The latest clickbait rumour is Conor Gallagher

If it's clickbait nonsense why is it on here?!

So you can discuss it, Mark. Or not, if you don't want to.

You never know really until it all pans out, one way or the other.

[The clickbait element is mostly in the deliberately obscure headlines they use. But is the underlying link of any possible consequence? Who can say...

Maybe this one is more likely: "Pressure piling on Tim Iroegbunam as Everton open talks for midfielder Pep Guardiola raved about" … which is revealled as — Spoiler! — According to GiveMeSport, Everton are working on a deal closer to the region of £5M to land Ndidi this summer.]

Whatever happened to the Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Evan Ferguson etc… rumours? At one point they appeared to be dead certs but have now gone ice cold.

Apart from Grealish, none of the others really excited me. So we've returned to playing it safe and signing deadbeats like Keane and Jack fucking Harrison (who's even worse than Iwobi when he played for us).

I imagine all this is an indication that we don't have a lot of money to spend and we will continue to scrape around at the bottom like crabs, literally.

I hope I'm proven wrong, I really do, but I've had a bad feeling about TFG for a while now. I even saw a rumour that Benny or Barry, whatever his name is, will be sent out on loan to Roma after he signs for us.

Candles are being lit, prayers are being said. Please don't make this another false dawn.

ps: Before you jump all over me, I will gleefully eat my hat, shoes, socks and whatever other apparel is required if Everton prove me wrong.

I think he's a good midfield player, that Ndidi, especially at that price.

Unless he's physically matured over the summer, I think Tim Iroegbunam is better getting out on loan in the Championship.

Yes please to this kind of signing, as much as we need a quality right-back and right midfield, I'd like us to sign an all-action midfielder this summer. O'Riley from Brighton is another option.

I hope there is some legs in this, maybe a loan with obligation to buy?

Colin,

Kyle Walker is joining Burnley.

It always worries me a tad when a player has gone abroad for a hefty fee, and then, a year on, they are considering letting him go.

We are allegedly the best league in the World, after all, so it is a bit of a head scratcher. His energetic displays are noted, but his end product (assists/goals) seem limited. Especially at £43M?

Having bought Alcaraz, with other number 10 options, I don't think attacking midfielder is a priority.

Cover for Gana more likely. Ndidi link probably has more legs.

No thanks, we already have Harrison Armstrong, who I am convinced Moyes can develop into a very good box-to-box midfielder.

I wonder how Mangala is shaping up after his injury? He must be close to returning to action. I wouldn't mind getting him back on a loan and assess if he can return to being the player he was under Dyche.

In a heartbeat. We need a new signing to get excited over, Everton.

It might be a good move for both of us… but can't see it.

Gallagher would be the best central midfielder the club has had in at least 10 years if he were to sign. Seems a very, very unlikely signing though.

About 4 years ago, Ndidi looked destined for a big step up but then got injured and I don't think he's returned to anything like his previous form. Hence £6M price tag and links around the bottom half of the Premier League – rather than a £60M price tag and links around the Champions League.

No thanks.

He runs around like a headless chicken and his end product is on a par with Aiden McGeady.

Leicester City have been like Everton during that 4-year period, Robert, and seem to have gone downhill with the quality of player in their squad.

He might have seen his best days but he might just as easily get a new lease of life at another club, especially if he starts playing with better players?

Agreed, Robert. Ndidi was bought in to replace Kante wasn't he? I've seen Ndidi play quite a few times and he isn't fit to tie Kante's laces.

Then again, I had serious doubts about Gueye when we bought him from Aston Villa. How wrong was I?

Would l like this?

Yes indeed.

"The latest clickbait rumour" :- I love your derision for the source!

While I wouldn't want someone taking the place from Tim or Harrison, I remember there was a point last year when Harrison was on-loan while Mangala, Tim and Garner were all injured and we had to rely on Doucoure and Jack Harrison in CM.

Gallagher showed at Palace that he can be creative, and at Chelsea he can get stuck in. Yes please.

Colin G, one thing I never knew about Ngolo Kante, he couldn't tie his own laces !

T W is a font of new knowledge every day. :-)

Gallagher is an upgrade on Garner by some distance.

£43 million for Conor Gallagher? Bit early in the day to be hitting the bottle.

We will not be spending (or wasting) £40m plus on any one player. We need to build half a team on a limited budget.

Gallagher loan yes, maybe £25m if he impresses and he would add some much needed running, movement and energy to the midfield area.

I can't see Atletico wanting to sell at a loss after a season and I'd rather bring in a couple of goal scorers with pace and ability to create before we fill in the gaps elsewhere.

I'm still hopefull of Walkers-Peters on a free, he always impressed me as a good modern attacking full back.

The problem with the rumour sites is the fact that they feed off each other. If one of them makes something up the rest of them jump on the bandwagon while adding their own "embellishments". I also think a lot of them are part of the same umbrella organisation. So they get the clicks no matter what site is used.
I also notice that when they have worn a rumour out they start saying "it's not this player" to keep us clicking.
As for Gallagher. I think Crystal Palace got the best out of him. He scored 8 times in 34 appearances for them. In his time a Chelsea he has been loaned out four times and eventually sold to Atletico. He's a decent player but not a game changer. For the type of money they're talking about we can do better.

There's no way we will pay £43 million, not a cat in hells chance.

Justin @ 22, I'm with you on Walker Peters, there has been little or no mention since, maybe good news, or the opposite !

Everton buy multiple players for +/-£27M, they flop for them, and they're sold for peanuts.

Atletico buy a player for £34M, he flops for them, and they expect £43M.

I think I see why we struggle with PSR!

Great player, England regular, loads of energy. What's not to like. There's a reason he was Chelsea captain as his work ethic and professionalism is superb. Which I think makes him a perfect signing for Moyes. I'm not surprised he didn't shine in the slower, more technical La Liga, but I'm convinced he'd be a brilliant addition and really compliment Alcaraz and Ndiaye.

The price seems a little steep but if there's a deal to be done (loan to buy, etc.) I'm all for it.

Degsy 19, that’s the modern pro for you.

I heard we’re signing tagliatelle from somebody.

Rumour is that Jack Harrison is coming back? Not a great constructive player but his work rate and that he plays either side will impress Moyes. We were good defensively because of Jack's covering and we do need a good right sided Midfielder but he doesn't add anything to last year's squad. So far looks like we will have last year's squad to start next season. Not really because I see us making some good buys that will surprise.

We’ve spunked our big wage packet on Jazza (gladly) so now it’s back to free signings and cheap wages until we sell someone… I’d rather see Harrisson Armstrong given time instead of signing a Gallagher. Armstrong looked great when he played last season. The through ball I remember for Beto’s goal was something of real quality…. We also finished last season in the Top 6 form league, so I don’t want to chop and change too much. We were beating everyone, just needed some depth.

Martin, where are you getting the Harrison rumour from?

I’ve not seen anything that looks remotely credible.

Some joker on Grand Old Team claimed he was signing and then put up a ‘surveilled’ photo of a publicity shoot of a guy who could be Gana but never Jack Harrison, who was wearing a Chang sponsored shirt so it would have to be from years ago anyway.

Everton will not be spending £43 million or any other figure on Gallagher, we all know the reason, but some still cannot come to terms with it. Everton are skint.
Keane resigned, that allows O Brien to play fullback.
Harrison as a hard worker and can play both flanks.

If Everton cannot beat Burnley to bring in an England International fullback (yes he is getting on, but he is better than we already have) we are looking behind the cushions for a few bob.

Si, two of the Evertonian sites on You Tube, one is the Toffee Blues, the other has gone from my screen. The rumour is loan again or £5MM for a permanent move.

Si, two of the Evertonian sites on You Tube, one is the Toffee Blues, the other has gone from my screen. The rumour is loan again or £5MM for a permanent move.

We’ve been after Gallagher for years ever since he impressed on loan at Palace. We’re never going to get him. Apparently, he let it be known at Chelsea that he wasn’t interested in signing for us on loan after he returned from his spell in S. London.

He’s happy at Atletico and Simeone and the fans love him. So forget this one.

Colin. 28#
Untrue he's pasta his sell by date .

Everton are skint, however, I would have thought that the
financial guys from Freddos would have given Moysie an
indication roughly what sort of money was available in the
transfer kitty.
Many knowledgeable people on here suggesting players that
could do a good job for us.
Don't know Harrison personaly,nothing to do with it but he's not the question and he's definitely not the answer.
We need somebody supplying an end product.
Two full backs, two wingers, two strikers and a mid.
Don't want any whingers.

Walker joining Burnley is the best news I have heard for a while. I was mortified at the rumor linking him here.

Colin @ 28, reports from Italy saying he's pasta his best ! :-)

John@32 and David@36

You both describe Everton as “skint”.

We are clear of the Kenwright regime, are about to move into a paid-for world class stadium and since 1st July we are purportedly compliant with PSR, so could either of you explain why you think we are skint?

Hope not. I've never liked him. Not an overly talented player, just seems to be a disrupter and kcker. No, not for me.

Ian, the stadium isn’t paid for. There’s at least £350m of debt on the stadium @7 per cent interest.

So half the increased revenue will go on interest payments

John Williams - there’s no indication Everton wanted Kyle Walker so to say Burnley beat Everton to him is nonsense.

Personally I’m glad we didn’t go anywhere near him

Also if Everton are skint, why didn’t they cash in on Branthwaite and why are they trying to sign Barry for 30 odd million?

People don’t half spout some uneducated nonsense

Love Clickbait!

Martin#25 Alan Myers says there's no talk of us bringing Harrison back. Walker cost Burnley £5m plus wages, there's no way we were trying to sign him, just more rumours.

Still nothing on OS about Gana, or anyone else for that matter.
I'm giving this window a bit of time, new owners, not a full backroom yet, so give them a couple of weeks before it gets concerning.

Christy@45, I'm sure that you're right.

If his face is like it is in the headline picture NO

John Williams. We are not skint we are buying younger players for our team.

Sean@30 I have hopes that Harrison Armstrong can save
us a load of money. I am not however very hopeful that
Moyes will give him a run this season.

He is more graft than craft and very ninconsistent which is why he has never settled at one club.

For 40m we can and should do a lot better.

Next.

Not for me. He did well at Palace but, since then, I can't see what all the fuss is about.

I can't see us signing him but, if he did come, I would happily be proved wrong.

Absolutely top signing if we could get him.

Can't understand anyone saying he's not good enough. Crazy.

Jay @ 51:

For £40M, we should be looking for two that are better... or at least as good, not one.

Wow, clickbait trying to get away with it as clickbait. New low.

Good enough for Atletico Madrid but not good enough for Everton!!

Make it make sense.

It's a massive No from me.

However, I appreciate that my contribution as to who Everton are actually likely to buy is as much use as whistling up a cow's arse.

But on the off-chance that David Moyes is strolling along a meadow... it don't smell good, Dave.

Love reading the comments...

It makes me laugh, people getting caught up with nonsense..

Ryan #41, £350M @7% is £24.5M a year, without debt repayment.

So you are expecting increased revenue of £50M a year?

Have the projected increased revenue figures ever been released, or even speculated on?

I see we are all doing what we always do every summer.

We actually have some turning our noses up at a proven quality player that's been playing at the highest level in Conor Gallagher and before hardly seeing a fraction of Harrison Armstrong we've got him down as the next Andre Pirlo.

Didn't we have the same with Roman Dixon last year about this time? The next Cafu he was but, all of a sudden, reality hit home when people realized the lad was nowhere near Premier League ready.

Lewis Dobbin was the new Ryan Giggs to some, many gutted when he left… what's happened to him since?

Ellis Simms, some nearly lost sleep when he was scoring a few for Coventry, another player that's found his level over the last year by the looks of things.

Two points here.

Now don't get me wrong: Harrison Armstrong may become a top player, he may become a nomad player, many have had more firecracker starts to their teenage years than him and then fallen off a cliff into oblivion.

If he even gets near to what a Ross Barkley was when he broke through, then I'd be delighted, but let's not make out that we need to build a team around him just yet, eh… sensible heads needed.

Second point, I very much doubt there is any credence whatsoever to the Gallagher links, so everyone should chill out with the slanging battles, lol.

No longer a first team regular at Atletico Madrid, wasn't wanted at Chelsea, and no longer selected by England.

Yet some rate him a top-class player. He is a good player and that's about it.

Looking at the photo above, he's more of a Gary Ablett sort.

Looks like 5am at an 80s rave.

Conor Gallagher was deemed to be one of Chelsea’s better players at the time. From what I remember, he was sold as a “home grown” player to assist with PSR compliance rather than anything to do with ability.

That said, I wouldn’t pay £43m for essentially a “grafter”.

Annika, for me it's not about whether or not he is a "top class player" or not. Surely it's about whether he is better than what we currently have? The answer to that (as Robert correctly states somewhere above) is 100% yes! We are not in a position to attract "top class players" yet.

I can't see us putting up that sort of cheddar now but maybe an expensive loan with an option to buy? It would keep the powder dry and provide much needed quality in the middle of the park for us.

He is an energetic, box-to-box midfielder who is exponentially better than Garner and Iron Tim. He would play in front of Gana and compliment him well IMO. As I said above, I think O'Reilly could do a similar job but I doubt he is available on loan and Brighton would likely want $$$$ up front.

I would be surprised if we could afford to buy Barry, a quality RM and RB as well as a starter CM along with the other squad players needed. Therefore we will surely be thinking of a loan or two. Roma have used that market well under TFG, loaning in big money players who immediately improve the first team.

Annika # 61…….Conor Gallagher joined Atletico Madrid last summer. Out of 38 La Liga games he played in 32 of them, scoring 3 and having 3 assists. He also appeared in 9 champions league games for them, scoring 1 with 1 assist. Not bad, in terms of appearances, for someone who you think is no longer a first team regular.

Agree Rob! I'm not digging Annika out here though for one comment but more generally there is a common thread on TW that somehow we are an attractive proposition for Champions league players? How exactly? We probably aren't even an attractive proposition for Gallagher and getting him in (on loan or a perm) would be somewhat of a coup.

We need to be realistic. We are now infinitely more attractive than we have been for many years and the new ground is a huge pull too. However, progress needs to be measured, realistic and carefully curated over the next years under Moyes.

I believe we are going to achieve that but expectations and realism amongst the fans will play an important role within that.

RH56. 'Good enough for Atletico Madrid but not good enough for Everton!!'

Apparently he is NOT good enough for Athletico.

That’s NOT what Simeone has said about him, Robert.

No rumours today on the usual sites. Gawd help us

Gallagher is good but would be expensive/overpriced. Douglas Luiz, who we are linked to today, is probably a similar caliber of player and likely half the price.

Sam#69 Sam I think Luiz is more of a defensive midfielder, and would play Gueye’s role, would be a very good buy.

Luiz and Gueye have totally different attributes so would suit each other. I think it’s right to target another CM to play with Gana.

Robert

Gallagher played 50 times last season for Athletico Madrid.

He would improve Everton regardless

Gallagher is a fine footballer, but why are Atlético looking to get rid of him after just one season?

Christy

Maybe ask why clubs wanted the get rid of Ndiaye or Charly Alcaraz?

They haven't done too badly at all have they.

I'm sure there was talk of this guy coming here when Lampard was in charge but he didn't want to know...

He is not worth $43m. $30m tops. He’s an ok player but not the best. Hopefully we can do better, or look at younger, cheaper options.

Laughable to have this discussion about Conor Gallagher when the bog average James Garner is in our midfield.

Of course Conor Gallagher improves Everton.

Everton are not athletico Madrid

Indeed, Ryan. I said earlier that Gallagher would probably be the best central midfield player we have had in at least 10 years.

That is for two reasons (a) he's good and (b) our players have largely been crap over that period (Garner is okay but is a squad player for a top 12 side - and will never get an England cap).

I don't like the idea of players like Ndidi and Douglas Luiz because they are now on a steep downward trajectory. Gallagher isn't.

Why might Atletico let Gallagher go - usually the answer is money one way or another. It might well also be that they have a lower cost replacement lined up, possibly from their world class academy.

Yes Robert. I believe Athletico are signing someone from…. Villarreal (not sure if direct replacement)

They've just got Baena from Villareal, Ryan, for €42.00m - he's a very different player to Gallagher but they might need to recoup some money.

And if he costs £40m, say, that's a very run of the mill price for a player these days - especially an England international with plenty of Champions League games, Premier League and La Liga experience.

We could have got a player like Milambo, whom Brentford have just bought from Feyenoord, for about half that - but he's young and will take a while to acclimatise etc and may never get to the standard Gallagher has already reached in his career.

Although Gallagher will never be sold for profit - he could occupy his position in the side for the next 7 years (which is also cost effective). That tended to be how Moyes did his transfer business in his first spell - signing 22 to 25 year olds who already had over 100 games under their belt but were never quite going to be absolute top class.

Robert- Apparently we’re in for Takefusa Kubo. Now he’d be a class signing

With that mush he must heard that Aaron Lennon has rejoined Everton. If he signs leave him out of the team photo. What an ugly mush

Kubo would be an exciting signing, Ryan.

To be honest though, it seems extremely unlikely that we might finish the window with 3 x £35m (ish) new players (like Barry, Gallagher and Kubo) - along with all of the others (already including Alcaraz) who we will need to cover gaps and departures in the squad.

Might be pleasantly surprised of course but it would mean a net spend of something like £150m this summer (which is quite a bit more than most seem to expect).

150m isn’t that much really is it?
Especially if that’s spread over 4/5 years

Let’s see.

Ryan 84.

How much are we already paying out from previous windows though?

That’s a fair point Grant

Ryan, I agree £150m isn't a particularly remarkable net spend for Premier League club outside of the Rich 8. In fact it is pretty run of the mill.

But still, seems unlikely that we'll get that high for various reasons.

Grant # 84, might be missing the point but I can't see that there would be anything substantial to pay from previous windows. We have had the best part of 5 years of substantial negative spending - and spent very modestly indeed during that time too.

Romano has posted that Gueye has signed a two year contract, good to see, but we still need another defensive midfielder, can't expect Gana to play every game.

I disagree with some of the mindless criticism of Garner, he was superb last season when he came back and he stabilised the team really well. Look at how good Everton became defensively. His is one position that we don't need to replace.

According to the Scum, Man Utd are looking at signing DCL……..

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/35714611/man-utd-dominic-calvert-lewin-free-transfer-everton/

Christy I hope Romano is right for once. He seems to name all sorts that are coming to Everton.
Martin 100% correct about garner one of our unsung heroes. He needs to bulk up and won’t be knocked around so much.

Martin (89), Yes I think James Garner does a pretty good job for the team and I have no qualms about him playing in midfield next season as long as Gana Gueye is alongside him.

PS Martin don’t you know any other adjectives besides ‘ Superb’ even when the players are nowhere near that praise— mind you Garner is a lot closer to it than Keane- Jesus Martin how could you ever think Keane was close to superb!

Rob he can go where he likes. He will be a bench warmer and remember they finished below us last season. I think he turned his back on us a long time ago probably after the villa game when he he damaged his snozzle

Dave@92 We finished last season as a top 6-8 side or better and I was lucky enough to watch the games after Keane filled in for Branthwaite playing for the first time in a long time and he was exceptional especially in the game at Fulham. You can't play as well as he played in those games unless you have the base talent to play at that level. I use the word superb to take the mick a bit sorry but we saw some superb team performances at the end and Keane's contribution was key. It is impossible to ignore these excellent performances especially on the basis that in the past he had poor games. He played badly injured and in a very poor team. I believe that he is as good as his latest performances which were excellent. Moyes has exactly the same opinion of him as I do. He is an England International and for me is easily good enough at the moment to play again?

I've just been reading about Takefusa Kubo, never seen him play but it looks like he's done very well in Spain for 7 successive seasons playing for Mallorca then Real Sociedad, after being in the Barcelona academy for 4 years and being signed (but never playing for) by Real Madrid!!

Jesus, he MUST be some good and he's a RW!!

At my age I should know not to get excited by tenuous links like these but it's nice to see us in the frame for decent players after years of penny pinching.

James Garner gets some undeserved stick imo. Does a lot of under the radar work in a supporting role.

Bit like his namesake did in The Great Escape

There's a few comments saying that transfer fees are shown in the accounts as spread over the term of the player's contract but won't the selling club want to be payed up front which probably means interest on the borrowing (from the Bank and/or owner?).

For ease of calculation let's say the fee is 40M over 4 years at 5% interest (if we are lucky) that would mean 2M, 1.5M, 1M and 0.5M minus tax on profit if any is made, not that we have for a while.

Please feel free to correct me if I've misunderstood how this works.

Rob, ESPN reports the same on DCL.

Robert@78 I’m not sure Douglas Luiz is necessarily on a downward spiral. He’s only 2 years older than Gallagher and outscored and assisted Gallagher last time he was in the PL despite playing less minutes.

Hes had one or two injuries at Juve but nothing drastic. Hes certainly a different level to Ndidi. Think he’d be a bargain if we could get him for £20m or less.

Ian @44, I prefer whitebait myself, when I was younger, I also used to enjoy the odd mastur but we won't go there ! :-)

Robert #78, I'll join Sam in disputing you on Douglas Luiz. He had injury problems last season and just didn't fit at Juve, but I'd take talent and pace like that in a heartbeat.

In your option Robert @ 78. That doesn’t mean your opinion is always correct.

He is good, but no better than good. Which simply shows how poor some of our midfield players have been over the last 10 years.

Gallagher has not been selected by England recently and will probably not win any further caps in the very near future.

He might have featured in 32 games last season, but he didn’t start that many of them. He is good, as I stated earlier. But he isn’t as good as some on here are suggesting

Connor Gallagher had a great game against us once upon a time, on loan at Palace.

On that basis we should sign him, as we did with Doucoure and Maupay.

Alan - hardly any transfers are paid the whole fee upfront.

Plenty of clubs pay for transfers over the course of 3/4 years

Man U owe £440m on transfer fees to other clubs

Man City £230 million

Arsenal over 200 million

Everton 67 million

Maybe, Annika, you’d like to share with us who you think we should be signing instead of Gallagher.
In your opinion.

Expensive has been. The scouting system at Everton needs to be looked at.

But he’s much better than what Everton have now Annika

For the money Athletico would want Gallagher would not be worth splurging the likely majority of our transfer budget on even though it is just a click bait rumour. Gallagher simply isn't worth what Athletico spent for him.

The club need to cast the net far and wide to find the young hungry stars that are out there in the same mold as what Brighton & Bournemouth have done, that way a squad will be built with sustainability in mind

Not impressed by Gallagher and certainly don't rate him England material. Hope this is just another worthless rumour.

Oh please.

Just had a fantastic season at one of Spain's "Big Three" and is now gonna come to Everton?

Hahahaha

lol James Garner will never play consistently for a big as club as Athletico Madrid

Or Chelsea for that matter

A has been at 25!!!

Comedy gold on here at times

This from 5 months ago

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jan/15/conor-gallagher-atletico-madrid-la-liga-diego-simeone-english-midfielder

James Garner is better tho

Jake@105 a few younger options might be Rocco Reitz, Lamine Camara, Ayoub Bouaddi, Javi Guerra, Andy Diouf, Djaoi Cisse. All players who might need a little bedding (not much in some cases) but have the potential to be top class players.

I like Gallagher. He’d do a great job for us. But theres a reason he never established himself for Chelsea and England. At £25m it would be a great addition. At £40m (and presumably almost half of our budget) it’s a little rich for my blood.

It's a strange one this; since we've now descended into arguing over a player who is very unlikely to sign for us.

Annika # 102, pretty much every post is the poster's opinion. Sorry if something I said annoyed you.

Brendan # 108, ordinarily I would agree and have written a load of articles to that effect over the years.
With a player like Gallagher, though, it might be an exception for a few reasons - he's only 25, as I said earlier he could occupy a place in our starting XI for about 7 years, he hasn't hit a cycle of injuries or some other worrying sign of decline and at c. £35m he'd be pretty cheap. That's maybe a shade more than we paid for Phil Neville in 2005 but really not much more at all if you take account of price inflation in transfer fees. If he were to sign, I think he'd soon become a very popular player because of his workrate, character and quality (okay he's not Vitinha but he's not looked out of place in Champions League clubs).

For Atlético Madrid last season, Gallagher started 19 La Liga games, and was named as a sub in 17 others, coming off the bench 13 times.

Robert, I’m not sure of your inflation models but Neville cost 5m in a window where we spent about 30m. A sixth our budget was allocated to him. Gallagher at £35-40m would be taking up somewhere between a third and half unless we have a great deal more to spend than everyone expects.

Sam # 117, the inflation is all a guess but what would it cost now to sign a 28 year old player with 50+ England caps, after being a regular (but not quite nailed on starter) for the top Premier League club? No injury troubles, no character issues etc - quite the opposite in fact.

It'd be hard to sign that player for less than £35m.

The fact we could sign that sort of player for 1/6th of our budget in 2005 shows just how far our spending power has declined in recent years.

If we were to sign Gallagher (and I'd be surprised if we do) then it presumably means there is a budget of more than £100m net to play with - because otherwise we'll seriously struggle to fill up the may gaps in the squad.

I don't understand the Garner bashing, I thought he played very well for us last season.

I also don't understand the criticism of Garner, but each to their own views.

He's no world beater, but I watched a player who had a very good half a season once he came back from injury.

I agreed with previous comments. He benefited from playing alongside Gana. Let's hope that's the case next season.

I don't think Garner is being criticised as such - he's been a good signing, played well last year and forms a decent double act with Gueye. But he's never going to get England caps and is never going to join a team better than us.

Once we get better (and able to spend money again) he'll drop down to the bench. That's a good thing, we need to get to the point where people on the bench are of the (good) standard of McNeil and Garner etc.

Martin(94) Fair enough Martin you’re a big fan of Michael Keane while I wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole so there is a
huge difference in the way we think of him but you’re coming down in your estimation of him, from superb to exceptional to excellent so there is still a long way ‘til you come close to my estimation of him but the main thing is you support him so that’s fine by me.

Gallagher is too much money, there's little point in going any further.

I drove to Liverpool and back today Robert for a Catholic Christening.

I subjected myself to several hours of Talk Sport (I know).

On the return journey, Alan Pardew was the guest presenter. I thought "oh god".

Surprisingly he spoke a lot of sense and alluded to exactly what you are saying, using Liverpool as an example.

Be it injuries, suspensions of wanting to change a game, he spoke how they could make 3 changes, but the standard on the bench was similar even if the players had different attributes, which meant it didn't impact them.

Robert@118, Kyle Walker may be the closest comparable and he only cost £5m. Older player of course but then fitness levels and many other things have changed since 2005. Delph was £9m, how old was he when he came? 29?

I guess we’ve got no idea what the budget is but I’d hope we are clever in how we spend it and find good value. I’m not convinced Gallagher offers that at the £40m reported. Like you said it’s probably unlikely anyway.

A top level water-carrier who'd do very well for us, but I can't see it happening.

I think Chelsea sold him for PSR reasons. That sale was pure profit and clearly a viable option before they had to sell their hotel and womens' team to themselves.

Pity ToffeeWeb's been reduced to cutting and pasting nonsense from the internet.

I just can't see him putting 'penne' to paper on a contract with us.

Dave@122 He's an England International? It's an exceptional standard for a player and he is as good now as when he played for England. At the end of last season he was better than superb for a defender. What standards can I judge him by? What standards do you judge him by?

Robert @115
You’re right.Gallagher would make a good signing for us.
Quality international player,good injury history at £35M,what’s not to like?
Problem is he won’t be coming to Everton!
Nor will Jack Grealish,so let’s move on.
Sam seems to think £35 -£40M is too much,so seems he to consider his potential contribution to be less than Barry’s.
I find that strange.
A 25 year old international midfielder,who could be a potential leader on the field for Everton,against a raw young forward who scored less goals than Beto last season?
I know who I would choose,but what do I know?
Still, looking forward to welcoming Longstaff next season!

Martin (128)

At last you're agreeing with me: ‘He's as good now as he was when he played for England.‘ He wasn't very good when he played for England.

Then again, you're not agreeing with me: ‘At the end of last season, he was better than superb for a defender.' Jesus, Martin – better than superb? Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi weren't better than superb.

I'd say he was a very poor man's Heslop — You remember him, Martin?

Stu@129, where did I say I would expect Gallagher contribution to be less than Barry? Clue, I didn't.

I expect Barry to sit on the bench for a decent while. I'm not thrilled at paying £30M for Barry (not a priority position for me). But I think there's around a 20% chance that he's worth double that in 3-4 years.

It's about finding good value. I like Gallagher, be very happy to get him for £25M but think £40M is a touch dear and that there might be better options at that price.

Is Conor Gallagher even available for a transfer?

I've seen nothing to say he is.

Scores goals ✅️
Would provide midfield running power ✅️
Would be an upgrade on Garner ✅️
26 next birthday, so has time on his side ✅️
Wages ❌️
Potential low resale value ❌️

Is there better value around? Yes, I think there is. He's not my cup of tea of a player, but I could see him being effective in the here and now.

Will it happen, will it fairy cakes.

Rob @132.

Nope, but who really cares if we can chat shit to each other. I'm liking this new iteration of ToffeeWeb. Why wait till matchday?

Rob - he played the equivalent of 28 matches in minutes, and played 50 matches total, of which 32 were league games.

The above to me implies if they can get the £34M back or a profit, they would move him on.

The Atletico midfield is ageing, and I'd guess they'd use the money to reinvest in someone that would be delivering more.

They're not a typical Spanish side, but I suspect his technical deficiency is something they're not keen on.

Sam @ 114,

Not disagreeing with a single word you've written. Conor Gallagher just doesn't want to come to us – even though he's from a strong Irish family – but he's a London boy.

I've lived in both; there's a difference in the upbringing.

Jake @ 136; quite right.

Going back decades, nay generations, there were plenty of 'London boys' who just wouldn't contemplate a football life north of Watford...

And that's before you even factor in the WAGs and by extension mothers... happy wife - happy life.

Sam@131,

You didn't. Not overtly, but you seem to imply Gallagher is over-priced without considering his potential overall value to the team as an experienced and quality midfielder and as a leader who we could build a team around.

I don't detect the same reluctance when Barry is discussed as an answer to our goal scoring problems at a similar price. Maybe my mistaken interpretation ,but that's the way it comes across.

I'd take Gallagher over Barry everyday for similar money, although I'm enough of a realist to know it's not going to happen.

Players of Gallagher's pedigree are the profile of player who could take us to the next level, but I'm enough of a realist or cynic to know it's not going to happen!

Hence welcome Longstaff or someone similar!

Isn't he the dog who turned us down for Palace, probably because he didn't want to move house?

He's overrated, a liability as he likes kicking people, if he was any good, do you think Chelsea would have sent him on loan?

And now Madrid want rid of him, why? Because he's not really very good, a sort of harder Tom Davies.

Go to Palace, they may take you back.

I'm not sure about Gallagher, his form did drop in the second half of last season. Late tackles, poor positioning and frustrated in possession was his dominant mode during the La Liga matches I watched. This was against lower table teams too.

Perhaps this is the kind of player Moyes can revive. He would be a focal midfielder which is likely his desire.

I am most certainly interested in the club establishing a man-bun cap.

Can I just state that that photo looks like he is a Gary Ablett sort of player.

That jaw is a wobbling "Big fish, Little fish" cardboard box.

If the wages are right and @ £20M it would have to be only if Moyes was really, really, keen.

@£40M or anything remotely approaching, eg, starts with a 3, then gtf.

Dave (#130);

George Heslop, Mr Labone's understudy?

Didn't he go on to win something with Man City?

Ryan (#104);

Thanks for the reply, Ryan, but it just makes me wonder how you show a transfer out in the accounts, as each payment is received or a lump sum on agreement?

Are Villa are still paying for Onana or Spurs for Richarlison?

You have to get more goals in that midfield.

It's an area of the pitch where we just don't see enough goals apart from Ndiaye last season.

Jack Harrison scored one goal.

Jesper Lindstrom never scored.

Idrissa Gana Gueye never scored.

James Garner never scored.

That's not good enough to be where we are need to be.

Yes Ndiaye will hopefully get 10 this season and I'd certainly be looking for at the very least 7 from Charly Alcaraz.

But the likes of McNeil needs to be hitting 7 and we should be demanding 3 each from Gana and Garner respectively.

That's a combined 13 goals from McNeil, Gana and Garner who failed dismally in that column last term.

Goals are what propel you up that league table.

How many will the top scoring striker score? Probably 10 to 13 if they stay fit.

Then the second fiddle striker needs at least 7 or 8.

That's around 43 goals without the input of the defenders who all need to be contributing to 3 each in my opinion.

Even that would only put us on around 50-53 goals which is a better but not amazing return and that's being ambitious that the likes of Thierno Barry comes in and hits the ground running and some of our non scoring midfielders start contributions.

That's why we need to be bringing in more goals to the team that we currently have.

Wasn't it Ian Heslop??

Ian #135,

"The Atletico midfield is ageing, and I'd guess they'd use the money to reinvest in someone that would be delivering more."

Then it's that 'someone' we should be looking to buy.

Alan J #144,

From what I know of accounts, a transfer out would be booked as income for the first payment and the balance would be in 'future receivables'.

Then as each payment is made the sum is transferred from receivable to income.

Mark (#146);

Wasn't he an editor at "Private Eye"?

Eric (#148);

That sounds better but just as well we don't have to put all (any?) players under "Future Receivables".

Unless there is "deadwood" section which we seem to hear less about these days even given the number that were out of contract this year.

This has been a good thread, with some genuinely interesting debate about whether we should buy if we get the opportunity and then those putting the case forward as to why we shouldn't.

I think it highlights that we need an update and news from the club, starting with the signing of Barry, which was reported to be in the final stages last week, and Gana's extension.

I don't expect the club to tell us about other targets, we will scour the internet for news from trusted sources.

Alan,

DOH! Of course - I knew I knew that name from somewhere!
George Heslop is right.

Not to be confused with George Hislop (a Canadian gay rights activist, apparently).

Eric - that's where I am at 133. The issue you've got is, we can't get near them.

Young players with ability like Cherki, Bellingham etc are all going to Champions League teams for £35m+ a pop. They have the money, are playing 50-60 games, and carry a squad of 25 players of good quality. That's a hard sell for Everton - see Liam Delap.

So its either players that haven't shown it yet in major leagues or players that haven't pulled up trees at 24-26. A bigger gamble.

Stu@138 we're definitely agreed that Longstaff is n ot going to improve us much.

I think Gallagher vs Barry (in terms of value) is interesting. Gallagher would certainly contribute more in the short term I expect and would likely start every game for us when fit and be one of our better players. But in 3-4 years time Barry is the one most likely to be sold for double our investment.

One of the challenges this summer is to balance the short term needs of the club for next two seasons or so with the long term financial requirements of bringing in players who can grow into major assets. Barry fulfills the latter function, for me slightly older players in the first category should not be taking the majority of the transfer budget, which is why I'd look more at someone like Douglas Luiz who I think matches Gallagher in terms of ability but is half the price reportedly. Someone like Mahdi Camara at Brest has far less profile than Gallagher and would cost around £15m but does a pretty similar job on the pitch with 12 goals and 6 assists over last 2 seasons from the middle.

Robert @ 115, you didn't annoy me at all and, most of the time, I agree with all the points you make.

It was just in this case I disagreed with your overall assessment of Gallagher.

A good player but definitely not top class for me. At the price quoted, I don't think he would be good value long term. That said, he would be a good player in our current midfield.

Gut feeling - wrong fit for us.

Alan (143),

Yes, it was George Heslop and he did go on and have a very successful few years with Man City winning the 2nd. Division Championship then the 1st Division title, League Cup and Charity Shield with them.

Martin, that's what Michael Keane might have done if he had been as ambitious as George Heslop instead of sitting on the subs bench staying with the money.

Mind you, Heslop was a much tougher player mentally than Micheal Keane and went out and proved it when he moved to Man City.

The love of money, Martin, is the root of all evil, and there ends today's message!

If he is good enough for Atletico Madrid, then he is good enough for us.

They would hammer us if we played them.

Sam @154, would it, in your view, be worth it, if Gallagher was available, to go for it with both? Throw the dice once more for short term gain and long term investment.

Add a full-back and right-winger and we are capable of challenging for Europe. This is not the madness of the Moshiri spree but reasonable speculation.

Andy, I think it's hard to judge any transfer in isolation. It's about how well an entire transfer window addresses the needs of the team both in the short term and long term. It's also hard to judge when we don't know how much money we have to spend.

Assuming that we get Barry (which seems close to completion) we may have £60m left to spend.

I'd prefer option a) Douglas Luiz (for £17M) and then a high potential RW like Bakayoko or Guessand (£25M) and an exciting dynamic right back, Givairo Read (£18M)

To option b) Gallagher (£40M), Tom Fellows (£15M) and Walker-Peters (£5M signing bonus)

Obviously all speculation but I think option a) would be nearly as strong as option b) in the short term and would offer a lot more value in the long term.

It's about opportunity cost and limited resources. I just want to see us operating smartly in the market. If Gallagher were available on a loan-to-buy for example that would make more sense. Can't see him coming to us anyway.

Mark (#152);

I bow to your superior knowledge on His not He's.

Sam @160 - looks like they’ve taken your advice and have started talks with Douglas Luiz.

George Heslop played against us in the three 6th Round FA Cup ties we had with City in 1966.

He also played in the 1-1 game at Goodison the following season, famous for being featured in “The Golden Vision”.

I presume he was eventually replaced by Tommy Booth, who caused us much misery in 1969.

Peter (163),

I saw those three games and would have recognised George but sad to say I don't remember him playing although I do remember Man City, a Second Division side then, gave us three tough games — two 0-0 draws away and home before we 2-0 at Wolves ground Temple and Pickering I think scored the goals.

I remember Johnny Crossan an inside forward from those games an Irish international.

Calum Wilson up for free, leaving Newcastle Utd.

Colombia striker Jhon Duran has joined Fenerbahce on a year-long loan – 6 months after moving from Aston Villa to Al-Nassr in a £71M deal.

Something very dodgy going on in Saudi Arabia with these signings, all the clubs are owned by the Saudi government, is it a tax dodge for the money-grabbing greed of the so-called professionals?

Most of the games have very poor attendances, Saudi sports washing with the obscene wages. Why buy a player for over £70M then, after 6 months, get rid of him? FIFA and the Premier League should be taking a very close look at this.

Dave#164, I remember George playing, I used to go to a few reserve games at that time so I recognised him.

The game at Maine Road sticks in my mind as my pal took a ball full in the face from Sandy Brown during the pre-match warmup.

I went to the first replay at Goodison, but my Mum wouldn't let her 10-year-old boy go to Molineux on a school night for the second one.

Well at least the ladies team are signing players.

Number four signed today.

Of course FIFA won't, Paul.

They've given Saudi the 2034 World Cup, another December one, that will disrupt the domestic season.

Saudi and FIFA won't care, they have made a deal and Saudi got the FIFA vote.

Danny, I suppose all we can do is just ignore the corruption and concentrate on our own teams.

I think the Saudi Arabia sports set-up is an obvious cover for what's going on in that country. Hosting the so-called green revolution while at the same time contaminating the air with millions of tons of toxic emissions from oil rigs, again a cover-up. The old story, if you have enough money you will get away with murder.

The worry of the Saudi League is that they have enough money to continue indefinitely and, as you said, further disrupt football world wide.

Callum Wilson is crocked, too many injuries. Great player in his day but that day is long passed.

Peter (167),

Yes, I have no doubt he played, I just don't remember him and he must have done okay because of those two clean sheets.

I remember him as a pretty robust player who took no prisoners. The fact that he was a stand-in for Brian Labone might have made his mind up for him about moving on; certainly he made the right choice in going to Man City.

I wonder if the Saudi league will eventually go the way of the Chinese one of a few years ago, Paul? The novelty of that soon seemed to wear off.

As for Calum Wilson, not for me. I think he peaked a couple of seasons ago for Newcastle. It's been a bit downhill since then.

Kevin, absolutely correct and the climate change models are as big a joke as the Covid Models (yes I can prove it). It is beyond belief how people take everything that the government tell them like a bin takes similar rubbish. Co2 has a very slight effect on temperature but it is a small effect now. Guys, believing what you are told by Governments is a profound weakness, far better to question it especially when the net result of policies is to make you poor or take away your freedom.
Mind you when some can say that an England International defender who was as good as anything in the EPL when fit last season is "shit" says a lot. No more from me about the climate nonsense. I do enjoy discussing it with people who have knowledge on it though.

Paul Kossoff @166

“Fifa and the Premier League should be taking a very close look at this“

There is no chance that the Saudi regime will be placed under the microscope, too much money involved.

Infantino and his cronies will be rubbing their hands together with the money Saudi, Qatar etc are throwing around.

I read last week that Qatar have applied to host the Club World Cup in 2029, but it will have to be held during the European season (winter) because of the heat. All European Leagues would therefore have to be suspended. Don't think it will happen?

Watch this space…..money doesn't talk, it screams.

Ray, don't get me wrong, I hate the oil regimes and the influence that they have in sport purely because of their oil wealth.

It does get recirculated into the world economy though, I guess?

Dave #173, I'm pretty sure that replay at Goodison against /man City in 1966 was the first time I saw (live) a game go to extra-time.

The FA Cup Final in 1965, Liverpool v Leeds, was the first FA Cup final to go to 120 minutes. Then their defeat to Borussia Dortmund the following season in the Cup Winners Cup Final did the same. And, of course, the 1966 World Cup Final.

Now, you've got to strap yourself in, or snooze off, for the best part of 3 hours with added time, penalties, 15 minutes for halftime. It adds lots of time for inane chat, analysis and, most importantly, adverts.

“Look what they've done to our game, Ma”.

Martin, it may fill the bank accounts of players and agents and from there into a Ferrari dealership but when it comes to recirculating…. I don't know.

What will be the effect on the local economies if there's no football income during the “dead weeks “ after Christmas if that's when it's held. There's a reason these countries/regimes want to take over all the popular sports and it's not for the greater good. IMO.

Enjoying the Dave Abrahams and Peter Mills 60s discussion. I love learning about the Everton I never saw.

Danny#212, I know it's no use living in the past, but I do enjoy memories from great matches and occasions.

I had a lovely chat yesterday with a Raith Rovers fan, he's been supporting them all his life, they haven't done much, but he and his wife became very animated when they got onto the subject of the Scottish League Cup final in 1994/95 (what a year that was). They played Celtic and had no chance, but neither did we against Man Utd. Rovers scored a late equaliser before winning 6-5 on penalties.

Raith qualified for the UEFA Cup the following season, and played Bayern Munich. Bayern won the first leg in Scotland 2-1, the comeback was on as Raith were leading 1-0 at halftime in the 2nd leg in Munich, before succumbing 2-1.

My new found pal says he still has a mug with the halftime score at Bayern on it.

Peter @214. I like to think of it as respecting the past. There are great stories to be heard and comparisons to listen to.

I bore the teeth off my youngest brother and son when I go on about the 80s!

Great story about Raith Rovers. They would never have dreamed of playing Bayern.

That turns to the future and getting back into Europe. I'd rather tour Europe watching Everton than go on holiday!!

Brighton have signed a 19 year old striker for £31 mil.,
apparentley one of the best youngGreek players about. Out of curiosity I checked who they've signed and it makes interesting reading.
Their net has been cast far and wide and it shows the scope of their scouting system. The Brighton model has been pointed out as the type Everton should be adopting.
Perhaps some of the more knowledgeable on TW cold have a look and give an apraisal.
Their are players out there and it just needs some diligence
to find them.

David # 216, I'm not sure how to find them all but I've done various articles about this sort of thing.

The very short summary is that Brighton (and just as much so the RS if not more) do it like this:

- very heavy player trading ages 16 to 18 (and even younger too). Many of these players are not expected to play for the first team - they are being reared for sale.

- very heavy player trading from low cost markets (avoiding the massively overpriced / overrated Premier League - just as Bournemouth do), and thereby getting hold of quality players at lower cost

- data analytics driven recruitment, often from low cost markets. The data analytics (adapted from Tony Bloom's gambling business) sorts out the wheat from the chaff.

- buy young and at high volume. The wage demands are modest and failures can be gotten rid of fairly easily. This helps to spread the risk inherent in all transfers.

- developing players on loan (because u21s is a terrible place to develop) and making use of affiliate clubs - like Union Gilloise in Belgium and soon Hearts in Scotland (City do this with Troyes and Girona - and it has given them a Savinho).

- until recently, not spending more than about £25m on a single player (something Leipzig very strategically did also)

Interestingly, Brighton have started to hit the buffers with their model. They are now spending £25m to £45m on the same standard of player they were previously buying for £5m to £15m (or so). Their league form meanwhile is not really improving. This is what happened to Leicester a few years ago and it saw them relegated in the end, albeit that had a lot to do with Brenda throwing his toys out of the pram.

However, the model they use is a good way to build up squad depth and quality - certainly from our current position of weakness. They have lots of players we would take in a heartbeat who may not even feature for them this season - like Ferguson, Enciso and others.

Great story, Pete. A mug with a halftime score? Don't see that every day.

It always amazes me how much detail you can go into about other teams and players in general Robert.

I'd agree with you on a couple of points, it hasn't really improved Brighton's league position and they have depth in their squad.

The strategy is about survival and stabilisation, which is great for them, and I do like my trips to Brighton to watch Everton. 3 wins in my last 3 visits!!

In fact, if you look at them, along with the other much admired clubs such as Bournemouth and Brentford, you have 8th, 9th and 10th. If you throw Fulham in, you can add 11th.

That might be an achievement for clubs of their stature, but I don't want that for Everton. Despite what we've had for decades, we have different expectations. We are a massive club, and our expectation should be sky high, not backslapping on an 8th - 10th finish.

In my opinion, that model may fill the coffers, but will only sustain for so long. For example, it's going to be interesting to see how Brentford get on post Thomas Frank, having taken most of his coaching staff with him to Tottenham and clubs circling around their best players. Surprise outsiders for the drop? Might be worth a punt. I wouldn't like to see that, because I also like my trips to Brentford.

I'll use my German club, Schalke as an example. For years produced genuine top drawer talent from their academy or procured young talent at relatively low prices, but kept selling them on.

The well eventually dried up and they are about to enter their 3rd season in the Bundesliga 2 and came precariously close to facing the 3rd tier of German football.

Peter (206) Peter the first two cup finals after the Second World War both went to extra time with Derby County beating Charlton 4-1 and the next year Charlton beat Burnley 1-0 and for the second year running the ball burst during the game!

I don’t remember those two finals but remember listening to the second half of the Man. Unt. v Blackpool 1948 cup final on the wireless with United scoring 3 goals in that second half to come from 2-1 down win 4-2— listened to that match in the lobby of my mates house!

Colin #3 nothing is a dead cert until you see a photo of the player at finch farm holding the Everton scarf above their head. What is predicted online and in the papers is largely nonsense made up by journalists trying to put 2+2 together in the hope that if they make enough educated guesses then the odd one will have to come off and it looks like they were in the know, or had an exclusive, which boosts their credibility. It's a numbers game. I pay very little attention to it all. Recent years tell me Everton signings tend to be out of the blue and unexpected.

Dave#220, thanks for the correction. Of course, I meant “in my lifetime”, not yours!

I hope to see you during the coming season, once we have all got our new match routines sorted out. Best wishes until then.

Peter (222) Cheers Peter, it will take some getting used to, just hope it will be the start of better days for all us in the coming seasons, best wishes and good health Peter.

Just heard the Friedkins are sticking a £60M bid in for Gyökeres over a 5-year deal. As we speak Arteta has giving him directions on how to get to Finch Farm and told him to try the Lobster Pot out.

Not as believable but certainly click bait material.

Last made-up spoof I put on one of them must have read Toffeeweb as the rumour appeared on their site, later in the day :-)