on a 3 year deal. That means we buy a 27 year old who has started to experience injury issues, is dropping down a couple of notches from previous spells at City, Villa and Juve - and who will be worth nothing in three years age 30.

To me that looks a really risky move - with very little upside. It has early years Moshiri written all over it.

If we could get Soucek for a low fee (i.e. less than £10m) and bring in a talented young player alongside also for about £10m or so (as well as developing Armstrong on loan), then in 3 years time Soucek will be done at very little cost but Armstrong and AN Other could be ready to kick on as properly developed Premier League midfielders.

That is a much better way to build the squad and manage the financials.

He could occupy the RW spot for 10 years - delivering great value. And if he becomes brilliant and we sell it would be for £70m or so.

Moyes fairly regularly spent the equivalent of £35m back in his first spell with us.

The points deduction undermined that season and Dyche’s negative football, was undermining last season.

I think if we can get off to a decent start, then we can definitely push into the top eight next year, and if we can achieve this then we might suddenly start to become a football club, that good players want to play for, once again?

Let’s see who we bring in during this transfer window first, obviously!

There is always an element of here and now, whilst concurrently building for future in the background. If we wait another 3 - 5 years, it's too late. We've already waited 30-40 years.

Many on here seem to rate him. I passingly watched him have a few good seasons for Villa, who had to sell him for PSR reasons, as they were and still are under scrutiny. They have already been fined £9.5m with possibly another £13m to follow. More of a rap on the knuckles, but I'm hearing they may still have to sell another key player.

I wouldn't say he's starting to pick up injuries. He picked up an injury. For those who have torn a thigh / quad muscle (I have), they are notoriously tricky to come back from short-term. A bit like ligaments and hamstrings (done them too), just when you think you're okay, you break down again if you come back too quickly. Give me a break anytime, as long as it's not complicated. I've had them too. After one, I was back playing after 5 weeks. It took months after the others.

I've read with interest the clamour for Luiz on here, without really commenting. I can't get too excited until I something credible.

From what I've read, Juventus paid approximately £45m (exchange rate dependent) only a year ago. If the unsubstantiated claims we are looking at £20m, then I can't see that happening, especially with Italian clubs being notoriously difficult to deal with.

But we don't control this, we just speculate from our individual wish lists.

Ian@79 interesting point, though difficult to predict who Saudi will lavish their inflated transfer fees on? they do seem to like Brazilians.

There will always be a demand for that type of player I think.

Bakayoko was cheap because he only had a year left in his contract.

"Moyes fairly regularly spent the equivalent of £35m back in his first spell with us."

Kieran Dyer left Ipswich for Newcastle in 1999 for a fee of 6m. I don't remember Moyes regularly spending 6m on a player in his first spell here.

Not saying we sell him when he's out of contract.

Grant@88. Off the top of my head and without looking it up, so excuse if the numbers aren't accurate. Fellaini (£15m), Yakubu (£12m), Baines (up to £6m), Beattie (£6m). I suppose you could throw in the ill-fated Kroldrup (£4m).

I think Robert is adding inflation and today's market context. Perhaps a couple of those players in their prime now, would cost a lot more. I understand what he means.

Back to your earlier post. I understand the caution, but 10th - 12th wouldn't represent much progress or improvement on last season for me. Providing we get the right players in before the season starts and then in January, there is no reason we can't do better than that.

Like I've said, if he gets the backing, which I hope he does, Moyes will now be judged on his team, not the one he inherited. No excuses.

He said on camera after the Southampton game that it felt like a broken club. Agreed.

But then followed up by saying it doesn't feel broken any more.

Good. Now go and fix it and get us back where we can and should be. And that isn't 10th, 11th or 12th.

Quite a lot of them didn't cost 6m plus. Neville was a about 3.5m, as was Wright. Pienaar cost 2.5m the first time and about 4.5m the second time. Maybe you're adding them together?

Lescott 5m. Distin 5m. Jagielka 4m and Baines 5m. Van Der Meyde was 2.5m and Beattie 5m.

We cant be here in 5 years time looking to spend £100-150m in the market, and have nothing coming in the other way. No increase in league position covers that every season.

The best teams play in the market. They sell the players that they don't want or the ones where they have met a valuation, to bring in players they want. Madrid, barca, Liverpool, Brighton, they all do it.

Look at some of the European teams that do well in European competitions, they don't spend obscene amounts to get success.

Also, if we are building for the future we need players that are 26 years old or younger.

It is if it's a massive chunk of your total budget.

Of course bad scouting didn't help us but we got into a terrible PSR hole because we didn't have enough players to sell whilst the likes of Brighton zoomed up the table.

This is not to say that all players need to be youngsters of course but the only way we can come close to matching the teams ahead of us will be by developing top class talents along with a few, affordable experienced pros.

Ultimately football is a business and we need to get much better at it.

I'd rather see us do what Man Utd or Arsenal did in with the likes of Rooney or Henry. Buy them young and then build success around them before moving them on when they're no longer at the level we need.

Hurzeler should have done better than 8th with that team last year but, under Potter and then De Zerbi, they went from 17th to 6th whilst selling Bissouma, Cucurella, Trossard, White, Burn, Macallister and Caciedo for around £250M.

You can find good value cheaper but you typically have to spend time developing the player. Or as with Alcaraz and Ndiaye you have to beat the market. However, you can't count on beating the market every time. No one does that ever.

If £35m is a very big chunk of our kitty then we have a small kitty - and however you spend small kitty it is hard to make meaningful improvements.

I think a successful window gives us a decent first XI with some new younger players with Champions League potential who can occupy their positions for many years. It might mean buying a few cheap underwhelming stop gaps like Coufal etc if we use up the money on bigger buys.

Whilst I don't think we will end the window with one of the 10 best squads, we can be fairly close – and can still overperform our quality in league placing as we have done for the past few seasons.

We all watched the Moshiri years unfold.

I've watched the last 50 years, some longer.

I'm in both camps and I can be quoted on it.

As he seems to be flavour of the month, I'll use the unrealistic chance of landing 27 year old Luiz. We get 3 years out him, he possibly helps us improve. At 30, we can still get something for him or extend his contract.

That's the short-term view that sometimes has to be looked at.

We won't get anything for Tarkowski or Gana, but they are important players for us.

But we could for O'Brien, Branthwaite, Garner, Ndiaye, Alcaraz, Beto, and now Barry.

But I wouldn't be selling any of those any time soon.

As always, opinions Sam, but resale and how much can we get for him isn't the first thing that comes into my head when we are signing a player.

The Moshiri era has gone.

What they tried kind of worked as they reached Champions League semi-finals.

Some of their heavy investments, such as Rio Ferdinand, were sold at profit. Showing the logic behind buying players with resale prospects. Rather than buying 5 Tomas Souceks with no prospect of ever getting your money back, let alone making a profit.

Buying such talent offsets the risk somewhat as you can sell your way out of trouble if it goes badly wrong.

What went wrong for them was mismanagement of having average players on huge long contracts and not securing the long-term futures of assets such as Kewell and Bowyer and then losing them for less than you'd like.

What Leeds also gambled with was not having the finances in the first place to invest and lending and borrowing against future success. Whereas TFG are a billion-dollar corporation.

That's why I'd be up for Douglas Luiz with an option to buy around £20M but I certainly wouldn't want to go above £30M.

Maybe it's unromantic but I want to see us improve and that means being smarter. Moshiri may be gone but we're still waiting to see how the new regime will operate.

Okay, it was a different era and things have changed massively since then but I still think that a young talented team could succeed.

Harrison Armstrong should be retained and not sent out on loan for a start. To quote the old cliche – if they're old enough, they are good enough. Give him a run in the team.

Plan A should really be that you don't sell (unless youth trading purely for profit as per the RS).

Plan A is that you build up a good stable squad of players who occupy their positions for many years.

But if things don't work out then resale value protects your position – as it did with Onyekuru, Lookman, Kean and Vlasic – making sure you have money to spend in future.

And if someone is so good then they attract a huge bid then that doesn't go amiss either.

No club has been doing this better than the RS unfortunately.

How much do you think we've got then? If it's £80M to start with, then £35M is a 'big chunk'. Especially as we've already spent about £45M and would be left with nothing, while still needing more signings.

Tommy @104.

There is only one Tomas Soucek and he'd make sense as a signing for a couple of years given the complete lack of goals in our current team.

They may have overspent by paying £30m for the eventual dude Caroll, but they sold Torres on the same day for £50m.

They made a ridiculous profit from Coutinho.

I'm not at all against resale. I just prefer a blend of both. I think most managers do as well.

Even at the very top end it is nowhere near enough to improve the squad so that it is one of the best 8.

For what it is worth transfermarkt says we have the 17th best squad in the Prem but closer to Leeds and Burnley in 18th and 19th than Wolves in 16th.

So inevitably it will take 3 windows or possibly more to achieve a top 8 standard squad. Again that doesn’t mean we can’t over perform and finish higher.

So spending bigger on a problem position that will really improve the first IX for more than 5 years is fine by me. Even if that means Coufal at RB for free and someone like Ugochukwu on loan from Chelsea in midfield.

A long term RB might have to wait.

I see Walker Peters move to Besiktas has been cancelled. He is one that we could get on a free and would have sone resale value in a couple of years.

It allows them to keep pace with and outperform better resourced clubs like City, Chelsea and Man Utd.

I would also like us to outperform those clubs but it won’t be done by spending £20m quid here or there on downward trajectory 27 (+) year olds. It will take time.

Otherwise I think the answer to all your other observations is already scattered across half a dozen existing posts on the thread.

I can imagine thousands of dense red shite supporters standing in front of a mirror, holding the shirt up, and trying to work out why the name is not reversed, then taking the shirt back and demanding a refund.

They have indeed had a few good examples, but when they slipped into the shadow of Ferguson's Manchester United, they also brought in a few experienced players.

January 2024: £0

Summer 2024: -£17.8 million

January 2025: £0.

They only bought Giorgi Mamardashvili (£29 million) and Enrico Chiesa (£10 million) in those 3 transfer windows.

That is why they can afford to spend now. They seem to splurge big every 3-4 years, then spend very modestly in between.

Summer 2023 and 2025 are the only big net spend summers over the last 9 years.

The only 2 notable sales in recent years that brought in resale value were Fabinho and Mane.

Man City just signed a kit sponsor for £1B, Chelsea will earn around £200M for the Club World Cup, winning the Premier League is worth £100M more than our league finishes, Champions League later stages £150M.

It's easier to buy the occasional here-and-now player when you've got those inflows, plus much much more. We ain't.

Like it or not, we are competing with Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford for now at least. Maybe in 5 years we'll be in a better spot.

Will we buy anyone before we head off to The States? Not looking likely is it?

I had two experiences with Brighton supporters last season. On the train on the way back to Euston after they humbled (polite term) us 3 - 0 at Goodison on the opening day.

And then when we narrowly beat them 1 - 0 in the return at the AMEX. Their behaviour was very peculiar, booing their own team and having a go at the manager. A group even resorted to chanting Liverpool songs and that Marsden song as we left the stadium. We were heading towards the departing Evertonians, so it didn't last too long.

Very odd behaviour considering the season they were having. Personal view, but I feel that having been elevated from lower league status, they may have got a bit above their station.

And before anyone mentions us, you can't compare Everton to Brighton. Yes they have performed better in recent seasons and been run better, but in terms of club and support base, they are not comparable.

I remain hopeful that he will prove me wrong in the new season…

My boss was a Brighton fan, new I was a Blue, and invited me to a midweek cup game when 4th tier Brighton were hosting Leicester (then of the top flight) - and beat them.

Naturally with one eye on career progression, I went to a few Brighton games - even some aways - when either Everton weren't playing or I couldn't get a ticket.

One thing we have had in common over the years is truly terrible ownership. Brighton had their ground (The Goldstone) sold by their owners with no new ground even on the drawing board. For a couple of seasons their home games were at Gillingham (a 200 mile round trip) before they moved into the temporary stadium at Withdean Sports Centre.

I felt at the time they were a bit "parochial", with a whiff of Small Town England. It's a town of around 250k. (They'd argue a city). They regularly used to have beef with other teams - notably Bristol (assisted by Cardiff), and Cardiff and Swansea. They hated Palace (is the M23 Derby really a Thing?), plus other south coast teams.

I'll tell you a bit more in person in October, rather than clog up the boards, but suffice to say they really are a phoenix club - probably much closer to the brink than we ever came. All due to piss poor ownership.

I admire Brighton for coming back from what they went through when playing on an athletics ground, when they lost or had to give up theirs.

Not quite the same, but parallels to Charlton, when they had to leave the Valley, which became a weed ridden derelict, until they were able to retake and redevelop it.

Yes poor ownership. Like Everton, but fortunately we somehow escaped fate by hook or crook or just sheer good fortune. There is a blue God.

On clubs who have fallen into decline, but come back, I'll be interested to see what Leeds do now. Down in the depths, bouncing between leagues, now back in the big time. What will they do with Elland Road?

With Goodison gone in terms of Premier League football, Elland Road probably replaces her as one of the last traditional stadiums. It hasn't changed in years.

Probably not their immediate priority.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qKkk8R9zVLw&t=44s&pp=2AEskAIB

That new Riverside stand is impressive. Their hospitality package prices put our in the shadows price wise.

Still my favourite London away day out, closely followed by Brentford.

The worst has to be West Ham. The stadium, the ingress and egress

I watched a vid about that new Riverside stand. It's NOT for watching football in, it's more like a private members club.

Also the other thing about Craven Cottage is that the end behind the goal where the away supporters and neutrals are accommodated is almost like a temporary golf course like stand with a roof.

Still okay though and no obstructed views.

My point on Elland Road is that it has barely changed in decades. A bit like Goodison in that respect.