Rob

Everton looked winnable on paper but I thought we'd have a striker in by now. Arguably the most important piece of business that was needed along with a keeper and we still haven't done it.

I thought we played quite well, but it's clear where our limitations are. The recruitment team needs to get these next signings spot on if we want to be competitive this season.

A loan where he can get regular minutes will do him the world of food. God knows why we bought him if we weren't going to play him. I can't help feeling sorry for him.

To do that we need to ensure we have the players to give it a go. The last pieces of the jigsaw will be the most important.

IMO the gap has grown wider in quality between the prem sides and the championship. Staying up is a monumental task now and if we're going to have any chance whatsoever these attacking signings have to be a significant upgrade on what we currently have.

Tanaka for Longstaff is a must for me.

I remember how so many of our fan base was moaning about how he disappeared in games, I was one of them tbf. We know he can finish but a lot of times last season he went missing in games. I still think he could do a job from the bench but as you say we need someone who offers a lot more.

I hope not. He's decent on his day but after being in for such an exciting player this would feel a bit flat to say the least. Also don't think he's anything particularly special at premier league level anyway. We need a real difference maker to stay alive in this league.

Just hope we can get this one over the line now, would be a massive signing.

Great thread

Really Impressed with the work that's been done this week. Obviously plenty still to do but it certainly feels like a plan is coming together. I just wonder how we sign those linked players without having to make significant sales ourselves though. Time will tell.

But we still spend most of it fretting about the transfer window. We are never truly free 😂

But if the intention is to improve your first eleven bringing in a player that arguably may not do that seems a bit weird. Surely you look at another player that likely walks into the first team not someone that spends a lot of time on the bench. Seems a bit all over the place to me.

I do wonder what our strategy is here. With Diarra it was clear he would be seen as a player with higher ceiling potential to improve our first team. Now we're talking about Longstaff who brings PL experience but is more likely to be a depth filler. All seems a bit confused to me.

I can't unsee this now 😂

Paraag said they'd been working on it for 6 months prior, it doesn't look like it atm. Totally underwhelmed at this point mainly because we keep missing the bullseye with our targets. Having said that there's still time to get it right, but we need to see something positive very soon.

We need players in asap so we can get points on the board early, we need to be ready.

That's a fair comment, Sadiki wasn't that pricey imo but obviously I have no of clauses were inserted. If we're only looking to spending £15m or so on a midfielder then I'm not sure we will get what is required. I obviously hope that's not the case.

We need competition and we need the depth to have a way higher ceiling than we have now. Do you honestly see Gruev and Byram being good enough depth? Imagine Tanaka or Ampadu get injured, who then comes in? We have loads of work to do otherwise we are only going one way.

That's three players that we've missed out on because we don't meet the clubs valuation. It's all going very well!

I think the fact that two of the midfielders we wanted both going to Sunderland is proof enough.

Another 6 I would say, we obviously need GK,CF,AM,LW bare minimum but we also need more in midfield and at least one more for full back cover. There's loads to do but our midfield targets keep falling by the wayside. Not totally impressed so far I'm afraid.

3 or 4 isn't even enough. Regardless of that we aren't getting the players that we have targeted, that is a big concern.

Agree entirely

Two of those aren't even gonna be starting. The league starts in just over a month and we need to be ready to go from day one.

Exactly, not exactly attacking the transfer market are we. We have been gazzumped twice and now can't even get Longstaff over the line. Just starting to become a little concerned.

Doesn't look like Longstaff will be coming now either. Things aren't going according to plan it seems.

None of the signings are really exciting the fan base it seems. I'm hoping that after longstaff signs we will get one or two that will change that narrative.

I've never seen him play tbh, what is it you're worried about? Recruitment wise we have hit the target more than we've missed since Orta left.

True enough but as the original post said I'd have liked to have seen one or two more key positions filled as early as possible. I'm sure the club know exactly what they're doing so I'm fairly relaxed at this stage. The sooner we get them in tho the more time they have to settle in.