The Boy

Bike and on yer. Not in that order. Never gonna happen!

Appiah would be the one for me. Was disappointed we didn't get him in August, but is an excellent player and I think would be an excellent replacement for Carsley. Cars has been brill for us, and will continue to be so as long as we have him here, like Stubbs, but father time catches up with everyone sooner or later, and Appiah would be a wonderful replacement!

Poor lad, my heart bleeds. He had the opportunity and chose more money. I am sure if he had put his foot down and said I want to go to Everton, the agreed deal that was in place for the £6m up front would have gone through. Agree with Bobby J, lad had no loyalty to us, and maybe we are better off getting players who want to play for us. More and more will want to come here if we continue building the way we do. Could be a very bad mistake on his part.

Rumour on BBC that Appiah is due a medical around 4pm. Under rumours around 2.18pm. not sure how reliable this is as someone had Bouba Diop blinging his way to Goodison earlier, and I am not sure you could get these two mixed up. One is about 8 ft tall and the other....well isn't!

Agree with Worshipper, think there will be one more signing, but just depends who. Would love Appiah here. Real box to box player, great engine, more creative than the other defensive guys we have at the moment, a good age and would be a wonderful buy. Bouba Diop would be good, if he could stay fit. Added size and power in the middle. And would be cheap, but as loads of others have said, is another defensive midfielder. But maybe we have the creative side sewn up with Pienaar. Could be the answer, and Diop the added grunt in the middle. Midfield of: Arteta Diop Cahill Pienaar And then we have Cars, Jags etc as cover. The squad is looking so much better, COYB!

Just seen on Tribal football, that we are keen on a £3m deal for him. http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=54323 29 years old, Senegalese international. Been on the treatment table alot, but when fit I think he can be immense. What are peoples thoughts?

Crikey, lets be a little more negative about the whole thing eh!? You can't apply for the permit, until you have permission to speak to a player, and as we didn't get permission until Wednesday, not that surprising that it is taking a little time. The Manny thing is taking time, due to the 3rd party stuff, but as the deal is structured the same as Tevez, they can't really say no. It is taking time, but nowhere near as long as the Tevez thing. The FA just want to cover their backs. Come on guys, we have signed 4 excellent players so far, 2 more will be in shortly and we have won 2 of 3 games so far. I know the stadium debate has got alot of people down, but lots of reasons to be positive, and with Tiny Tim heading back soon as well, we should be in excellent shape for this year. COYB!!!!

From what I have read, Everton are paying Benfica £6m for their 50% stake in Manny and are negotiating to buy the other 50% from the Global Sports group. This will be done further down the line. The contract resembles the Tevez contract, where they effectively loan the player for two years from the 3rd party, and then pay them a set fee. Reports have said the other 50% of Manny's contract is around £6m as well, and will be paid in two years time. 3rd party does not have any way of affecting the players selection etc, then this is seen as OK. Thats why the paperwork takes a while, just making sure that the loan contract doesn't have any loops for the 3rd party to influence selection. I think thats about right!?

Hey Adam, I agree that we need to invest, and I agree that it is a little frustrating, but all I am saying is that it is not all doom and gloom. Even with what we have, we are in OK shape. The players that are gone (Pistone, Wright, Naysmith) never really played last season and will not be overly missed (Naysmith apart, who always did OK in my view). I mean I don't think Pistone played last year did he? We have brought in 2 fit and hungry YOUNG players, with good calibre who will add depth to the squad. So really we are about the same in "fit" numbers. With VDM actually getting games under his belt, for the first time in ages, there is another player to add to the mix who really didn't help us last year. I agree with investment being needed totally but I would rather get good players on a limited budget than do a Sunderland and spend shed loads on average players. Would we be happy with £5m for Richardson, I know I wouldn't. We are all entitled to opinions and I am not saying you are wrong mate, not at all. Just think it is not all doom and gloom just yet.

Crikey, the way people are talking, we have lost all our good players, replaced them with 2nd division players and we are favourites for relegation! I am as frustrated as everyone that the buys are not coming as quickly as I would like, but I follow with what Lee Carsley said on the official site today. What is the point of buying second rate players to plump the squad up? We need quality, and lets be honest, if we replace Beattie with Smith, get Baines and then Vogel finally completes, would we really be unhappy? 5 good signings of good quality, and the majority of our top 6 squad in tact. Yes I would like us to do a West Ham and chuck Millions at players, but realistically we can't and won't, and I take pride that we are not that kind of club. Tonight will be a good indication of where the squad is. Keep positive fellow blues. We are definitely moving forward as a team.

Did you hit the K by mistake instead of the P?

I agree, however, a great acquisition if it comes off. Someone who has played at the highest level, has experience generally, they can't all be young players, we need the odd older head and with the team coming together the way it is, I see this as great business. At 30 has about 4 years left as a DM, and will provide excellent competition for Carsley this season. And for Free, cant get better than that. Lets hope this comes off.

Bloody hell, if Kieran Richardson is £5.5m, then Joey is in £15- 20m bracket. Stuttgart!? Why would he want to go there?!

Rob, I have to agree with what you have written here. I agree that Koumas isnt a good as Spud, but then again, on last seasons performance there were only about 2 or 3 players in the EPL that were, and they cost £15m+. I think Koumas would be a good addition. As you say, takes the creative burden away from one player, is a reasonable price for someone who has been the stand out midfielder in the championship for the past two years, and more importantly, is an Evertonian through and through and wants to come here. Alot of people have been going on about Nugent and £6m-£7m being the fee, but "he is an Evertonian..." Well so is this guy, he would cost alot less and fill a void in the side that needs filling, namely creativity. Do we need another striker? Well there has been alot of debate about that, but we do need creation, we have been crying out for it for years. Manny would be brill, excellent player and only 21, so plenty of years ahead. Well I think that isn't gonna happen cos of the £8m+ fee, but i think Koumas wants to be here, is a decent price and is a good player and perfect cover for Spud.

ha ha ummmm not quite! Although if they can score as regularly as he did when he was younger, I would be happy with that! Just chuffed this has come out, as others have said, this could be the way Everton have decided to do things, nice and quietly. And if it's not, we can all write banners and jump up and down and stamp our feet as people have all summer already!

Agree, we need more new signings, but this is a good sign for me. Means that something has been happening behind the wall of silence we have all been faced with. If this good news is followed up with 3 god signings in the future, I will be well chuffed!

Replying to the AJ to West Ham for £22m line in Rumourama..... Will be amazed if this is true! £22m!!! I know AJ is good, but he ain't that good! I think this is where the old adage "everyone has their price" comes in. If someone offers that kind of money for AJ, I think we would have to take it. As mentioned above, it would mean getting Fernandes, and maybe being able tp buy Owen or someone of that calibre. Will be amazed if this is true though, although Egg seems to like chucking the cash about!

Interesting, apparently 2 clubs have been given permission to speak to Nugent today. Sunderland are widely regarded as one, could Everton be the other? Woud make sense I guess, as we have been linked all summer and have been keeping things very quiet.

Riquelme would be an amazing signing. He is a tremendous player, and one that you would build your side around. he doesn't seem to move very much, and so signings like Fernandes would be key, as we would need a young dynamic midfield to protect the back 4. Might mean switching to 5 man midlfield Carsley Arteta Fernandes Cahill Riquelme That would amazing. Might even be able to play Fernandes and Carsley defensively and then let the other 3 wander off and weave their own magic. Go for it Moyesy, 5million for a player like that is brilliant!

Yeah that will be the problem with this possible transfer. Is a shame, as he could also play wide out as well, as solve some of the width problems we have. Then again he could turn out to be crap and we have lost nothing! Worth a punt though me thinks! We are in Europe after all....

Well it looks like this guy is definitely leaving Fener, and could be attracting those regular Champions league teams like Birmingham and Middlesbrough. http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=4...tball_home& With his record, does anyone think he is worth a punt? On a free I believe, and so it would just be wages, but surely with us having European Football to offer, he would prefer us over Borough and Brum. No disrespect intended? Don't know much about him, but seems to have a v good reputation!?

Agree, as much as I like Nugent, he is not £10m worth. Berbatov is a proven International striker and played at the highest level in Germany for years, and only cost £10.6m. I think £6m would be good. And no, I do not follow that Nugent scored for England. He nicked someone elses goal, which is excellent follow up play, but that doesn't add £4m to his value! I would love to get him, but not at the prices quoted so far!

I completely agree. For too long the top 4 have had the monopoly on the best players, and looking at Lescott, if he isn't one of the top defenders this year, he will be in coming seasons. For Everton to keep moving forward, we need to build our side around players like Joleon, Joey, Mikky, AJ and Vaughany. Not let them go for small profit. The only way I would want Everton to let Joleon leave is if we have 2 or three of our "problem" positions sorted. Bridge in, SWP perhaps. Giving us something for the loss. Either that or as Rob says, wait for the silly money to be passed out. I keep seeing people saying Lescott of £10m, Arteta to some spanish lot for £5m? You having a laugh. Rio cost £28, and Lescott is as good as him. In fact probably better, you ever seen Rio play left back consistently well for a season? And Arteta for £5m? Did someone miss off the 1 or 2 before the 5? he is rated in the top 4 of midfielders behind people like Gerrard, who is ranked at £30m! So why any less for our little Spud!? I truly hope Everton keep a strong stance on this, and keep hold of our better players. It is the ONLY way we will go forward.

Ahh well never mind. Wishful thinking on my part!

Just been reading on here about a Everton holding a press conference on Tuesday and who it might be. Reading on the BBC site today it said Reo Coker has been given till Tuesday to sort out future. Maybe he will be heading to us? Would be a good signing I th ink?!