27 Aug 2026 10:37:00
What if Everton cashed in on Ndiaye, Beto and O'Brien?
This is obviously a hypothetical scenario, but if Manchester City or Arsenal came in with an £80m offer for Ndiaye, Beto was sold and we let O'Brien leave, I’d be tempted to look at the bigger picture rather than simply replacing them like for like.
Out:
Iliman Ndiaye — £80m
Beto — £25m
Jake O’Brien — £20m
£125m
In:
Guela Doue — £40m
Melvin Bard — £15m
Franculino — £20m
Jack Grealish — £20m or loan
Assane Diao — £50m
Jean-Clair Todibo — loan + £30m obligation
£145m
That would be around a £20m net spend, although the immediate outlay could be significantly lower depending on how the deals are structured.
And honestly? I wouldn't hate it.
Losing Ndiaye would be a huge blow.
He's arguably our most exciting attacking player and replacing his creativity and ball carrying wouldn't be easy.
But we'd potentially come out of it with six players, including four aged 25 or under, while addressing some of the biggest weaknesses in the squad.
Doue and Bard give us two younger, attack minded full backs. Franculino gives us another striker. Diao gives us pace and long term potential. Grealish gives us the creativity and experience we'd lose with Ndiaye. Todibo adds athleticism and quality at centre back.
The key would be reinvesting the Ndiaye money properly rather than simply banking it.
If we could turn three sales into this level of squad improvement, I'd be willing to accept it.
It could make Everton better as a squad.
27 Aug 2026 11:12:22
Good post that mate, enjoyed reading it. I would happily take that scenario if it got offered to me. Like, heard yourself Bluenose and Southern Toffee speak highly of Franculino and others. Would he be someone who would be interesting in joining us if Beto was to leave?
27 Aug 2026 11:13:15
Really want Ndiaye to stay, but depends on him, big offer comes in then, yep I like that OS mate.
27 Aug 2026 11:28:01
If we did sign Franculino and he failed to score in his first 3 or 4 games we'd have people on here calling for his head, and saying the recruitment team are garbage, and rattle on about Brighton again.
27 Aug 2026 11:35:29
If it was done at the start of the window, I'd be able to stomach it more, but there would be no way our recruitment team could do those sort of deals in 4 days. They have had 4 windows to sort an RB and we are still dithering..
27 Aug 2026 12:03:40
All paper talk. If we sell Ndiaye to City, then we will get Grealish in some crap deal. We won't see anywhere near 80m because of this, and will be lucky if we buy a right back.
27 Aug 2026 12:09:57
As I said, BB, this is a hypothetical scenario.
27 Aug 2026 12:13:18
Andy,
Franculino has excellent acceleration over the first few yards and is very good at attacking space behind defenders.
He's not just a pace merchant. He's a natural centre forward with a strong instinct for getting into goalscoring positions.
His numbers at Midtjylland are impressive, 40 goals and 9 assists in 79 appearances. He scored 17 league goals in 21 appearances last season, despite only playing 1,343 minutes.
That's roughly one league goal every 79 minutes last season.
That's a serious scoring rate.
Despite being primarily a mobile striker, he's around 6ft and uses his strength well.
He has a good engine and is willing to press defenders rather than simply waiting in the box.
Although he is primarily a centre forward, he's also played as a right winger. He's left footed and has experience operating from the right before attacking centrally.
That would give us a forward who can drift towards the right, attack the channel and create space for another attacker.
27 Aug 2026 13:25:42
Ndiaye is easy worth £90-100 mill.
27 Aug 2026 13:47:55
Thank you for feedback, Opinion shots, great insight, hopefully we can get this lad over the line if Beto does decide to move on.
27 Aug 2026 14:59:59
Would be happy with those in's and out's OS.
Would steer well clear of Todibo though. He was once a decent young prospect, but never hit the heights. He was shocking for West Ham in the PL, I thought.
Would prefer us to go after someone younger, better and cheaper.
Matte Smets would be the ticket, and, judging by the potential Palace signing of Ordonez at 25m, we could get him for a similar price.
27 Aug 2026 16:03:51
That could be some pretty good recruitment, OptimumShots.
I really rate Dju. I think he would need to get up to speed in the Premier League, but he's got the right instincts/skillset and would really suit our attacks down the left. Analysis showed we attacked more than playing into him in the area coming from right, and he would lap up those balls that were sailing past Beto last season!
Would pain me to lose Ndiaye, but sometimes a sacrifice needs to be made and two attacking fullbacks in would be a step in the right direction.
Todibo could be a really good option alongside Branthwaite, two aggressive defenders both athletic to hunt down attackers, pacey and quick which you don't get with Keane and Tarky, the pace part. But. Positionally Todibo can be a little wayward at times with his positional sense and judgment, which I felt was evident with West Ham last season, but then he could come good in another back four.
I believe Villa are showing interest in him currently, so perhaps a deal is there to be done.
I would throw in Ben White on loan with option/obligation. He reads the game well and would allow Branthwaite to step out to hunt the ball/attacker down, and he would be so much better for progressing things out from the back and better passer with an array of passing range under pressure.
Would alleviate some of that responsibility from Jarrad.
Assane would be a good acquisition, maybe a deal to be done with Beto and some cash for him.
Osorio is another name out there and a teammate of Dju, and the youngster Bahoya, who we are said to have scouted, is rapid.
Bard and Doue would be amazing.