Stones

[Audrey Horne]

Where has the info come from about Stones returning?

Surely we won't get another very injury prone CB?

[Evertonian418]

Wouldn't touch him. Too old and injury prone. We need to look for younger players.

[Gash]

Just rumours and speculation isn't it, 2+2=5?

32 next month, missed over 150 games with injuries, 57 of them in the last two seasons. Send him off to the MLS.

[NickNack]

Surely not

[Audrey Horne]

Just rumours and speculation isn't it, 2+2=5?

32 next month, missed over 150 games with injuries, 57 of them in the last two seasons. Send him off to the MLS.

Would hope so!!

[Shogun]

Be surprised if he isn't retiring or going to a substandard league.

Absolutely talented. I do feel it's a bit mad he's in the England squads though and it's a shame he hasn't played much more in his career even if he has technically won the lot at Man City.

[TheRam]

If you want a shock go and see how many games he’s played for city since he joined them.

Only four times out of ten seasons did he play more than 20 premier league games.

[Brownie]

I’ve never known a club get linked with ex players as much as us

[777Kidnappings]

I’ve never known a club get linked with ex players as much as us

Sentiment FC

[brap2]

What a player though. One of the most immediately obvious - this kid is going directly to the top - we’ve ever had imo.

[777Kidnappings]

I didn't realise how little hed played for so much of his career

[bigmanbob]

I was gutted when he left, I met him at work. He came into our Hozzie to give Easter eggs out on one of our kids wards and the ward manager gave me the heads up and let me take my boys in to meet him. He was a confident young lad even back then

[Cereal Killer]

Everton look set to revive their interest in Chelsea forward Liam Delap, 23, while they are also exploring moves for fellow Englishman, defenders John Stones, 31, who is leaving Manchester City at the end of the season, and Arsenal's Ben White, 28. They also want to extend 30-year-old England winger Jack Grealish's loan from Manchester City

Happy summer

[Bluedylan1]

Everton look set to revive their interest in Chelsea forward Liam Delap, 23, while they are also exploring moves for fellow Englishman, defenders John Stones, 31, who is leaving Manchester City at the end of the season, and Arsenal's Ben White, 28. They also want to extend 30-year-old England winger Jack Grealish's loan from Manchester City

Happy summer

Here's the full article, by Mark Douglas -

If Everton come up short in the race for European qualification this season, there will be more than a pang of regret for David Moyes.

In his second stint at Everton, Moyes is a man in a hurry. While the club’s football leadership team is building for the long-term – with the ambition of establishing themselves alongside the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle United as regulars in gatecrashing the Champions League places in the next year or two – the Scot believes there is no time to waste.

That is why when some see issues for Everton qualifying for Europe – the squad would need significantly more than the planned-for four or five major signings to cope with the expanded fixture list – he sees a golden opportunity. And it is a chance that, if Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea get their act together, might not be as easy to achieve as this season.

After stumbling in recent weeks, it now looks like a long shot. Three wins from their final four matches – starting with Monday night’s visit of title-chasing Manchester City – might be required.

Whatever ultimately ends up happening, the club have progressed. On and off the field, where a £30m front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with CMC Markets has been struck, there is confidence going into a summer where Everton – who have funds and scope to make first team-ready additions – intend to be “front foot” and attack the transfer market.

Ambitious targets – and Grealish optimism
First through the door is likely to be the returning Jack Grealish, with sources understood to be increasingly confident that a deal can be struck with City to extend the England winger’s time on Merseyside.

Everton are hoping for another loan, having committed around £12m to his first year, and there is a belief that Grealish’s desperation to return to the Hill Dickinson Stadium will help negotiations with City, which will open at the end of the season.

Beyond that, Everton’s approach will be fascinating. The dynamic between the football leadership board, who will lean into data and analytics, and Moyes is a fascinating one.

The Everton manager, for example, was advocating that the club speculated to accumulate in January, pushing for experienced signings that would strengthen their push for Europe.

In the event the club, mindful of financial restrictions that have landed the club in trouble in the recent past, decided to keep their powder dry ahead of what one source suggested would be a “big summer” at the club. Now they have decisions to make.

Striker and right-back at the top of the wishlist
The club desperately need a striker and – whatever happens next with Thierno Barry after a decidedly mixed first season following a £27m move from Villarreal – they intend to add another forward.

There is some support for reviving interest in Liam Delap, who opted to move to Chelsea last year and is likely to be made available this summer for around the £30m he cost 12 months ago, but it is by no means unanimous. His first season at Stamford Bridge represents a red flag to some and other well-placed sources believe the club are more likely to turn to the European market again, given inflated Premier League prices.

Right-back is a priority area but two centre-back names being explored are Arsenal’s England defender Ben White and John Stones, who is understood to be keen to remain in the North West when he leaves City in the summer.

The 31-year-old spent three years at Everton – working with Moyes for six months – and possesses the leadership qualities and experience that the Toffees coach believes will be key to moving the squad forward.

Contract extensions incoming
There will also be continuity, with Everton close to triggering a year extension in the contract of left-back Vitalii Mykolenko. There is also a desire to extend Idrissa Gueye’s spell for another year, but that extension requires the veteran midfielder to agree. It is not viewed as a certainty that he will stay.

And Everton insiders remain confident that midfielder Merlin Röhl and Tyler Dibling, who has been used sparingly this season, will come good after slow first years.

Conversations with agents ahead of the summer have been positive. There is a sense that Everton is once again seen as a “destination”, with Grealish’s presence and the excellent form of the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Garner giving them a platform to sell themselves to potential targets.

“Whatever happens this season, we’re absolutely moving in the right direction,” one source says.

[TheRam]

Would love Ben white but massive question marks over his motivation and injury record recently.

Can see him not giving a shit once he’s not at a massive club like Arsenal.