Get Your Hands Off Our Players

Well, it was too good to be true. Earlier this month I wrote on Peoples Blog regarding the unusually positive preseason start we had made. It referred to the positive contract talks, additions to the squad and our hopes and expectations regarding key senior players.

This weekend has felt like a kick in the gutts, even though nothing has actually happened. Let’s face it, we are vulnerable. It started with a ‘keep your sights off Donovan’ statement from the MLS and quickly gathered pace. Pienaar to Inter Milan? Arteta to Man City? and then out of the blue, Arsenal are actually tabling bids for Jagielka. And we thought that the news regarding Gosling was poor?

At this moment in time it all amounts to nothing more than paper talk, but the Arsenal story concerns me the most. Jags is, and was two seasons ago, by far our best defender. If Wenger is to have any hopes of signing the England International then he’d better start looking to double his initial bid. Reports in the media suggest that he ready to increase an initial £14m bid to £16m or £18m, but that is likely to be some way off Everton’s valuation.

There will be plenty of clubs around the country looking at Everton with envy. The truth is that if we lost some of most influential players we would be gaining in the region of £50m, but I’d be surprised if any Evertonian would accepted that as compensation.

Let’s hope that the management team can hold off this latest round of assaults for our personnel. I’ll be watching with just one open and holding my breath.

About ToffeeFolk

Born not manufactured, season ticket holder, proud to be blue