EVERTON 25/26 SQUAD ASSESSMENT, PART 2: HACKNEY'S HERE, DATA-DRIVEN MIDFIELD TARGETS

From the USA to Mercyside and Beyond, welcome to the Blue Frontier, insightful Everton analysis for every bloom, with James Boyman, Ryan Williams, and Sean Conn. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Blue Frontier. Very excited to be back, I'm going to hand it off to Ryan. The first before I hand it off to Ryan, I want to ask him because he attended the World Cup one of the matches as well as his watch a ton of games and it seems like it's getting a lot of positive praise. Yeah, it's pretty amusing. I did go to the Ivory Coast Curacao match partially because it was the closest to me and the tickets were fairly affordable. I'll say this though, I mean the handling of the game by FIFA was kind of a joke. A lot of the stewards in there just were literally said to me, "Two separate people said to me, "Sorry, it's not an Eagles game. We would have been much better organized, but they have a stewing all sorts of stupid stuff." So I found that very amusing. People booed the water breaks, by the way. I hate this idea that this is somehow America's fault that we have water breaks. I mean do we have water breaks in MLS? Not less is really hot. I mean, which we've had for years, so I don't. It's all just kind of silly. I personally really enjoyed all the Americans that don't watch football apining on how to make football better. That's been my favorite part in just people losing their minds on it. I think soccer football is really great, as is. I will say though, one thing I will say this Sean, I think, is really helpful is. I mean you can argue whether the Germany gold decided to be disallowed or not, but they have cleaned up all the nonsense and set pieces. And I think the product is much more enjoyable as a result. And people argue a lot about the millimeter stuff with off sides. No matter what standard you pick, there's going to be a toenail. And it's like that in virtually every sport. So unless you do away with it all together, but the point I'm trying to make is that it's fairly quick. You know, it's not taking a long time. I love that they're not allowed to delay on throws. Subbs have to happen quickly. I think a lot of it's good. I mean, it was a really fun match, man. You know, it's just shame everything's so expensive. Yeah, tough for just kind of the common consumer, right? Especially those traveling abroad and credit to those that are coming to the US to see their countries play. Portability, unfortunately, with this tournament has kind of gone by the wayside. But to get into the team assessment, Ryan, just want you to kind of summarize real quick the things that we talked about. And then I'll go through the four common themes. Yeah, that's the thing. We kind of isolated it into four main themes and we'll apply those by position. But yeah, I think it's all just centers around, you know, the attack was so direct, but not effective. Defending is very passive. We can't keep the ball. Other teams press the living daylights out of us. We just struggled to progress the ball and control matches in any other way other than being very direct and flying it up the pitch. And our personnel has this very limited in that regard. Sean and I think in particular, these positions center mid attacking mid to a certain extent, just having the players that can really help control the game better and progress the ball of the pitch is absolutely critical. But let's, I mean, Sean, if you had to rehash the big four kind of that we came up with, you know, the needs we had and we have some positional ideas in mind. We'll get into those though very specific in the positions we talk about today. Yeah, so to rehash the big four, the first one was need more open play creation from forwards and others. I think that's music to everyone's ears that supports this club. It's we definitely want that for especially from the fullback position, but even, you know, from our forward line as well as just kind of that number 10 as you talked about. Need better progression. I mean, you look at the amount of players that we feel confident in progression. It's not very high. And so you look at the center mids and fullbacks in particular, fullback will be a common criticism until we kind of really fill that need for this club, but you look at Ghana and Jared is pretty much the only ones that cut through the lines right and one of them might not be at the club next season. So it's just we don't have any ball carriers either and Garner just needs more freedom to do it. He's just kind of been a Swiss army knife and he's played almost every position besides goalkeeper this season. So you need also him to kind of get some stability and being able to not only utilize it skill, but improve that skill. And so then you get to ball retention and press being pressed resistant and that goes for a center mids and center backs, right? You look at our center backs. I think they look like a deer in their headlights when they have any sort of press and the amount of hoof ball that happens. So, you know, it once again, it gets back to the fullbacks, but you look at wingers also having to do so much dirty work and dropping just given just the personnel that we had out there. But having center backs that are able to progress, right, a healthy Jared makes a ton of difference, but just think of having Jared having a partner that can do that as well as just a better wing back line that would be able to just be confident with the ball, let alone progress it and not just have to kind of give it away every time would go a long way. And I think number four and it might be the most important as just a common theme as a whole, but better athletes, right? We are, I give this team so much credit for the ability to grind and what they've done throughout seasons, whether it's staying in the league or just even for most, for some parts of the season, you know, really getting some good results, but we really need to become more athletic. And I think you see that as a stark contrast when we play teams like leads, when you see teams that are so athletic, it's not that we're not as skilled as them in certain positions, but it's just when the athleticism differences is such a, is multiple standard deviations. It's hard to compete. And I think as the match goes on, especially David Moise, you know, not making the substitutions that would need, be needed in a game like that. It's just one of those problems that can fix itself if we really try to, you know, really focus that on that when you look at this summer's recruitment. The better athletes, the very last thing I'll add to on that one is we looked a lot of physical data too. There's some cool tools that we have. We're going to use them again in this episode, but we just weren't as active this past year either, you know, athleticism on tech talk about activity. So, okay. So how this episode is going to go and hopefully how the other positional ones are going to go, I mean, the full-backs one is going to be absolutely outrageous, but we need like three or four of them. But this one, and there's a big wrinkle to this one, but what we're going to do is we're going to look at who's still here first at each position. And we initially broke it up. Cam separate from center mid defense of mid probably because we kind of need a particular profile there. We're going to go through the same indexes and models that we had before and objectively rate rankings and performance of our current guys. And then we're going to apply different criteria, other considerations and come out with names. And we're going to hit room. We'll talk about players out of free. We're still budget conscious, relegation opportunities, and then we're going to get through our own data models and some of the names that came out and maybe throw some wild cards in there as well. I mean, look, we did this last year. It may be don't have the amount of names as we had last year. I don't think that would be possible. But yeah, we're going to get into the names, you know, and it should be fun. I think the wrinkle today is we would normally be going position by position, but we're going to hit Cam and center mid defense amid first in terms of what do we have coming back and what the performance looks like. But before we get into that, it's very important that we talk about the current rumor mill. And we're going to talk about wingers and center for its first, but we just felt like here at the blue frontier that we didn't need to surge forward into the great unknown. It's deal with apparently the positions we're trying to address right away. So Sean, I will leave it to you. I initially threw in Fabrizio in here, but it's really bobble and Paul Joyce. I don't want to give Paul Joyce credit for anything, but more so, bobble. It seems like we have a midfielder. I think the question is, is he the right profile? I'll leave it to you. Yeah, so who Ryan is referring to? And I think if you don't live under a rock, you know what we're referring to. And that's Hayden Hackney. He is reported to be having a medical on Wednesday. So for his move to Mersey side, there's been some conversation on the feed. You look at Ben Jacobs, he says 25 million pounds. What we've seen kind of is 16 and a half million with some add-ons. Three of those million add-ons are Champions League add-ons. So if that's the case, I don't think they're going to see them for some time. But I would say initial impressions. And I think Hayden Hackney is a polarizing player for a plethora of reasons. Of course, Championship player of the year has, I would say, a very flamboyant way of playing. But I think from my end, and I know Ryan will absolutely take his time with his measured and rational analysis of Hayden Hackney. But I think he's a good player. I think he is technically gifted. I think it will be a big jump up. A lot of what he does at the championship level, I think, will have to adjust. Facing somebody like Moises Kaisato versus what he's kind of facing in the championship. Up, there's no question that his stats pop off the page. I think when you think of just progression, I think possession, I think he can possess the ball. I think my worry is that he almost has no fear when it comes to taking guys on. And for a team that I don't think right now is built to counterball losses. That is something that I think he's going to have a tough time with if he doesn't adjust his game. But the skill is there, in my opinion. I think he has a lot of the tools that are capable of being successful. I just wonder if he's able to adjust his game in more than anything. I don't know where he's going to play. play. I think that's the hardest part of just giving the personnel that we have. I think the actual numbers like objectively look decent for a guy that's one year left in his deal so I think Middlesbrows doing okay there. I just think from our end it's when you look at KDH Garner, Ghana if he's still here and then you look at you know others that are potentially going to come in at positions of need like a six. I just don't know where his position comes in so I think that was a little bit long-winded but it's just I'm excited about the player. I think I'm just a little bit nervous about the fit. Let's run through a four categories right need more open-play creation from Fords and others. I think he could slot into a cam I guess too and that's a wrinkle because I think your point is where does he play matters you know for us as he addressed the need at all. Not an obvious one to me and that's why I continually get frustrated with Everton's recruitment where we're not addressing the needs and some people say well it doesn't matter what order you do that in. Well we didn't address any of them last year so I didn't matter what order we did in last year we didn't address them and I'm not sure this one necessarily addresses one but I'll say number two we need better progression the guy's progression monster. I mean he carries the ball he passes the ball cuts through lines again my issue with him is look I'll spare you all the metrics they're outrageous they're off the charts. The progression numbers are insane even the creation is very good too. My issue is some of the metrics I don't like is his amount of turnovers he gives the ball away constantly especially trying to carry it so it's great that you can carry the ball but you give it away all the time. So that's not helpful necessarily and you're not going to be able to your point is you're not going to be able to get away with that the primarily can you adjust and still be effective still be progressive without just blindly taking risks I think is a bad decision maker to be perfectly honest he just turns and forces everything constantly and again that was his role I feel bad for a more if he had a cleanup firm constantly which is just hilarious I hate him defensively I mean he's very upright he plays this mad adore nonsense where he just goes right at guys he just lets him go drives me crazy but anyway that that's two so number three is ball retention press resistance and I'm just concerned about that if you play him deeper I think he's two he's not risk averse enough to play deeper he scares me in that position maybe if you need something that's fine better athletes he's a good athlete he's a good athlete he's not a bad athlete at all the physical numbers are very good on him he does work and he goes back and forth and up and down but I think a lot of it is designed to to attack and get the ball forward and again like Sean we need all these things to an extent he's an extreme example of the things we need but for 16.5 million pounds it sounds like the 5 million or an appearance so I would hope that we're going to eventually eat that so it's 21 22 million pounds for a player I don't see that we need necessarily but he can help I just I just want to fullbacks in a proper defensive mid-man like I don't so I think it's helpful if we get into the different positions and see because in some ways he can kind of fill in a couple different roles and maybe that allows us to jettison some players and there's a net benefit look you just turn 24 he's not old but he's not super young either according to my son made it very clear to me say 24 dead that's that's not young what is our manager does he understand that I'm like okay you're you're 16 calm down so I would say this I mean we know moist place 4231 right Sean so I think we kind of let's look at what we got a cam let's look at what we got it center mid defense mid and you know where do we think he might play best so okay first of all let's take a step back who do we have a cam and who could play there yeah so I mean I think the obvious one is Kierna do's very hall right who had a very solid debut season but then the non-obvious one if if you're just kind of more just watching what's on the pitch is Charlie Alcarus he's just kind of you know agent forgotten just given the the lack of utilization as well as just the injuries that he's had this season and then you look at kind of the maybes right Merlin role as well as Harrison Armstrong element N.G. and Jack if Jack is lone gets converted which we we think will so you look at the wise out index top 30 attacking mids Kierna does very all his eighth so he's definitely shown that he can play the position and I think you look at the skill level you think it just the fit he's absolutely shown that I think the problem is though the you know the performance index that we use in skill corner on ball cam it's not as good like there's 119 Premier League midfielders and and if we're looking at all midfielders do's very halls 36 out of 119 it's okay but like Ghana is 82 Charlie 89 Garner 97 so I there is room for a player in there I think ironically if you look at that same index on ball cam in the English championship Hayden Hackney's number two so you know it's funny too in that index through the top players are the guys you would think Dave's guard O to guard Verts is still pretty decent even if his output wasn't great Boone Bruno for an inch you know Jeremy Pino honestly even though unlimited minutes so I think that there's some opportunity that maybe Hackney could slide in here I think it's very obvious to look and think Charlie Alcarez has a year left Moises clearly not favorite him I hate the fact that his values probably dropped like the point of exercising the option you would obviously always exercise the option if the market value of the player was higher than the option well probably was when he exercised it I was an advocate of him being sold because I knew Moises didn't like him I knew Moises wasn't going to play him even though I think he's really good and effective and I'll tell you what man his physical numbers are outstanding he in terms of work rate in terms of just activity like stood out in the team assessment so you need someone that can replace those things I will say this Hackney's numbers similar in terms of activity moving the ball forward and getting it forward and if he could play a little bit some other different positions maybe he's a decent substitute for Charlie and better and more flexible but let's go through the four again real quick Sean so if we are going to get a cam knowing Hackney's coming in he's probably fine like a highly doubt we're going to look at too much here but okay I think you'd really look at maybe a standout that could play wing as well that can really bring more open-play creation right I think that would be absolutely key he brings some of that he brings some progression I don't think he got to worry about it with him but someone that maybe can really get on the ball more and it's very athletic so I don't know I it would have to be a dare to be great situation I think Sean for us to bring in more of attacking midfielder but maybe a combination of wings so like to me when I look through this does this seem like if Hackney's coming and we have a need it almost sounds like we've got surplus yeah absolutely I think another point I'll make regards to Hayden Hackney is he could eventually be a James Garner replacement I think you look at Elliot Anderson right going for 130 million I don't think James Garner is 130 million dollar player but you look at the market for center mids Mateus Fernandez is looking like he's going for 85 million right I know and so I only say that not because I I love Jimmy right like I don't there's some ways to hack Hackney like in terms of activity like yeah Fernandez takes some risk sometimes I even look that like and you know there's personal preference on like for me I really don't like players that just have no conscious that have the ego frankly to be like I'm making that play you know I'm gonna be the one I'm getting on it I'm the superstar so it'll be interesting to see how he can adjust and if he can dial it back just a little bit he could be a very useful player but it just I just it tries to be crazy man like I really struggle with players like this I don't like him and but he brings a lot that we need so so okay I mean I think there's some usefulness for him let's let's look at center mids defense and mids to Sean I mean I think we've got some concerns about him playing deeper defensively he can get on the ball a little bit defense you know a deeper and it seems like we need that a little bit but we've got a bunch of players coming back but I don't think any one of these really fit a certain profile you know it seems like we just still lack that we lacked it last year yeah I mean having a six or even just kind of a functional eight is still an absolute need and you look at just kind of the guys that you mentioned Ryan Ghana Garnel Garner a role Tim Irbunum and Harrison Armstrong you look at the top 30 defensive mids Garner's number one Garner's number 11th Tim number 20 and then you look at just kind of the hundred out of the hundred nineteen midfielders at number six Garner's 53 Garner 71 Tim 73 so kind of not too surprising there I think just given you know especially Garner that he's not a six but then also like where he's been playing right I mean he's been an effective defensive mid but when we talk about a six in the profile you just gave out of the 119 the fact that we have no one above 53 and Ghana is well above Garner talks about the type of profile we're looking at some of that can drop deep get on the ball per guess the ball on the pitch carry the ball hold the ball some of that can control the game and we've really struggled doing that this past year and ironically in that same index guess what Hayden Hackney was number two in the English championship and that index two by the way that should give you an idea how outrageous his numbers are the fact that he's number two in on ball attacking midfielders and number two at dynamic six and he's also by the way I mentioned this number two in box to box midfielders index that we have I mean you know the numbers are insane but Sean this is the same need as we have last year I literally copied and pasted the stuff we had last year about progression and ball retention and I'm kind of curious what profile you think would be right in me what I what I have in my head is like someone a bit a bit taller a little bit more displeant that can sit deeper that that they're good athlete they're a physical athlete they can overwhelm people but that can really distribute the ball they don't have to carry it much they need to be active deeper but someone that can really ping it around a little bit so our people don't have to come back and you know receive the ball from the center backs you know someone that can really be that anchor and I really would like to see us try to play a four three three sometimes you know I don't think Moises is against that even though he's mostly a 4-2-3-1 guy. But the problem is if we really want to go big and get a very good player here, they also still have to play in a 2. Like they have to be able to play in that middle of 4-4-2. So I think those are considerations. So I think in this one, Sean, out of the 4 we have, I don't care about open-play creation here deeper, but like we need progression, right? That's number 2. Ball retention press resistance to me is the most important thing and a better athlete, but to me, the ball retention press resistance is we just don't have that. Even James Gardner, who's very good on the ball, he does not carry the ball well. His first touch has gotten better. His ball control is not outstanding. He's not going to escape from people. We need more of that is Hayden Hackney, that guy. It's interesting. Sometimes he looks it. Yeah, I wouldn't say so, but I would also say that it would be interesting, you know, especially if Hayden Hackney's on social media, if you've seen kind of Everton, right? And looked at some of our games, I think he'd do a lot of service, right, to understand like the development James Gardner has had, right, in this team and really becoming a defensive stalwart, right? And Jimmy Gardner is not the most intelligent footballer on that side. I think what he's done though is be incredibly tactful when it comes to his timing, when it comes to I think where he's on the pitch. And I think given that he's had a lot of responsibility, I think there are times where the stats are also inflated. So I think from that standpoint, I just, I'm very curious with Hackney, right? It's hard to make a specific prediction on him, because I think the skill level is there. I think the appetite is there. I think it's a good move for him career wise, right? I just, I don't think going to a united or somewhere like that would be kind of in his best interest. Like I think genuinely, like the hardest part about this move is just where he's going to play and who he's going to play next to. Like that to me is the biggest question. I don't worry about, I think the skill level, I think I worry about that as well as just him changing his game a little bit or toning it down as you mentioned, given, you know, the new landscape that he's playing in. Yeah, if he's playing Cammy, he can have all the, that'll be perfectly fine. So it just depends on kind of how he floats in. Now, the problem is we got a lot of numbers in there too. So we will go back and when we hit before we hit names, we'll hit all the rumors, including out goings because there's just too many, too many players in there. So, but let's first start out with the, the tents, you know, so okay, incomings, we've had all sorts of interesting rumors. Ethan, where he is one, I don't think there's any chance in H.E. double hockey sticks he would come, but he's a dare to be great type players fine. We're just going to be able to forward someone like this. A man after your own heart, though, Sean, is one to consider. Yeah, and that's Abdel Fattahu. I think he, I am, I am begging the drum as much as I can with him. I think the only thing I worry about is Lester Eidis in the sense of just, you know, now, League 1, it was my heart that Jordan I.U. is going to lead the charge for them. Just he, I think it's a perfect marriage in that sense, but you look at Fattahu, I think his numbers, both creation as just well as actual output have been fantastic. I can't imagine a League 1 team demanding a big fee for him. So even if you have to pay, let's say 10, 15 million, I think it's worth it for somebody that has the ceiling of his and is kind of just a bit of a utility guy when you think of just looking at our team. He gives a new element that we don't have. So I think it's a no-brainer, but I also believe that we aren't going to be the only club after him. No, I think the fact that he could play right wing and he can come in and slot in the middle. In fact, I think his game is a little more natural down the middle at times, or at least coming back to the ball more of a possession type, winger, but very athletic, very explosive. I've heard some interesting things in the Ghana camp. His attitude, he is very confident. We'll say this. I have some other funny stories about that, but I will say them for another day. Gustavo Hammer, you know we're going to link with him. He's 28 at this point. Please know if you hear these, and here's the thing. When you hear some of these names, like, come on, man. So another rumor, Arthur Ata, Uden Aisey. I mean, they're looking for 40 million. We're not going to move and spend 40 million here, right, Sean? Like Constantineus, Cretzus, who at Gank is, let me tell you what, this kid, he's only 18. You want to see skill first touch. Oh my goodness. Little guy, lefty. Wonderful. But again, they're going to ask for a fortune. So as these are the types of names that are really interesting links, but I think Hackney coming in kind of shoots down some of these things. Outgoings. Nothing concrete really about Charlie here. But you got to assume they're going to put him out in the shop, right? I mean, he could play left wing. It's, I think he's a very useful player, but I just can't, he's got a year left, which was stupid. I can't believe that we did the contract that way. You know, Moise in essence redid it when he came back in. His value certainly dropped. But Sean, he almost has to be moved. Don't we expect that? Yeah, I would expect that. I think it's unfortunate because Hackney almost like forces him out, right? Which it's like, they're not in any way. I would say the same player. You know, he's very explosive. I think, you know, a madman in that way in the best ways. But I also think too, it's you, you have way too many seats for that position now. And even though they're not the same player, I think when you're an Everton, from an Everton point of view, right, you have to kind of cash in on unsellable assets, right? And he's not to the point where his market value is higher or the same. You probably have to take a little bit of loss, but you might get lucky with one of the South American clubs, right? Where they might be able to pay, you know, kind of around what we paid for them. So yeah, it's the way they kind of structured that contract. I think is is is was not good, especially when you look at not having control over kind of, you know, the years, because if we had another year, I believe we have a team option, but I think even then it's just you put you put yourself in a tough spot. So and then you look at there's really nothing else. But then you look at the free agent and it's it's kind of grim in the sense of you look at Bernardo Silva, I believe he's already gone to Spain. So that and that was never going to happen just to be clear. No, yeah, Julian Brandt, not no thanks. Mike at a Roma. Actually, that's the latest one. He's an interesting play. You know, say this though Sean, in all honesty, I mean, if you got maybe the six, you know what I mean, if you got some of these veteran guys like one veteran in here, if they're cheap and values there, it'd be interesting. Probably not at this position though. Dashi Kamada, no, he has some going back to us, I believe. So really? Yeah. Yeah. I thought he was going to belong. I know. Yeah. I saw that. It was kind of a surprise skillful player, but I also think to it. It kind of none of these guys really fit the athletic. I know. Like piece of it. Lorenzo Paz. Greeney from Roma. Wonderful player. But yeah, not the do you like some of the other names I threw in here, brother? Yeah. I mean, you want to go blast from the past, right? We go FIFA 16 and it's Jesse Lingard, a Thomas Rodriguez and Ross Barkley. I mean, look, Jesse Lingard made an impact to David Moise. Yeah. Like, yeah, he's a Corinthians. You remember he was in the K league before. Thomas, you got him. It still looks amazing in the World Cup. He looks so good. That is not going to happen. Would we sign Ross Barkley? I don't think so. And it's not as much as I like we want to make fun of it. It's just I don't he's not going to play and he probably can go somewhere else where he can play. So yeah, it just doesn't make any sense. You look at relegation teams. Pablo Westham fans cannot hate this guy more. No thanks. Has potential Mateus Mane. I know a lot of conversation in the discord. Even if we were interested, after spending what we did for Tyler Dibbling, I do not see us doing the same thing back to back windows. And that's not to say they're the same player. It's just paying that much money on an 18 year old to sit on the bench. No thanks. Burnley is interesting because you have Hannibal and then you have Marcus Edwards at both okay players. But once again, we're trying to kind of progress, not regress. And I just feel like those are regression signings. I mean Hannibal like as a as a profile is pretty good. He's very active. You know, he kind of runs around a lot and stuff. But I just don't think he's good enough either. So yeah, no one in there would lead Everton and Red Cards by far too. Like he would find a way. He gets away with a lot. He would not get away with it here. So that's right. You do want to go through some of the these names on this next list? Because it's pretty entertaining. Yeah, I mean, so we ran some data. We used the on-ball Camindex that we had before and looked at some players. And I mean, some of these are just it's not a chance. But like like Matthias Sule is up there. We are not getting him from Roma. Would I love it? Yes. If there was like one guy you wanted, you know what I mean? In an off season, when we get to a point where we can just go and go two or three, just pure quality guys, that would be the type of thing that you would love to see. You know, I just can't see that happening. Older guys. Yeah, cheese Harris. Pascal Gross. You know, yeah, Thorian Hazard. I mean, this is what happens when I threw in like Andrew Lick and some of those lower leagues in here when those guys can just kill it. Florian Thavin. I love it, man. Oh boy. Adrian Thomasin. You know, it lends. He actually was really productive. Galvin, super player, not gonna happen. Just turned 30. He was linked before. I mean, guys like Dick Hettlery, who actually had on along to it. Like that type of guy, if you could get like a tall right winger that was powerful lefty, like we went big and we didn't get jacked like, I mean, there's too many big names interested, but man, I would love to go big on a player like that. But we're not getting a wing or shit, my friend. We will get there a Valentin Barco gone, you know, Koksu, who, you know, we saw what he did against the US very inconsistent. He's a really disappointing player, by the way. Can I just mention that? Like he, okay, one name that I thought was really interesting here, though, Devine Mukasa, 18 year old man city was on loan at Lester. Market value is only five million, but he was almost all a cam for Lester. He's six, two. He's really interesting. This would be the type of player maybe under. a different manager, Sean, where you would bring it. You know, and they could maybe sit on the bench a little bit, maybe alone a matter, something, and really, you know, kind of ease in. Like if you really wanted a dynamic playmaker, because I will say this, even with Hackney Duseberry Hall, there really isn't that free-flowing true creative force in there. I mean, Hackney still does it from a little bit deeper. I mean, I would love to eventually have that player. I don't think we have him. We probably have enough options that it doesn't matter. But again, we're looking for a dare to create a great type situation, maybe that was cheap. You know what I mean? This would be an interesting type of player, probably not going to happen though. No, agree. And I think it's one of those where if Everton's in a better position, you can probably buy a guy like that for five to ten million, put him on the bench or put him in the academy, and then for Cup Games and whatnot, give him that chance to be in the first eleven. But I just think we don't have the luxury, and then also to look at just surplus, we need to spend that money at positions of need. So a couple wild cards here just because they're fun. Member George Lee, Sudakoff, what has happened? He's only twenty-three still, just he can play left wing. I'd someone's going to move for him eventually. Kangian Lee. Remember all the links to him last year? I mean, really more of a winger. But it would be interesting to have a player like that was dynamic that could really change us. Maybe Hackney's that guy, but I just don't see it happening. What about Geo Raina? Yeah, the forest legend. I don't really see that one either, you know, going to the USA. I think Aluna, Diego Luna would be fun, man. I love Dave Luna. A fun replacement for Charlie that wouldn't play under David Moise, but regardless, I think would really be very very fitting, I'm very fitting American, right? To kind of very fitting American. I mean, by the way, listeners, if you don't know who Diego Luna is, just look up a couple pictures. It's very hard to describe him. I think that what did I write down here? Yeah, he's built like a refrigerator. He absolutely is. He looks like he can't be fit, but he is. He's just built that way. Fantastic kid. But I mean, the tattoos and stuff make some look like, here's my quote. Some cartel hitman's little brother. I don't mean to be offensive by that, but I mean, really, I mean, it's, anyway, doesn't matter. He's a really fun player, though. I wish. So Sean, I think if you ask me, I could see us moving for a winger that has some positional flexibility. You may even argue that Tyler Diblin could maybe move in and play this way or N.Gi. So I don't think we'll move for a player here, but someone like Fatah Wu, if you're thinking he could play winger or not, I think I think it would be great if we could, it would just be more of a luxury, but I think that's interesting. I think Brian Hackney kind of kills any idea that we'd make an investment here. Yeah, I would agree. I think Fatah Wu only makes sense because if you're looking at just kind of opportunities, right? There's very few times you get a player of his caliber at that price. I think some of the concerns you have of character and ego are incredibly valid. It's not the Gona Camp. It's lesser as well. So for me, that's just kind of from a value standpoint, makes sense because then it also gives you the luxury if you find that Tyler Diblin still needs to kind of go out on a loan, right? You can do that and be okay. But yeah, it's just, it's a position where I see them maybe taking a fire, but just as you mentioned, giving the Hackney investment, it just doesn't make sense given every other need that we have on the team. Okay. Now for the big show, my friend, center meds, defense of mids, I know we know Moise likes his 4231. So again, we're looking for people. We talked about the four things to me. The retention is really critical. The progression is important too. It'd be nice to have a good athlete, but we're really looking for someone that can play in essence deeper. I think more complimentary on the ball with James Garner and maybe someone that could still defend in the 442 in the middle. And I think that's the concern about Hackney. So I still think we're looking for a profile here. But let's talk about the incoming rumors first because there's been a big one recently that I'm really interested about. I do like this player. Yeah, Ryan's referring to Mandela Keta, who plays for Parma and I've been Ryan. I'm excited about this one. I think just one thing on the defensive midfielder position in the sixth in general, the hard part with this position and you just look at kind of the position as a whole market values and such is, ever chin are in a unique spot, right? You look at somebody like Lameen Kamara who would be a dream. You have to pay pretty much twice the fee that you'd have to pay for Mandela Keta because you're getting a player that's further developed, of course, younger, but it's just kind of all world at certain things. Mandela Keta is not that. However, physical profile is good. He definitely kind of can show you when it comes to the profile of a sixth and just a guy that keeps it simple, moves around well, I think is mobile. A lot of the things, athleticism, right, that we're excited about. So I think this is a position where if we're going to pay a certain fee, right, we have to kind of be a little bit tempered in our expectations. We pay for a floor with the development of the ceiling, right? And where that player becomes, right, that Lameen Kamara, or at least just gets to a level where they're very function and fill that need for ever chin. Now I would have personally considered going bigger there if there was the player. You know, to really just lock him in there playing with Jimmy, have some other people wrote T-Din and I wouldn't bother with Aidenhack me, but that's just me. But yeah, I mean, Keta, the market value is 20 million euros right now on transfer market. I think they're asking for maybe a little bit more than that according to other reports. We are a premier league team. You know, they're going to try and get as much as they can from us. But I think in that price range, he's interesting. So I have watched him a bit. I'd watched him in the past for other reasons as well. So I'll kind of go through some of my notes, Sean, because I'm excited about this guy too. I'll say this, I mean, he's 24. So it's not like, I wish he was playing like this at 21, but then he'd probably be 60 million. Yeah, he's about 511. He's not small. His lower half is very thick, but he's really flexible. He's fluid. He's athletic. He doesn't go in in hammer people. He actually doesn't foul much at all, which is really kind of interesting. He's fairly passive with his passing. Like he's very simple. He moves it around very well, very quickly, incredibly quickly. His feet are good. One, two, one touch. Every now and then you see him cut it loose. And mostly in wide areas, he's not so much vertical, and it looks really good to me. Like it looks flowy. Show some ability to play higher. I mean, they had him playing a little bit more left center mid beginning of the season. He was playing more as a defensive mid. The role that we think we really would need. Yeah, I mean, he just looks coordinated. Sean, he strikes up all well. He's very clean on it. And I think when I say passing is basic to me, I still look for precision. You know, right foot, right weight. And I see it. You know, he likes to keep it on the ground. He can shape it a little bit. And I say this, he protects the ball pretty well under pressure. And to me, that's really important. He'll carry it when someone gives him space, but he really doesn't take too many chances with it. And I think, like what I say, press resistant, taking care of the ball, our number three, I think is the most important in this role. And I think he has that. Then look right in the air. I wouldn't mind a little bit more of more length kind of something that he's a physical player as a good athlete. He doesn't seem like, you know what I mean when you watch it, I know you've watched a little bit too, like he doesn't seem like this physical presence. And even when I've seen him go into duels, sometimes he can get be clean too. And his recovery pace is good enough to catch up. But I just, I don't know why. Like sometimes I feel like he needs to grab the guy or just hit him or hack him. You know, and you're going a little bit harder. And some of his angles, he can get a little bit high. One V1, some of his reactions are a little slow. But he reads the game as a collective pretty well. So I think as long as he's sitting back deeper, I think he'll be fine. I think he can improve on little things. And real quick, the data talked about the fouls, not much progression, but the ball retention is there. The work rate isn't crazy. Hybrid athleticism is. And I think the work rate is more of a byproduct of kind of how they played. So Sean, I mean the profile doesn't sound bad. No, it's an exciting profile. And I think you mentioned just being able to retain the ball under pressure, I think if we're able to improve the back line, right, that helps him as much as it can help the others, just given that he won't have to force the issue. And I think we have enough players, you know, up top and you look in our midfield that are happy to do that. So it's a fullbacks, right? Yeah, I mean, if we invest in more progressive fullbacks, I can get up the pitch and whatnot. And he can feed them. And, you know, they can take more of the risks. I mean, if you have someone like Hayden Hackney in the midfield that we already know, lacks restraint at times. And you want him to be creative. This is the type of guy who maybe could also allow Jimmy Garner to get forward a little bit more and try and use that right foot as a weapon. So I think this is, we need this type of player. Is this kid an automatic starter will be phenomenal? I don't know. I don't know if he's quite at that level, but it's the right profile to me. I might option for some other players with maybe a little bit higher ceiling, but I think there's a lot to like in this kid and there's a lot to like in the profile. Put it this way. When you see the name, it makes sense. Yeah. I mean, if this was our first signing of this of the summer, I think people would be very happy. I think universally you're getting out of the Premier League, right? And you're looking at a different profile. Yes, the age is a little bit on the higher side. It's not egregious, but I also think to add a position like this, you also want, it's very hard to get true value, right? At the defensive midfield position because you just look, like you said, if he was 21, he'd probably be 40, 50 million, right? And so just you unfortunately have to kind of just be very tactical in these moments. You know, I think that the thing that he's also struggling with is you don't really see the scanning and awareness at times that you would expect from somebody. like him, but I think the biggest question is how he is off the ball, especially when they were under Russell Martin and you look at some of the other coaches that they've had, they try to be possession based. So it would be interesting just from a new system, new tactics, how he handles that. Yeah, the things I like, I mean, just the athletic profile, and he's very defensive conscious. He would help you protect the center backs a lot. I like that aspect of the profile, but he's only 22. There's room for him to grow in those areas of finding space and stuff, even if he's not perfectly natural. That brings me to another young player too, and I frankly just like, he's saying his last name really. I mean, right, Mou Kau, N Gali, Mou Kau. It's beautiful, man. It just rolls off the tongue. I'm talking about the player, he's 21 at little. We talked about him last year. Yeah, he's more of a, he's more of a defensive player in Belgium. He's played more of an attacking role. He's played back and forth as well. He's just a massive guy, you know, six foot two. My concern was that maybe he wasn't, wasn't quite as fluid, but he's massive. And there are moments where he looks really clean. And I think he's continued to improve. I think he's an interesting player with a lot of potential, but is this someone that you're just going to drop right into the Premier League and he's going to go crazy? Maybe not quite. Not crazy, but I'm sure someone like this boys would look at and probably take him a bit to kind of get fully up to speed. But I would be excited about this player too. In a perfect world, right? If we had money to spend, you almost look at somebody like Keta and Mukau, just given the development piece of Mukau and he's a little bit more of a Swiss Army knife in the sense of you put him at the eight. You could probably put him at the six. And so like you said, it's just some of the technical pieces. He's like decent in the cup. For a go. Yeah. So I just think it's one of those situations where I think boys would actually like him just from a physical standpoint, right? You look at like just how much he values Tim and he's, I would say far more technically gifted than Tim is. Right. The effort levels of Tim are off the charts, but when you think of just execution, it's remains to be seen. So I think this is a player that, you know, I know boys kind of has this adage with the young players. I don't think he would have it with this guy. I think he would play him if that's the choice that we would make. I just, my only worry is is we need so much from this position. And I also think too it's like somebody like Kata, you know, we're not asking too much from a ball progression passing standpoint, as you mentioned, but just the intelligence, just the ability to kind of be settled in. I see that more from a guy like Kata than I would mucow, but I like like you, I really like the player. So let's go through a couple more of these rumors to be zoom in, link so many darn midfielders. Sassare, Custoday at Torino 23 years old. Yeah, you're getting a big no. Apparently Chelsea has a cell on clause. He's not even playing regularly with Torino, but he six with four. He's a massive guy. Physical numbers don't look great enough for me. He's okay on the ball. I mean, Harry Soutar six foot seven. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. This is one where interesting player. What do you do with him? Not sure. You know, again, if you would bought in the guy already in a dare to be great situation, but he's already 23. I'm going to really struggle to say anything positive here. I don't care that he's an American. So for full disclosure, this is one of my least favorite players in major football that we could possibly be linked with. And the second we did, I'll set up some issues with Hayden Hatchy too. I'll be honest. I don't like eye plays, but yeah, this one drives you crazy. Yeah, and it's Tanner Tessman. And I know Ryan could extend the podcast by about an hour, just talking about Tanner, but I think just know is the best way to kind of say that. I will say some really good news today. Thomas Huchek has confirmed that he is staying at West Ham next season. So we don't need to worry about that. Also get well soon. I think he had a pretty bad injury in the world. Cup if I'm not mistaken. So sad to see that because he's a great guy, but just not forever. And then you look at it's a doombia. Can I trash Tanner Tessman more, please? Sure. No, no, no, we'll move on. Don't it? Yeah, it says interesting. Is he a defensive mid? I just don't think he quite fits the profile, even if he's a big athlete. Yeah, I. I don't know what he is. I think he is a master of none, which I don't know if that's a compliment or a significant insult, but like I don't just from the limited viewing of I've had of him. When I look at just pure needs and on I look at also two having midfielders that do a lot of things, but not one thing really well, he kind of fits that. And so that's just somebody that we don't need. This name's interesting. I think just from a talent point of view, but you look at both the outlay and the age, not so much. One part is is like we just mentioned Isadumbia. He's moving the sporting. So it doesn't matter, right? And so sporting themselves for trying to try and to deal their beloved defensive mid-morten holmen. So he's, you know, a tall guy. He's, uh, 37 later this month and he's the guy that would ping it around. Like this is the right profile at least for a player like an on-ball guy, but they also signed Silas Anderson from Hacken. Let me tell you what, Silas Anderson's awesome. I'm telling you right now, I love Silas Anderson. He is a fantastic player. I've watched him for other purposes. Love him. Absolutely a doorm. So sporting need to move Morton basically at this point. Transfer market hasn't had 40 million. There's no way he's going to be that expensive. But he's a dynamic player and I think a more mature team would do well to get him. I don't think this is. It's not going to happen. You know, I think Kate is a better use of money, I think, for this position. Okay. Outgoing Sean. There's been some rumors in Tim. Not many recently though, but I think, you know what I mean? I don't, I see us moving them. Yeah, I do too. And I think the interest from what we've seen is Bruce Dortmund is the latest team. I know Lacio had significant links last season. Still for the most part. Stuttgart. So I think as the World Cup kind of wanes, you'll probably start to see more of his conversation just because he's not playing in the World Cup, right? And so it just feels like names that are not associated that you're not seeing as much traction. Market value is 18 million. I am so curious at what if Everton do Solomon and I believe they will, what they would get for him because you could convince me that they could get 10 million euros. You could convince me that they'd get 20 million euros. I was on record thinking that Dwight McNeil would get more than five. And then, you know, of course, Crystal Palace almost pays 20. So it's just I don't know. I think Tim ceiling in regards to right fit right system. He has a role. I think there are specific leagues that his athleticism will shine more than merely. And so and I also think too he's a great character, right? Like works works his tail off. I think is you know, when you look at that PSR deal, we definitely got the better end of it. So for me, I really hope that if we do sell him, he goes to a good because I'd love to see him progress and I'd love to see him get better. But I just I don't know where he's going to go because I think it's interesting too. There's a lot of like higher end clubs that are like looking at him, right? It's not like just, you know, these, you know, kind of dull drums of these leagues that are looking at him. It's it's teams that are in, you know, Europa kind of conversations. So I don't know. I don't know what your thoughts are. Well, the thing is I just don't know what you do with us right now. We've got Merlin role who I just think is it just it makes no sense as a transfer still to this day. It makes no sense to me. But I'm sure we'll keep him. He loves to take pictures of the late in veins. I can say that about him. But we haven't seen him indeed at center mid. John. So I don't know if he, I mean, he looked like a ball progression type guy that that would be interesting. He's got a good physical profile. Tim is the type of guy that could go to a lesser league and absolutely kill it. So I hope we get a sell on. But look to David Moises credit, he used him pretty well and Tim Tim Irbunem as a result, his data profile is incredible. Like in terms of ball winning and the dribbling, if someone watches him closely, they'll probably see the bad decision making. And I think some sophisticated teams probably stay away from him. But you can't teach some of the things that he does. And we got a lot of use for him in certain situations. Someone might be willing to take that whole city like I said before is another one. I would think we'd loan out Harrison Armstrong at this point, right? I mean, it's too crowded if you're bringing in Hayden Hackney, right? I mean, you have to. Harrison Armstrong struggled to get into the team with this current set up, right? So you add more bodies, you add more talent. I just don't see a pathway to just consistent playing time. Even let's just say if we go through an injury crisis. So I think you have to loan him. I pray to God that if you do loan him, please do not recall him for whatever reason. Just let him let him play the entire season out. So yeah, right wing. Ed do not play. I'm at right wing. Yes. So, okay, the big question to me is address a gun again. What do we do here? I mean, do we think he's gone? I think he's gone. I really hope I'm wrong just because I think more than anything, he's an incredible character in the dressing room. I think he is agent Ghana, right? So you really look at just having one more year. Yeah, one more year. One more year. But I also think from his standpoint, right? He's still good enough. And I just think if we are going to sign somebody like Kata, where does he play? So I just, if he wants to continue to play, right? I think it's just a matter of his intent. And I imagine still, he showed that he can still play at a high level last year. And so I just think that I'd be curious on what happens with him. But if I had to make a prediction, I would probably say that he goes. So if we get Kata, I think we're probably good in this area. But it's not a done deal. And there's still some interesting characters out there too. And maybe bring someone else in allows us to do a little bit more. You don't have to worry about address a Ghana gay. I mean, I would like a proper defensive mid. That's an older guy that's a good leader that could sit back, protect the center backs, and was big and physical. So let's go through a couple of these names. Stir the free agent names. I mean, some of these are awesome, Sean. I'm sorry. They're hilarious. I couldn't. help myself here. A lot of players that were really wonderful at one point. Some of these are gone. Like, Casimir, I put on here for fun, but he's obviously gone to Inter Miami. Alon, contract is up at BOTIFOGO. Obviously not going to happen. You know, we miss him. Some other names in there. Fabinho. No, no chance of deliverable. I cannot believe like he's still out there. Basuma. I mean, this is, I guess if you're not going to sign address a Ghanagay, why would you bother with someone like this? You know, Basuma is only 29. And that's what happens when you play when you're young, right? It's just you can kind of exude time and still be south of 30. I know. I think a lot of guys were. Yeah. Yeah. Marcelo Brosovic, like he is not coming here. You know, I'm sorry, but you know much more than that guy must have made it down. Assar. Yes, here. It's just unbelievable. Except for life. Yeah. Jefferson, Lurma, not coming here. No. In fact, I feel like he might have already signed with someone, but the problem is a lot of these guys that are in the world cup. You never know. But my guess is a lot of these guys that are freeze now at the end of this month since we're on the 30th. There's some talk about a new contract with him as well. But we're going to see how much of these guys move quickly. Do you think Guida Rodriguez solves the athleticism problem in the back shot? I don't think he can even get to the athleticism problem to solve it. So yeah, I would say no. Namania, Namania, Monta, Joe, my God. I love Mattish. By the way, I absolutely love him. I just had a great career. You know, I give him the guy credit. I mean, he's he's played for like he hasn't played for as many teams as Axel Whitzel. But like he's available. I know. So could be ours. He could be ours. Yeah, it's just that throw has stood the test of time. I think he probably, you know, came out of the womb with that throw. And I don't think it has touched it all. So he has not had to tap into the wealth of row game. So you look at free agents. Arthur, can I interest you in a Arthur of bomb? Tell you what, I'd have to watch him a little bit more about a 21 year old midfielder with something that can do some of the things that he can do that I've seen a little bit of, you know, it would be amazing if we made a move for someone like this. But why would he join us? I don't think we have the strongest proposition there. Matthias Jensen at Brentford. Is he going somewhere already? Dude, he was outstanding. I thought last year at times. He is very much the type of on ball player that you would love to take a chance with. I don't know. There's some talk about him. I mean, I think Brentford, I think they activated a one year extension. So I think Anne added an option. So I think he's off the table. Frank Kessie, a Solomon person. He does not look very quick, but he is a beast. I don't think he's the right profile. But you got to wonder a guy like that. You know, you figure he's going to go somewhere. I think he's going to return to Europe. So a player like that, like if you came out of the blue and got someone like this and he's only 29. I mean, some of these are not like we're not signing Leona Gratzka. I mean, let's want to like mentor Merlin Roller or something. We're going to pay him a fortune. I mean, these are not on how not to take a penalty when your team needs to, you know. So yeah, it's nice. I really we can't let them go. Can we talk about Jonathan talk like really? Yeah. I guess at least he stepped up and took the thing. But other guys here, I you know, I don't what about relegation here? Do we have any opportunities here? We talk about Su check. I mean, Freddie Pots. What do you think? Magasa would cost that West Ham? I like magasa. I just think no, I think it's it's not a good sign that he hardly played at all in that team last year. I understand they kind of went through, you know, a bunch of manager change. But yeah, it's not a good sign that he didn't play there. I would say I would say it's a developmental, you know, option, but I'd probably rather have somebody like Moucau. And then you look at Mateus Fernandez, obviously going to Tottenham, but then Edson Alvarez. Edson's kind of, you know, what we talked about in Swiss Army knife of just you look at Wilford and Dede, a guy like that that can play multiple positions. I just think he's just not good enough. Yeah, it's an Alvarez. I mean, he's playing a lot with Mexico. He played a fantastic match the other day. I look other than the link at West Ham. I look, he could play center back, but this is why I hated the Michael Kean extension. You know, that's the type of player I would, I'm not saying Edson Alvarez is the right guy, you know, it could be a multitude of these types of players, but it just it would have been nice to have someone with a little more positional versatility, you know, and that's just my opinion, you know, that type of guy would have been interesting, you know, because he could also sub in for that six and you can keep playing the same way if you want to play with the six. What about some of these other guys? I mean, Wolves has just so many mids here that I think would be interesting. I mean, they signed Andre to a new deal. I know you like him a lot. He he is look he's there times where I feel like he's a little bit small and I think it hurts him, but there are other times where he looks so good ball retention progression wise. I like how active he is maybe with better teammates. I actually like him better. It looks like Jaugoma is probably going to go to athletic home Madrid, but I actually think Andre from a profile makes a lot of sense, barely even as a couple guys that are interesting. Yeah, Andre, I think, was the biggest kind of, I think, disappointment for me, just in the sense of I almost thought it would be a guarantee that he went, but that that's what happens when you your club is infected with Jorge Mendez, you get benefits like that. But of course, you have to deal with situations that you don't want to, but yeah, he would have been the perfect fit. I agree he's small, but just the technical ability, his intelligence, also to you look at who he was playing around just the lack of defensive shape that they had, you know, led to kind of a lot of the issues that they had, but yeah, Burnley, I think also haven't, I mean, Leslie's kind of the only person I would consider James Ward Prouse. I mean, good god that he continues to get a high index score. The numbers sound like he can play deeper Sean. He could solve every all of our problems. I mean, Moise paid 35 million for him only a couple years ago. What's a millionaire to now, Sean? I think a millionaire to would be more beneficial to a foundation right that does good for humanity versus paying that for James Ward Prouse. That's very big of you, right? Yeah, what about Florentino Louise? We were interested. I don't know. I mean, he didn't look, the league looked a bit much for him. He's a little sloppier on the ball than then I was hoping. You know, I thought maybe he would elevate his game, but he wasn't horrendous. It's just hard. I think it's very difficult when a player gets thrown into teams like this where you're getting cut apart a lot to look amazing. You know, there was a lot on him. I actually thought the same thing about Maghasa at Times at West Ham because they had such lack of mobility in the midfield, so much fell on his shoulders. I just think it's very rare that you see three teams going down here that actually have legitimate. Yeah, I like Florentino Louise. I think it's just when you look at for us, it's just we are so stacked at that position like in terms of bodies and the idea of getting two defensive midfielders, we definitely need one. But if you get a K-Din, there's no reason to have any sense. I worry about, yeah, like just somebody like Florentino Louise who I think would be a good loan option, but why would the team loan him to us when he's not going to play? Let's talk about some other loan options. Doug Liss Louise will be available again. Be Calvin Phillips. I really feel bad for Calvin Phillips. I just like you go bad for him. They gave a seven million pound low fee. No, not from a monetary point of view, just like it's only 30. Not shocking. But summa is 29. Yeah, it's just crazy. Eunice Musa just I mean, he's what is going on there. You know, it's funny. We're having a conversation then about him the other day, but he was a mainstay in the US national team two years ago. He's lost his way. That's a dare to be great type of situation. It's not really six, though. The profile doesn't make sense, but yeah, there are a couple other names in here. My boy, Equa, love him dearly. He would have been the center back type of guy. Okay, cutting through the data. Very interesting names in here too. Lots of top players in here that we would have no prayer of getting, but you know, not surprising. First of all, I hate to hack these way up on this list, but you've got guys like Ellie Anderson. It is a guy that I pulled out who, you know, I like a lot, obviously, as it does man city, because they're going to pay 120 million for him. But you got guys like Anselo's stiller, Adam Wharton, Peddry, Barco, and so so these are the types of guys in this index that we were used into dry, dry out kind of potentials. You know, Camavinga, obviously, we're not getting him, but, but the point is hackney's in here. Now again, I don't think he quite as the discipline to play this one, but a couple other names stand out and we'll go through him very quickly. Rocker eats, I mean, I know. It's just more of an eight. Yeah, he's going to sign with life's against perfect for life's sake. He's going to do great there. I would have liked us to do a dare to be great situation last year. Rupke and mix someone in. I've mentioned before Juan's forza, Evasco, I love this player. He's exactly the type of on ball six that I would love to get. It doesn't look like we're going to go with Kate. It like moise. I don't think is willing to take a risk in this position. Tommy Doyle had to put him on here because it was so funny to talk about. I think he's on a free. He's there in the numbers. So I mean, he's just very active. I don't think he's good enough. Obviously, I wasn't being entirely serious. Some of these guys we've seen in the world cup. Lamine Camara is one we have seen. Look, Sean, he's he's just on your size, but this is the type of guy that could ping it all over the place that is super quick that would be I would love to see a dynamic player in the midfield for us. Maybe hackney can do some of this stuff, but he's just not going to be defensively reliable enough to play in that deep two. I don't think he's going to be 50 million, right? I mean, do you think he's impressed though with Ivory Coast? Part of me, not Ivory Coast. Sonicol. Yes. Thank you. Yeah, I haven't watched much of the world cup, so it's hard for me to comment on that. But I think what I will say is that he is the guy that when you think of the next moistist kai seito right not in terms of market value but just like that stalwart defensive midfielder I see him as that just because I imagine he'll come to the Premier League at some point I really hope it's with us I don't see that but I can see that him just being an absolute dominant force if he has a good partner the physical piece of it is probably his biggest kind of question mark just not that he can do it it's just you know Premier League going from France to you know the Premier League is going to be a bit of an adjustment for him and like you said he's under size but that doesn't mean that he's not strong and he can absolutely run with it defensively he is just so good and so yeah it's just but Monaco's in a tough situation so you just wonder what they know yeah yeah and so there are a couple other names that went in here and this is some of the problem with some of the data here like welterberger at Hoffinheim he's really not that bad he was a big guy he was a stoke yeah he signed long term and this isn't a guy that we're gonna get Hugo Satello at Seltavigo again unlikely but but these are the numbers that when you're doing scouting and the names come up you got to check them out you know I mean it's kind of interesting some of them a Kodai Sano at NEC from Japan I see right I mean I actually like this player a lot he's a really interesting player yeah I don't know what to say you know what I mean he's not going to be he's not quite the right guy but this is the type of guy that you look at and you're like wow you know you know this is what data does you know it brings out guys Lucas Takumi Komo 24 remember he was bought for NEC for like nothing two years ago I mean these are the types and investments I would love for us to make I mentioned Siles Anderson before I absolutely adore him and there's a whole list of guys you know we talked about Avon we took Michael Ladoppo you know it Calgary he's really interesting C.C. Renee like the these are guys that you know we just have so many numbers in there it would have just been in my opinion a lot wiser to move for a player like this rather than a Merlin role so okay there are a couple of their big names from last year and I want to just go through very quickly the first one is Felix Mecha dude he's killing it for Germany like and and we said last year we knew that he wasn't get a bowl he would have been you know 50 million but if you went big on this position this would have been the guy that maybe you could have sold for 100 million or had been there and be just running your midfield for years afterwards and you know you can't get him now Marcus Sado at Barcelona we loved but I thought that was an opportunity but I think he's too small he's kind of dropped off a maximum Perone I loved he was on loan city at Komo they bought him permanently they may have to sell so I you know if we don't go with Kitas someone like this so and by the way this last one you got to love it that we brought him up I mean how good is he looking the world cup so I mean just so happy for Morocco you know just to continue to go and and buadi is who we're talking about 18 and he just looks like I'm believe I mean he is just so good like and so yeah it's unfortunately we are are not of the wonder kids that we can not only afford them but I think give them the pathway at this moment in time but I really hope sometime in the future right we we are able to kind of attract one of these guys right so I'm gonna mention a couple more names that were pulled out of the data that I would have loved to us to take a look at I don't know if they're getable but this is the type of dude if you wanted to bring someone in to make an impact so Hugo Larson he's at Frankfurt now look last year no chance they were asking for crazy numbers for him but I'll tell you what Sean like if you want a guy that can progress the ball up the field I don't know if we can get a player like this but like this is where if you were to go big and you know some talk about you know a photo call Madrid it just doesn't seem like anyone's necessarily in for him now he's 22 years old he's six foot two like when we talk about guys like Adam Wharton or someone that's you know just if you look we need a guy that can keep the ball and get it into the final third in the penalty area and this is like exactly our guy you know I don't know it just I would be willing to spend a little bit money on a player like this if you could convince him this is the type of player we need though direct from Malmo not now at Frankfurt you know and this we've criticized Moise for this he had we have a problem here where we've got to take chances on guys but now Sean we've got depth in the form of guys we frankly overpaid for from big leagues like Marlon Roles so and he got someone like Harrison Armstrong coming up who maybe could this be type of player either so probably not these sections are tough just because there are so many exciting young players but I think given where we are in terms of our squad structure with the midfield positions it's not that we don't need this player we absolutely need Hugo Larson and I think he would be like that marquee signing that would really I think be somebody that you can kind of build around and really strengthen the midfield but like you mentioned it's just he I almost think of Adam Wharton but much more well rounded in somebody that he probably doesn't have the passing skill and just vision that Adam Wharton has where but he has everything else needs to get a little bit more aggressive but at the end of the day I think you can kind of be okay with that just given everything else that he does he's he's an absolute stud it's just one of those where it almost feels like the Amidu O'nana window right where it's like if we kind of really took care of a guy like this and built that relationship we could get him but it just seems like one were out of out of out of money in regards to the specific position but then also we already have so many bodies yeah and that's the thing I mean like we talked about Ardon Jashari last year you know he went to Milan they paid 36 million euros for him last summer his marquee values probably dropped he was immediately injured he broke his fibula he's on the world cup team not seeing much time for Belgium you know this is the type of guy that could get on the ball deeper and really start to control and command games so maybe go with a guy like Kada but I just I mean maybe you can even loan to buy this guy Milan is gonna have to move players so I just there are other options out there and I say if you're gonna go back to South America I love my boy Publumaya he's the Energizer Bunny type guy you want to be deep on the ball super active making himself available the player we just don't have I think it'd be awesome for Moise he's combative he's a tough guy he's stocky strong he's athletic these are the types of guys that I really wish that we would spend a little more time in I just think that I think Moise is gonna pick someone that he feels like is probably less risky I don't know if Kada's that guy but these are other guys that I would hope we would maybe look at is there anyone from the good old USA me and Western McKenny right but it's just once again the the money doesn't match like the yeah it's just oh my sebi barhalter yeah well his dad will be an assistant coach on the bench oh don't yeah don't don't say that but yeah yeah I mean look I this is one where you know we're doing the assessment here there are lots of interesting names in here and lots of players that I really love and find very interesting but if Kada's the guy I'm not upset with that like I think that's okay you know I think in that maybe allows us to go bigger at some of the other positions the numbers are adding up I think there's some discussion on Tyree George it looks like we might get him for under the option we'll talk about him when we get into wingers I think he he showed some signs of being a good player but we're cutting into the budget now so it's just unless we have sales which we may still have some sales and maybe we could go bigger in some other areas I don't think it's the worst thing in the world if we go in and if you can get a Kada for a decent price like a 20 million he might be really useful and there's less risk with that I'm not convinced about Moise I want to see more dare to be great players that have more raw talent Moise is too risk averse to that I get that but to me if you get a player like that it'll probably at least hold their value and you could come in and make the no of manager and a new recruitment team could come in and make the team their own so I don't see a ton of risk in a player like that I think he in particular looks good do we think this is the guy or do you think he's going to do something kind of off the mark or is there anyone in here Sean that you're like man that would be the dream scenario for us I think Kada makes the most sense because I feel like when you think of the committee in our in our organizational structure it feels like the one guy that pretty much I think everybody you can agree upon when you look at the six position per se and then also looking at just the general value of what you have to spend right to it for what you have to get I'd love Pablo Pablo Maya I really loved it like watching the last season and just kind of when we're doing our team assessments I think he would be a good fit as well I also like Mukao right so if they wanted to say hey we believe in Mukao a little bit more of a project but somebody that I think has a higher ceiling and everyone can agree on that so I think there's some names here I like that we're at least training in the right direction with this one in in in in my kata so I hope that ends up being the case because I think especially if they can get it done early right like in the next two weeks or so you get kind of a full training camp and then you know preseason it would it would do a world of good I think to finally fill a position in need so I think there's some exciting names here I just think unfortunately the hard part is we just we are very conflated in this specific position like it's just we have too many guys right that kind of do too many of the same things yeah to me Merlin Roll still is just a really not I mean I actually think he has some talent too it's just a guy that I think you got to actually see what you got here you know what I mean like when we saw him the U21s he looked great on the ball guy a progression guy like could be that type of center mid but we have too many guys in that position I would have probably I like he to he's a good player I would probably have gone bigger in terms of high risk higher talent I like shade Charles maybe a move cow and the reason why I'd say that is because as much as I don't like Jimmy Garner and the deeper of the two midfield pair. I don't think Moise is ever gonna play with this on ball type 6 guy. I don't think he's ever really gonna try and control games. So to me, I probably would have taken someone that has the athletic profile, not saying that Keta doesn't, like Shay Charles, the example I gave. It's very conservative defensively, can kind of play deep, or he's a very good athlete, very responsible. You can build some of the on ball stuff, you might be a better fit. Leads looks like they've been pretty aggressive. 25 million pounds, I think, was offered for him. I don't think that's a crazy price for him. I would love to go get a guy like Jashari. I just think he's a little bit more of a dynamic player. That would be the direction I go. But of the realistic guys we've been linked with, I think Mukau and Charles would be guys that I would lean to before Keta, but I like Keta. And I think Keta, you might be able to get for a decent price. So he's my type of player, very different than a Hayden Hackney, like a very conservative, very smart, very controlled player. So that's, I don't think we've gone wrong here if that's the one. No, and with that, you know, I think the beauty of these is that we only talked about three positions, but we're already an hour and 15 in. And so appreciate you holding on with us. There is a lot more to come. And so as you know, Everton has a lot of positions of need. We will attack every position, whether we have a surplus or a deficit and Ryan any final thoughts before we send this one off. Look, I have concerns about Hayden Hackney. I don't necessarily like the way he plays. I think he's very risky. Maybe he can adjust. I think he will need to adjust if he can. He could be effective, but I don't know. I think we still need a true six. If it's Keta, those two are very different players. And maybe that would work. I just think it's our girl Shane, the Charlie Alcarez just seems to be out of the picture. I think he's a very good player. Can't disagree with any of that. Thanks again for tuning in everyone. Have a great summer. Fun World Cup. Still ahead. And with that, we will catch you next time for the next part of the team assessment. the Tafis.