Everton were the Premier League’s entertainers on Deadline Day alongside Fulham, bringing in a whole raft of late signings to boost the squad Marco Silva inherited from Sam Allardyce.

But was it good business from the Merseyside outfit, or could they come to regret some of the deals director Marcel Brands has made this summer?

Football FanCast’s expert writers debate one simple question – what will prove to be Everton’s biggest mistake of the summer transfer window?

Ben Goodwin – No back-up to Tosun

“Everton had a fantastic window, and I particularly like the capture of Kurt Zouma, but I think they will regret not adding more goals. Richarlison is already proving he will chip in, but one injury to Cenk Tosun could prove fatal, and the Turkish international himself is not exactly setting the league alight. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Oumar Niasse simply aren’t good enough, so the Toffees should signed a pacey young striker that could learn from Tosun and push him for the starting spot.”

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James Beavis – Another wideman needed

“Everton were pretty impressive against Southampton last weekend considering that only one of their new signings started the game, with the likes of Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina still to come into the starting XI. While they appear to be well-stocked at the back and in midfield, Silva will have one big regret which is not bringing in a new wide player – especially if Yannick Bolasie and Ademola Lookman join Nikola Vlasic and Kevin Mirallas in leaving this summer. If they do depart it would leave the Portuguese short on the flanks despite the arrivals of Richarlison and Bernard, who need to stay fit to get Tosun firing.”

Will Jones – Too much business

“Everton’s biggest mistake may well be just how much business they did. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that making any more than three or four first team signings in one window risks rocking the boat too much. The Toffees recruited Richarlison, Bernard, Gomes, Digne, Zouma and Mina this summer, and hired a new manager to boot.

“It could take a long time for all of these new faces to bed in and gel. Whilst Silva has got off to a good start, he’ll be hoping he will be shown some patience when his side hits a rough patch, especially if his new signings are failing to fire.”

Christy Malyan – Not shifting the deadwood

“At the start of the summer Marcel Brands spoke about offloading up to twelve players and while 13 have left the club in one form or another (six only on loan), it still feels as if Marco Silva’s squad is a little overloaded and lacking natural hierarchy. Depth is all well and good but there are so many players at Everton that will consider themselves worthy of a starting berth that team selections are bound to cause fractions amongst the dressing room as the campaign goes on.

“Lookman is a prime example of that – he probably should be getting first-team opportunities but now finds himself behind a January signing and a summer signing to get a chance on the flanks. Some of the late arrivals will likely take priority as well, so Brands has made a really tough challenge for Silva in keeping all of these players happy.” 

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French champions Paris Saint-Germain are plotting a £100m bid to snatch Christian Eriksen from Tottenham Hotspur, according to The Daily Express.

What’s the word?

Tottenham fans witnessed a quiet summer under Mauricio Pochettino as the Lilywhites did not make any new signings in the market but things could be set to spark into life in the final days of the European transfer window.

The Daily Express claims Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain are eyeing a late move for Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen and are prepared to pay a whopping £100m to lure the Denmark international to the French capital.

Eriksen’s future in North London remains subject to intense speculation as contract talks between him and the club show no signs of conclusion, with the 26-year-old having entered the final two years of his current deal.

PSG could use that to their advantage with a late swoop in the market, with the report stating Thomas Tuchel’s side will target a move if they fail in a £81m approach to land Ivan Rakitic from Barcelona.

Should Spurs be worried?

While news of PSG’s interest in Eriksen will lead to alarm bells ringing at Tottenham, the reports should be taken with a huge pinch of salt due to the ongoing insight into the French club’s financials by European governing body UEFA.

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A potential bid for Eriksen does not really make sense considering alternative reports, including those via The Guardian, suggest that PSG may have to sell either Neymar or Kylian Mbappe in order to adhere to UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

It is therefore extremely unlikely that PSG have the finances or the intention to seal a move for Eriksen before Friday’s European deadline, although it should at least boot Spurs into action as they seek to secure a new deal for their creative star.

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Sheffield United romped to a 4-1 win this weekend over potential promotion rivals Aston Villa, and manager Chris Wilder will be delighted with his side’s work.

Four wins on the bounce have given Blades fan renewed optimism that this might actually be their year, and Wilder deserves a ton of credit for getting the Blades into such a position given his budget and spending power in the transfer market.

However, working on such a small budget can bring with it it’s masterstrokes in terms of transfers, and one player who Wilder seems to have pulled out of the bag is Northern Ireland midfielder Oliver Norwood, who has been nothing short of superb since arriving a few weeks ago.

The £2m signing from Fulham is proving quite the capture, and once again was man of the match as the Blades dispatched Villa this weekend.

Norwood looks in all likelihood to be one of the signings of the summer, not just in the second tier, but in terms of transfers in the country overall. His ability on the ball in the middle of the park seemingly makes those around him better, while his dead ball delivery has already proved a big success at Bramall Lane.

With Norwood in the middle alongside and ever improving John Fleck, the Blades have all the hallmarks of being a team who can make the playoffs, and they should not be counted out by anyone.

Blades fans, what do you think? Has Norwood made all the difference? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

After talk of their finances dominated the summer, Aston Villa have got off to a very solid start to the Championship campaign, the Villains are unbeaten in their first five and sit fourth in the table currently. 

Villa have shown a real battle and steel so far in their season. Equalising in the last minute to Brentford to salvage a point shows the resolve and never-say-die spirit that exists in the camp of the Birmingham-based club. They possess quality all over the pitch, and surely the target for this season has to be to return to the promised land of the Premier League, which the club played in uninterrupted for so many years.

One major piece of business for the club over summer was holding on to key asset Jack Grealish despite heavy interest from Tottenham Hotspur. The Midlands outfit and Spurs battled over the price of the midfield talent all summer, and the price put on his shoulders by the Villa hierarchy clearly did not mean Tottenham’s valuation of the player.

Holding on to the player is huge for the Villa Park outfit. He is creative, a good dribbler, has a great pass and holds the ability to produce a fearsome shot. He dictates the play, and is hugely valuable to Steve Bruce. The reason the young Englishman, who is valued at £4.5m by Transfermarkt, could cost Aston Villa promotion is because he could still leave the club in January. The 22-year-old does seem to want to further his career elsewhere, and if he left in January he could deeply unsettle the balance of the side. Villa fans will be desperately hoping they can hold on to their man during the next transfer window, as it could be the difference between promotion to the top-flight, and staying in the second tier.

Manchester United finally put their early season misery behind them last weekend as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners at Burnley.

Things had been getting a bit pressured for manager Jose Mourinho and his squad as the Red Devils fell to losses against both Brighton and Spurs, and the win will have done the manager and the team the world of good.

However, there has to be an element inside the United manager which has some anger at the amount of summer transfers which were seemingly not completed at Old Trafford, and one man we at the Tavern think Mourinho will be annoyed about missing out on is Leicester City and England defender Harry Maguire.

The big defender had a superb World Cup and was clearly identified by Mourinho as a key target.

However, a move for Maguire failed to materialise, and with the defensive displays so far from United, the gaffer will no doubt be feeling somewhat aggrieved at missing out on his top target.

Maguire has gotten off to a superb start for the Foxes once again, bagging a late winner at Southampton two weeks back, while once again delivering consistent and steady performances at the heart of the defence.

For all the attacking talent at Old Trafford, they needed a dominant centre half. Maguire would have been that man, and as the season goes on, Mourinho will surely only live to regret not capturing the former Sheffield United man even more.

United fans, what do you think? Have you missed the boat with Maguire? Let us know in the comments!

Aston Villa once again fell to defeat this weekend as Sheffield Wednesday rolled into Villa Park to take all three points.

The pressure is continuing to build on manager Steve Bruce, and despite being rescued over the summer in terms of off the field problems and money to bring in new signings, it looks like being a bleak old season for Bruce and his squad.

One of the summer signings which caused quite the stir was the addition of Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, a young striker who was well courted by a host of clubs throughout the summer.

However, it was Villa who got their man, and we here at the Tavern think that this season could really turn into make or break for the youngster.

Abraham has thus far in his career only showed consistent goalscoering form during one spell, that being his time with Bristol City two seasons ago when he smashed in 25 goals for the Robins and earnt himself a move to then Premier League Swansea the season after.

However, his form for the Swans was patchy to say the least, and despite getting off the mark already for the Villans, the pressure will be on the Chelsea man to find his form.

A poor season for Villa will see the doubters come out in force over his talent, while a good showing might well force him into the reckoning for Blues manager Maurizio Sarri.

Either way, this season is set to be a huge one for Abraham, as he looks to cement himself as one of the best up and coming talents in the country.

Villa fans, do you agree? Is Abraham going to produce the goods for you this term? Let us know your thoughts!

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Aston Villa fans have been debating some possible team changes ahead of the clash with Bristol City, and 52 per cent of fans want Tammy Abraham to lose his place.

Villa fell to their second defeat of the season against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, but the performance was even more concerning than the result.

Steve Bruce’s side just had absolutely no fluidity in their attacks, and it didn’t help that the strikers couldn’t keep hold of the ball.

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Both Jonathan Kodjia and Abraham were poor, and Abraham in particular just had one of those days.

The youngster only completed 55 per cent of his passes and touched the ball just 29 times in the entire match.

Both Yannick Bolasie and Anwar El Ghazi started the defeat to the Owls on the bench, and over half of fans want Bruce to change things up and axe Abraham for Friday’s clash against Bristol City.

You can find the full poll results down below…

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In early September, TEAMtalk reported that Middlesbrough were locked in a battle with Aston Villa over the signing of Bakary Sako.

The attacker became a free agent at the end of last season after being released by Crystal Palace, where he spent three years of his career.

However, it looks as though neither of those clubs will secure the 30-year-old’s signature.

The Express & Star reports that West Bromwich Albion are in talks with Sako’s representatives regarding a deal.

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The former Wolverhampton Wanderers player is currently on trial with the Baggies, but a full-time arrangement is yet to be struck.

Despite this, it appears that Boro have missed out on the chance to sign a player that has a record of 24 goals in 78 Championship appearances.

At the moment Tony Pulis’s side are flying in second place, level on points with Leeds United after nine games, but will they wish they had Sako’s goals later in the campaign?

Let us know by voting below.

After only winning one of their previous five fixtures, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa will be relieved his club returned to winning ways against Hull on Tuesday night.Â

While it saw The Peacocks return to the top of the table -although that may only be for 24 hours-, the Argentinian clearly does not want to get too ahead of himself, and was rather critical of his side’s performance still.

Bielsa particularly highlighted how wasteful his team were, suggesting they made the ending much harder than it should have been.

Bielsa directed this criticism towards Tyler Roberts, who, despite scoring on the night, spurned a number of chances. He may have done this to quell the hysteria surrounding the 19-year-old, and also to show that he is not yet the finished article.

This will keep Roberts hungry to improve and, with Kemar Roofe nearing a return for the Yorkshire club, shows what he will need to work on to usurp Roofe as the number one striker at Elland Road.

Roberts has three goals in five games in the Championship so far this season, and has certainly played well recently, but these comments by Bielsa were wise in taking the player, and fans, down a peg or two.

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It was revealed on Thursday that Sunderland have come to amicable agreement over Didier Ndong’s departure that will see them rewarded financially, and they should consider revisiting signing a reported summer target in Peterborough United’s Marcus Maddison.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Black Cats boss Jack Ross was linked with a move for the highly-rated 25-year-old during the summer, but any move failed to materialise as the attack-minded midfielder ended up staying at London Road.

Meanwhile, the Wearside outfit decided to terminate Ndong’s contract last month after he failed to report for training having failed to secure a summer move away, and the club revealed in a statement that as of October 8 he is no longer an employee of them.

BBC Football add that Sunderland will be entitled to a compensation payment when the Gabon international signs for a new team, and that will be a huge boost for Ross ahead of the January transfer window given his hands were tied for FFP reasons previously.

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Why should he move for Maddison again?

It is certainly a bit of a mystery that the 25-year-old is still plying his trade in League One given just how good he has been for Peterborough, but it may have something to do with the fee they could be demanding for his services.

He has scored 42 goals and provided a further 64 assists – including three this season – 186 appearances for the Posh in all competitions, as per Transfermarkt, and he would add some real quality to a frontline that is already impressing in England’s third tier.

It is the sort of addition that would delight someone prolific like Josh Maja, and it would be a statement of intent that would almost certainly fire Sunderland to a top-two finish this term.