Kant

I don't want him anywhere near a team that I appreciate. Tactically poor.

Well, Alcaraz is still the 4th choice CB again. Jags, Distin, Stones, Alcaraz.

I'm still scared. If there are funds available (which we don't know), it's the moment to try to snap a young CB to partner Stones in the future.

PLEASE. DO. IT. (I somehow feel he is out of reach financially, but we can dream).

Stones and Nastasic would be an excellent CB couple for the next 5 years.

You don't get young CBs PL ready easily, and we know this one can be good.

Wouldn't want him on the left though. You keep the wings for pacey players to open up teams.

Bainaar has been the most effective weapon of the team and neither of them is pacey or fast. Their combinations, trickery and intelligence make them unplayable offensively.

Cleverley is still young, a good player, and he is not slow either. I'd like him on loan, with a view to a permanent signing. I can understand what Martinez is doing today: if Cleverley doesn't want to join Villa, MUFC options are Everton on loan (at least Everton would cover his wages) or him not playing for a year and leaving for free.

The outcome is pretty much on Cleverley. If he really wants to join Martinez, all he has to do is to say "Everton or nothing". MUFC has no chance but to allow him to leave. Would you want a sulker in the dressing room?

Kone is now 3rd choice.

With many games to come, cup games, and Europa League games, I feel Koné (IF healthy) will feature a lot.

He will also play right winger forward and left winger forward, and he is not as bad as people would think.

He's no world beater, though.

No that is just where he played for Utd. Pienaar link up play would probably be better but Cleverly is equally as harder worker, he is better in a more attacking role and he played their under Martinez at Wigan. When he played for England in a more attacking role he was actually pretty good but unfortunately he couldn't finish off the moves much like Pienaar! In terms of their actual attributes they are very similar.

I must say in Wigan he played as the left forward of their 4-3-3 - 3-4-3, back at 2010/2011 with Rodallega and N'Zogbia. Moses was the substitute.

That team was really dreadful, although Roberto got great performances from N'Zogbia and Cleverley! I'd not be surprised if Cleverley flourishes under Martínez again.

(Midfielders: Ben Watson, Mohammed Diamé and a 19 year old James McCarthy)

If we could afford to pay that kind of money he still isn't worth it in my own humble opinion

For a squad player substituting Barkley we currently have Osman and Naismith -albeit playing the position "differently"-.

I do not rate him as highly but I also believe we can play 4-4-2 with two strikers and 4-3-3 with three CMs, so I currently feel there's no need for another AMC anyway.

Either way, loaning a player to a direct rival is not the brightest thing to do and I just can't see United being that stupid.

I wouldn't underestimate the ability of Mr. Ed Woodward.

The last three years of transfers at Manchester United are terrible. Whoever is in charge of doing the scouting and bargaining would play FIFA and lose.

Not only they managed to overspend on great players they don't need, but those great players are not even compatible among them.

De Gea must be wondering why did he choose to leave Atletico.

There's 12, 13, 25, 28 available.

Meaning:

12: Fan

13: Substitute GK

25: Third choice GK

28: Youngster

Among all the above I would also take 5, at least it's a player number. 28 would look weird on a 33 year old trophy winner, and any of the above would be just plain wrong.

Koné was wearing 2 and that was painful to watch too.

 

Level of play aside, I daresay Kagawa would still be better than any other AMC we have in the squad, including Barkley.

 

Sure Barkley is a threat with his direct running, but his decision making still leave much to be desired at times.

The only way to develop Barkley's decision making is to play him, and Martinez seems very committed to develop him. Kagawa has shown that he can only play at his level in the same role as Barkley, and Barkley will not play MC after signing Besic.

All in all, although we may feel it could be interesting, I don't see it happening. I feel Martinez will go 4-4-2 with a traditional second striker behind Lukaku like he has been doing with Naismith (who, by the way, is thriving in that role at the moment). Mirallas and Eto'o can also do some link-up and movement in the hole, and in two months Barkley will be back.

Another option is to play 4-3-3 with 3 CM (McCarthy, Besic, Barry) and two wide wingers plus Lukaku.

Oh boy, how good it be if Oviedo comes back at the same level he was last season. He was superb before the injury, even playing as a left midfielder, growing so much.

I hope Martinez sets up the team to play the usual attacking game with confidence and arrogance, I can't see them defending for 90 mins and getting away with it.

Fabregas, Costa, Hazard... that is real talent out there. I can't see more than a Chelsea win, but hopefully I am wrong on this one.

Let's see how we can cope with the top teams of the division (Manchester City and Chelsea). Arsenal is right in our league "fight for 4th", as should be Tottenham and Liverpool.

I somehow have the feeling that any of those teams competing for 4th, if they have a good run of form can challenge for the title. Let's see.

About Martinez and his subs, I always have the feeling he respects the hierarchy in the team. He is always conservative and he never promotes a player before giving significant time to the previous holder of the spot to defend it. (Example: Osman - Deulofeu, Lukaku - Jelavic). This season I feel Besic will not start playing games from the beginning, he will get some sub games previously, and after game six he will get consistent playtime.

I think it's a thing about team spirit, a player feeling useful and not suddenly taken apart for a newcomer. It hampers the results in the first games, I admit, but I guess this is his way of telling all the players "I respect you, and the new ones will have to earn it".

As for the defensive lapses, I really cannot understand how a team that is so composed with the ball can sit so deep.

So far, this Everton team of Martinez is (2014 overall):

a) Defensively soft: there is not a ruthless captain screaming and putting hard tackles

Mentally fragile: everytime they get a lead, they try to defend it. And they do it by sitting VERY back (see goals against Arsenal).

c) Very strong in posession: it has been quite obvious that quality wise the footballers can keep up with the best, only got outplayed by City.

d) Great at the counter-attack: speed, power, movement and intelligence.

All in all, for me this team reminds me to the old Arsenal teams that finished 4th for many seasons, albeit less talented: beautiful posession football sometimes, lacking cutting edge, some last minute draws, lacks character.

I must admit I enjoy watching this team play football, but it frustrates the hell out of me when I see them defending a lead because they have the talent to kill the game by attacking more yet they clearly prefer to sit back and counter.

It's a terrible idea paying him daft wages for two years at his age, for a player that will probably flop at his possible last club.

 

I don't agree with it one bit. The clubs made several statements this year, however making statements and spending money you don't have are two different things.

I didnt agree with spending 28 million on Lukaku either, as much as I love him he wasnt worth it.

 

I really hope he proves me wrong, but a handful of goals from the bench isn't going to justify his wages.

Football economics: at this point youth commands a huge transfer fee, because if Lukaku is successful he can be sold for 60-70 million in four years (see Bale, for example).

As for Eto'o, I read somewhere he was on low wages and he does not cost a penny in transfer fees.

I would say his impact for the club is bigger than a handful of goals, not everything happens on Saturday at 3pm. It's like Hibbert's contract, I feel there are some values that Martinez appreciates (professionalism, attitude, inspiration, value of the club) and that help the group and its intangibles.

The thing is he wants to be the main striker, and Lukaku here is and will be the main man for a long time. He doesn't want to play in the wing and I don't see any other spot for him in this team.

I don't see this happening with Eto'o in the team, besides he is not clinical enough to be the main striker.

I'd prefer if RM spends whatever money is left on a young CB with potential or a young flair winger/attacking midfielder. If there is any money left.

I still think we will get two more players if we sell anyone and just one if we don't. A creative midfielder is a must, and im surprised Roberto hasn't been linked with a Spanish midfielder who is good on the ball and can find that killer pass. I wouldn't mind us going for Powell at United

Konoplyanka is available (the chap that Liverpool wanted to sign on January but couldn't get the deal done on time I think). He's good, but he would be expensive and not the type of player Martinez would buy.

Cheeky bid for Ben Arfa, perhaps? This club has a thing about getting players to perform, and a good Ben Arfa is a superb player, even though he would need a couple of months to get back to fitness and some love from the coaching staff.

To be honest AMC is not an easy position to fill in Everton, so let's see what happens. A guy like Kagawa can be useful, but he has been a flop so far for United and I would say Everton is now above their level of play.

Interesting days ahead, maybe a change of formation (4-4-2 two strikers) or Mirallas in the middle can do the trick for a couple of months, the injury for Barkley is a dissapointment though.

Kagawa could really fit in..

Give Martinez quality players, he will make them thrive.

(Now please Roberto go and buy some defenders!)

Even Welbeck would make sense, seeing how Naismith is performing lately. Kagawa would be a smart buy, play him for a year or two, then sell him to a Bundesliga/Serie A club for decent money.

No matter how he performs off the field, Eto'o has always been a true competitor in the pitch: a hard worker, tireless runner that is there to win. I've never seen him tire or make up excuses, I've never seen him give up (except for racist incidents) and he's always been a nightmare for the defenders.

Even if he doesn't score as many goals, as long as he teaches Lukaku a thing or two about poaching, positioning, body control and other striker tricks I would be very happy. At the end of the day he's 33, after a long and successful career, but our main asset is 21 and shares with Eto'o many things to improve (Eto'o's first touch was awful when he was 15-21, he did not know how to dribble, he could not head the ball to save his life... he was just a extremely fast striker. Look where he is now and how much he improved!).

Now I would not worry so much if Lukaku gets injured against the likes of Sunderland or West Brom, I trust Eto'o more than I would trust Koné to find the back of the net.

He's gonna cost in excess of £12m - I guarantee that. Probably £16m is my guess.

Balotelli costs £16m, there is no way Welbeck is that expensive. Plus Long was wanted at West Brom, Welbeck is not wanted by LVG and his wages are probably impossible to match by any club not in the top 4.

I still can't understand what were Southampton thinking when spent £12m on Shane Long, but that is probably due to the fact that they received loads of cash and all the clubs knew about it. That is not the case here, the bargaining power is quite good (RM can bargain like "heh we've spent £28m on one chap, we don't have anything left but if you leave it for a cut price we might find some available extra funds in BK...") and Everton are a decent team.

I feel it's either Spurs or Everton for Welbeck, Man Utd will not sell to Arsenal and he'll not want to move to any other team. £8m (£5m fee + £3m extra due to English nationality) it's all I'd offer, not a penny more.

If I had to choose I'd take Powell for four million and Kagawa for 8, maybe Welbeck and Cleverley.

Cleverley played some good football under Martinez in Wigan as a left forward.

I would take Welbeck permanently on a low price (5M), although the loan makes more sense. Welbeck would play more, Man Utd give him play time and he raises his value for a future transfer.

I really don't think Welbeck is at the level Everton should aim to be, but considering that Martinez sold Anichebe and Jelavic for a nice fee, Welbeck is twice the player they are. I could see a team like Sunderland, West Ham or West Brom paying 10M for him in two years.

If the club finally signs Eto'o and Welbeck the squad has suddenly become quite deep in the striker position. A front three of Lukaku, Welbeck and Naismith/Mirallas should be quite mobile and pacey.

Poor article to be honest. The table states that he played for Real Mallorca, but Mcnulty manages to get that confused with Real Madrid. Is he a little too excited at the prospect of Etoo.

FYI Eto'o signed for Real Madrid when he was 15, he has been loaned out to many teams (Espanyol and RCD Mallorca among others) and he became excellent in Mallorca. When Barcelona signed him, 50% of his transfer fee went to Real Madrid (around 12M€, used by Madrid to fund the purchase of... Michael Owen). Eto'o always wanted to play for Madrid but was never given the chance even when he was clearly at the required level.

Eto'o scoring the 4th in a Preseason friendly against AC Milan

This is the first time that I am genuinely worried about our season. Barkley's out for a bit and now this...

At least it happens before the transfer window is closed and not a week after! Now Martinez has some time to react, I am expecting a striker and a midfielder before the window closes.

just one last thought on this subject the likes of arsenal and spurs and a lot of top European clubs have been after a decent keeper over the last few years we have never received one offer for ours that says a lot weather we would accept it or not is irreverent nobody wants our alleged top 5 in the premier keeper.

He's relatively old, and he is at his level. The club fits him and he fits the club, no reason to change neither for the club or for him.

Arsenal have always tried to spot young talent and Howard is not getting any younger.

Spurs went for Gomes (at the time starting GK for PSV Eindhoven, Brad Friedel as a stop gap, then Lloris who is a young good keeper with some upside).

Outside the Prem each team sort their GK problems within their own country (for example: Madrid bought Diego Lopez when Casillas got injured, 4M€ for an old reliable keeper). No adaptation, no huge wages... Barça wanted potential in Ter-Stegen and someone ready just in case in Claudio Bravo. Bayern got Neuer and now Reina.

I don't see the big deal in having so called big teams sniffing around. Baines has been excellent for some time and yet it was only last summer when a big team tried to buy him.

The point is, at this stage of the transfer window, the big clubs already did all their signings but they could not offload players. Roberto should be aware now that it is the right time to do cheap signings and not only loans. I'm quite sure there are big teams with great players that for different reasons (contract renewals, playing time, club policy) do not fit in the club. As an example I quoted five that are widely known, but there should be plenty. Some teams already made their move (i.e.: Sevilla signed Banega and Deulofeu, Milan went to buy Diego Lopez, etc.) but other good players are still up for grabs.

Unfortunately I believe only a couple of loans will be added.