Everton FC - The View From My Seat
Who's IN, Who's OUT?
The transfer merry-go-round is once again upon us, meaning half hearted rumours with not an ounce of truth will litter across the odd genuine transfer deals ready to be made.
It's a scary yet optimistic time for us Evertonians, whilst we hope our young golden crop of potential stars aren't stolen from our grasp, it also intrigues me if they go for how much and where will that money go?
Surely John Stones demands a fee in excess of £50M? In fact so must Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku?! Some of the transfers over the last few years mean now we can demand the world for anyone with half decent stats can't we? I seem to be throwing a lot of questions out to you in this article, I think it's because 99% of anything and everything said during a transfer window is full of half rumours, hope, optimism and a genuine feeling of having no idea of what can, can't or might happen!
Chelsea will no doubt offer £50M for Stones. Man Utd would surely break the bank for Lukaku, they're in desperate need for a proper striker and the last one we gave them hasn't done bad! Barkley, for me I can't seem to decide which "Top 4" club he'd go straight into. Not that he's not good enough, I'm just trying to imagine him in another shirt, I don't want to but you know what I mean. Possibly City? Toure is still having his moments but they're rare and he's getting on a bit, David Silva is small and tricky, Samir Nasri seems to have forgotten where his boots are and the other midfielders are generally defensive. Barkley may be their answer but I'd want a ridiculous price for him.
I can't see any of them going in January. The summer is different but right now I don't think any of them are looking to leave. Mirallas and Naismith on the other hand look like they have one foot out the door already. It's a shame really because they still and should have more to give to the team this season. There's clearly been some sort of rift between Kev and Bobby. A player with his ability should be involved a lot more, even from off the bench. If he doesn't start against City in the cup on Wednesday then it's 100% he's going I think. It would seem Martinez has chosen 32-year-old Arouna Kone over 28-year-old Kevin Mirallas. Kone had a burst of form at the beginning of the season and fully deserved a run in the team. He scored a few, set a couple up and seemed to bring out the best in Lukaku. However in recent months he's been non-existent for large periods of the game and Lukaku is proving he will score with or without him, thus making Arouna Kone obsolete to our starting 11.
Kevin Mirallas on the other hand hasn't had chance to do anything. He came of the bench a few weeks back and grabbed himself a typical Mirallas goal and gave us a glimpse of what he's about. Then nothing really since, apart from helping fetch the Lucozades on at half time?! I can't see Bobby's thinking with Kev this season.
If you don't want to play with two out and out wingers I can understand that Kone role. Defending the left when we haven't got the ball and drifting inside and towards Lukaku when we have. That's fine, especially now Baines is back to provide that left wing attack, but Steven Naismith does this perfectly too! Naismith is an all round better player than Kone and they're fighting for the same spot yet Naisy is left out repeatedly, resulting in him now looking likely to sign for Norwich. It will be a massive shame to see him leave, not only do I have him on the back of my away shirt but he was one of our best players in the opening weeks of the season and he gives 100% every second of every minute he's on the pitch.
Anyway, back to rumours, hope and optimism mixed with a tint of realism. Realistically, we can't offer European football which means there's only certain players we can attract. I'd like to think our market is mainly within the Premier League. I think that players that are currently playing for the "Top 4" clubs that aren't playing regular is a good place to start. Ramires at Chelsea, Oxlade-Chamberlain at Arsenal, might be a stretch. Bony from City, maybe even, dare I say it.... Fellaini back from Utd? Moussa Dembele at Spurs. There's a few I think we could try and attract.
The other section I'd like to see us operate in if we do lose anyone would be the stand out players from teams down the bottom end. Wijnaldum from Newcastle for example. I really think we've missed a trick over the last few seasons, we could be even stronger had we gambled on Shaqiri and we should have got Butland, both I think would have chosen Everton over Stoke. There's a few others like this we've missed and now the teams down the bottom are rapidly catching us.
In all honesty I have very little idea of who would come in. It's a tricky one. I think we definitely need another out and out striker, imagine where we'd be if Rom got injured??!! Doesn't bare thinking about! I think if we bring in a keeper then we will have to buy another in the summer. Howard will be off to America at the end of the season I think and Joel Robles isn't going to play second fiddle to another new goalkeeper so we'd need a new No.1 plus a back up.
Fingers crossed we keep hold of the entire squad and they sure up their defensive performances and we kick on!
Let me know what you think on all the usual social media ....
No comments:
Post a Comment