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The best way to put this to bed is for him to sign the new contract that Roberto said would be on offer this summer, and I'm guessing that will be tied up in the next week or so. The club will want to keep this feel-good factor rolling and contract extensions are usually sorted out before the season gets going. With Rom having signed, and Ross extending his deal, the players have got to be be buzzing about the future.

MK Dons fans reckon we've offered £400k plus add-ons while they're after £1m.

SSN reporting just now that his representatives are in "ongoing dialogue" with Bill Kenright and the player is training in London at Chelsea's training ground waiting for the green light. They reckon it could be done by the weekend.

We could still be looking at this lad, although Swansea are in the mix too. Reading's takeover has stalled and there are suggestions they need to sell. Wonder if we're planning to send Robles out on loan to get some more experience after his wobbly pre-season, and bring McCarthy in as no.2? http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-fc-transfer-gossip-mccarthy-7525057

All that seems to have happened publicly is that MK Dons issued an article saying Galloway has told them he intends to leave. Just looking on their forum now, it seems the MK Dons manager has told some of their fans that Galloway is leaving for 'nothing' because he never signed the pro contract they offered. 'Nothing' seems to be the EPPP compensation, which is estimated at £60k-£70k. If true, it's puzzling that we haven't already signed him, unless MK are pushing it to arbitration and we're still negotiating. The recent pages on their Galloway thread, in case anyone is interested! http://www.concreteroundabout.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=10892&start=320

He's broken his shoulder and needs an op so if we are really interested in him he will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks: http://www.bundesliga.com/en/liga/news/2014/0000298273.php

Yes, I thought that too. Interesting that Martinez was clearly the main factor in his decision to join us, and he has great admiration for the manager, the club and the Premier League. He says he regards himself as a midfielder and prefers to play there as he gets more touches of the ball, but is happy to play in defence if asked. Speaks good English too. http://www.evertonfc.com/evertontv/home/10481

Confirmation and quotes from RM on the OS now, with a video interview to follow by the look of it: http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/2014/07/28/besic-deal-complete

'Linked' to Real Madrid in the Star, as a replacement for Morata: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/390870/Real-Madrid-plot-stunning-raid-for-Chelsea-striker-Romelu-Lukaku

The Daily Mail is suggesting that the hold-up is due to disagreements between the clubs about payments to various agents. Presumably the player being allowed to join up with us suggests they're close to an agreement: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2704808/Muhamed-Besics-Everton-threat-agent-disagreement.html

We're still being linked with this guy, along with the RS, Southampton and Sunderland, according to Italian media. http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2014/07/liverpool-and-everton-lead-the-chase-for-lazio-midfielder/?

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/everton-fc-close-deal-highly-rated-7483043 Roberto Martinez has confirmed that Everton FC are close to signing Belgium teenager David Henen. And the Blues boss has earmarked a place in the under-21's for the Anderlecht forward this coming season. Henen, 18, is understood to have completed a medical at Finch Farm on Monday and Martinez says his proposed transfer - thought to be in the region of £1.5m - is "in the process". Everton are said to have beaten off competition from Arsenal for his signature and Martinez is excited about the prospect of bringing the highly-rated youngster to Goodison Park. Henen is a regular goalscorer for his nation's youth teams and spent last season on loan at Monaco B. But now he looks to be headed to Everton where Martinez believes he will add a new dimension to the club's second string. "He's a young, talented footballer who represents Belgium in the lower teams, in the under-18s and has had good experience in going to France," Martinez told the ECHO. "He is a bright boy and we feel he is something different that we haven't got in the under-21s so we are hoping he is going to be giving us something different in that group, We want a strong group. We have already got talented and very interesting footballers and I think David can fit in really well in that environment." Asked if the deal was completed, Martinez said: "It is in the process of being completed."

"Finally, Roberto Martínez has gathered his closest confidantes in a huddle to discuss a possible bid for Yacine Brahimi, who was last seen being a nifty presence in the heart of the Algeria midfield at the World Cup." http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/22/football-transfer-rumours-wesley-sneijder-monaco-united

Having the same agent as Mirallas and Lukaku (Christophe Henrotay, who reportedly has a good relationship with Everton) can't have harmed this deal at all. Sounds like a bit of a coup if it all goes through smoothly. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-fc-closing-signing-belgian-7475223

Charlton's 17-year-old central defender being 'chased' by Everton and Newcastle: http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/Sport.cfm?id=23503 He won the Euro U17 Championships with England this summer.

I know what you mean, but I'm in a good mood today and it mostly made me smile.

Everton are on a project path, one which could see Martinez written into Merseyside folklore: http://blog.umaxit.com/2014/07/09/roberto-martinez-the-legacy-continues/

Simeone wants Negredo instead of Lukaku... http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/07/04/tt-report-atletico-madrid-boss-pulls-the-plug-on-deal-for-chelse/

Yes, that would be stupid money!

£25m move to Liverpool completed today: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/485992/CONFIRMED-Adam-Lallana-becomes-Liverpool-s-third-summer-signing-in-25m-deal

Sounds a bargain! All these young Dundee United lads have spoken about being happy where they are and not anxious for a move, but you can understand him being intrigued by playing overseas. I think this could spark some interest from Premier League clubs like Arsenal that were supposed to be interested last season, especially at that price. If he's genuinely on the move then I hope we're in the mix.

It had gone quiet on this one, but with Football League clubs back for pre-season training Norwich City are reportedly interested: http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city-fc/rumour_mill_norwich_city_battle_everton_for_signature_of_england_under_19s_midfielder_from_mk_dons_1_3664002

Sounds like he's been training hard for the last three weeks to make sure he's ready to play, so hopefully pre-season will go well for him and he'll be able to play his part during the season. http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/2014/07/01/mcaleny-signs-new-deal?

Martinez has said before that it's good to have new players with the squad when they return for pre-season training so hopefully we can expect to see a few things sorted out this week.

I know what you mean and it's impossible to speculate since the club is doing a great job of not giving a clue about what sort of funds we have to spend, but, in addition to the star signings we're all gagging for, the squad needs a few more options for rotation. Ideally we could chuck money around like Rodgers can every year, but this summer will have to be a mix of 'star' signings and others. Remember the groans last season when we saw Ossie in the starting line-up? I love the guy but he can't do 90 minutes and next season we need to be able to call on better options when we have injuries or three games in a Europa week. Reading what Roberto said about Cleverley, he could play in the Osman and Pienaar roles as well as deeper, and RM has worked with him before so should know what he's capable of. I agree that £8m is steep for a lad in the last year of his contract, but with the way transfer fees are inflating this summer last summer's £5m is probably £8m now.