Abdoulaye Doucouré

[Bailey]

11 minutes ago, SpartyBlue said:

When you think of how much of the window we have left, I think these players have actually come quite fast. It just seems slow because of the shortened offseason. We have a month left. Ideally we’d keep players like Walcott and Bolassie around until the end to see who has what and then make a decision. Also you never know when injuries will pop up. 

Yeh there is no doubt this is a difficult window so in one sense they are in early and in a normal season it would be quick however the season starts this weekend and only one of them is likely to play a part.

Put it this way though, given the quality of the 3 players we have brought in, I would have been happy to wait until 11.59 on deadline day! 

[SpartyBlue]

45 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Yeh there is no doubt this is a difficult window so in one sense they are in early and in a normal season it would be quick however the season starts this weekend and only one of them is likely to play a part.

Put it this way though, given the quality of the 3 players we have brought in, I would have been happy to wait until 11.59 on deadline day! 

Certainly. I do kind of think that given his experience with Ancelotti and what will be  a full week of training we will see James on Sunday. 

[Romey 1878]

 

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12066679/doucoure-brings-8216different-dynamic-to-everton8217

[Aidan]

Just changed his Twitter bio from 'Watford player' to 'football player'. Must mean an announcement tonight. 

[barryj]

 

[barryj]

You can move to the the general thread

[barryj]

 

[MikeO]

7 minutes ago, barryj said:

You can move to the the general thread

Done

[chicagoblue]

Mind boggling transformation of our midfield. 

[Zoo 2.0]

I'll be honest Doucoure is the one I know the least about, but hoping that he proves to be Gueye 2.0 in the sense that he came from a relegated club and turned into one of our better players. 

We seem to have been after him for decades, so glad to see it finally over the line. The fact that we have gone back in for him, despite having new targets and new visions shows that he was a top target and anyone who is at the top of Ancelotti's list gets a massive thumbs up from me. 

We're not done this summer, but so happy that we have addressed the weakest area of the squad. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see the likes of Delph moved on to recoup some cash.

[Hafnia]

Bloody Nora ... Best transfer window I've seen. 

[Palfy]

I can hardly believe all this is happening, and there are still more rumours of more to come, with a central defender and striker being targeted. 

[SpartyBlue]

1 minute ago, Palfy said:

I can hardly believe all this is happening, and there are still more rumours of more to come, with a central defender and striker being targeted. 

Perhaps someone can explain the striker thing to me. Richie and DCL are likely to play up top and both are coming off good years. Behind them we have an exciting prospect in Kean who we surely want to give some more game time to. I’m not convinced DCL is the longterm answer for a club with champions league ambitions but it seems a strange one to me in this window. 

[Hafnia]

Just now, Palfy said:

I can hardly believe all this is happening, and there are still more rumours of more to come, with a central defender and striker being targeted. 

Maxi Gomes.... Not seen much of him but let's sign him. Fuck it. .... I'm all in. 

[Matt]

Feel a little for him. Our week has been “oh thank fuck that’s a great signing!”, to “Ooooooh fuck yeaaaaah”. Hopefully he’s not a limelight player  

[Palfy]

1 minute ago, SpartyBlue said:

Perhaps someone can explain the striker thing to me. Richie and DCL are likely to play up top and both are coming off good years. Behind them we have an exciting prospect in Kean who we surely want to give some more game time to. I’m not convinced DCL is the longterm answer for a club with champions league ambitions but it seems a strange one to me in this window. 

Rumour has it Ancelotti is interested in a striker currently playing for Valencia in Spain, I read it this morning but can’t find the link again to get the name, maybe some one else saw the same story and fill the gaps in, but I’m not going to question the professor, if he thinks we need another striker then we need another striker end of. 

[SpartyBlue]

1 minute ago, Palfy said:

Rumour has it Ancelotti is interested in a striker currently playing for Valencia in Spain, I read it this morning but can’t find the link again to get the name, maybe some one else saw the same story and fill the gaps in, but I’m not going to question the professor, if he thinks we need another striker then we need another striker end of. 

I wonder if it’s a combination of a bit of a lack of confidence in DCL longterm and a hedge against Richarlison leaving in the sunmer

[Sibdane]

Just now, Palfy said:

Rumour has it Ancelotti is interested in a striker currently playing for Valencia in Spain, I read it this morning but can’t find the link again to get the name, maybe some one else saw the same story and fill the gaps in, but I’m not going to question the professor, if he thinks we need another striker then we need another striker end of. 

Maxi Gomez? He would be quite a coup too to be honest. He's only 24 also, so not really too young or too old. 

[badaids]

It’s going triple lob rate in my trousers today. What a week.

[Palfy]

Just now, SpartyBlue said:

I wonder if it’s a combination of a bit of a lack of confidence in DCL longterm and a hedge against Richarlison leaving in the sunmer

Quite possibly you are right mate DCL is still developing and is prone to having lean spells were he struggles to find the net, so this could be a back up signing to take some pressure off DCL.

I hope your wrong on the Richarlison front and we are convincing him that there is a future here with the acquisitions we are making, didn’t Ancelotti reportedly ask him for another year before he made any decisions on leaving, so he could see the club were heading in the right direction. 

[SpartyBlue]

1 minute ago, Palfy said:

Quite possibly you are right mate DCL is still developing and is prone to having lean spells were he struggles to find the net, so this could be a back up signing to take some pressure off DCL.

I hope your wrong on the Richarlison front and we are convincing him that there is a future here with the acquisitions we are making, didn’t Ancelotti reportedly ask him for another year before he made any decisions on leaving, so he could see the club were heading in the right direction. 

Ya, this is a pivotal year on a number of fronts. We need to show real progress.

[Romey 1878]

The midfield has well and truly been transformed. We now have an engine room.

I don’t think we’re done but I would be happy if these were the only deals we do this window. That’s how needed and how good our business has been. 

[StevO]

If you’re a midfielder at Everton, you need to seriously step up you’re game if you want to play again. 
Not a single one of them will get a look in if they aren’t at least twice as good as they were last season. 
The standard has moved, time to improve or get out of the way. 

[barryj]

In his interview he said he enjoyed his meal out with Mr Ancelotti, James and Allan Got to know them and he’s ready to start Sunday! Here we go. Every time Everton beat you down they always manage to reel me in again and give new found optimism. Bring on Sunday!!  

So gutted i cant be in my seat for the first home game the Old Lady would have been rocking.

[Palfy]

20 minutes ago, StevO said:

If you’re a midfielder at Everton, you need to seriously step up you’re game if you want to play again. 
Not a single one of them will get a look in if they aren’t at least twice as good as they were last season. 
The standard has moved, time to improve or get out of the way. 

And as much as we love him that goes for Gomes as well. Just hope he can find it in himself to get back to where we know he can be. 

[barryj]

1 minute ago, Palfy said:

And as much as we love him that goes for Gomes as well. Just hope he can find it in himself to get back to where we know he can be. 

Don’t start that up in this thread too
.......it’s always you, you troublemaker!

[Zoo 2.0]

15 minutes ago, barryj said:

In his interview he said he enjoyed his meal out with Mr Ancelotti, James and Allan Got to know them and he’s ready to start Sunday! Here we go. Every time Everton beat you down they always manage to reel me in again and give new found optimism. Bring on Sunday!!  

So gutted i cant be in my seat for the first home game the Old Lady would have been rocking.

Love this - you can tell Carlo puts his arm around his players. A proper man manager. 

27 minutes ago, StevO said:

If you’re a midfielder at Everton, you need to seriously step up you’re game if you want to play again. 
Not a single one of them will get a look in if they aren’t at least twice as good as they were last season. 
The standard has moved, time to improve or get out of the way. 

Would happily sell Tom Davies (heard Newcastle are interested?) and Delph as Leeds are apparently keen. Both are not in the same ball park as the calibre of player that we have now.

André Gomes I truly believe can be a good option for us if he gets a bit of confidence back, and uses this as a tool to fire a rocket up his arse and also believe that Gylfi (yes, really) could turn into an option for us. The latter is bursting with talent, but just seems to sleepwalk through games which will be totally unheard of with the depth that we now have. The days of doing fuck all and starting the next week are over.

[nyblue23]

1 hour ago, Palfy said:

Quite possibly you are right mate DCL is still developing and is prone to having lean spells were he struggles to find the net, so this could be a back up signing to take some pressure off DCL.

I hope your wrong on the Richarlison front and we are convincing him that there is a future here with the acquisitions we are making, didn’t Ancelotti reportedly ask him for another year before he made any decisions on leaving, so he could see the club were heading in the right direction. 

Yeah I came here to say this. With the three signings we made, I don't think Richarlison leaving is at all a foregone conclusion. I think if we're able to secure Europe this season and show sufficient progress otherwise, he'll be open to staying.

[Matt]

Forgotten how big and strong he is, good feet and timing of tackles too