It has been reported this morning that Everton are renewing the 1-year extension to Decoure’s contract, one reason was that the extra year was on the same terms as he is on now.

He will be free to negotiate a new contract with the club under different terms.

Interesting, Dave, so both he and the club have a decision to make.

I think he’s worth another season as we transition.

Dave A, Music to my Ears !

Be just like a new signing 🙂

Okay he has been okay the last couple under Moyes, but didn’t he do similar after scoring the goal that ensured our safety against Bournemouth. Sat back and provided very little, but still got picked each game ?

Let’s concentrate on a sensible rebuild with younger, eager, talents who will give their all alongside some old experienced hands – Gana, Tarks and Picks !

Doucoure is a not very talented athlete – but he’s a worker, seems to have a good attitude and has really dug us out with some critical goals.

Possibly delivered the most value of any pre 2021 Moshiri era signings (which is kind of a damned by faint praise observation but not intended to be mealy mouthed).

I have been expecting him to head off in summer – possibly Saudi (why wouldn’t you?). Good luck to him if he does. We move on.

He done well to get an extension last year on the same huge wages. I don’t think he’d be worth keeping even on half his salary.

He’s probably off to Saudi, as no one else would offer him big wages, but I hope it works out for him.

I have to be thankful for his goal against Bournemouth, he will always be remembered for that, thank you.

I would give him another year no problem, he might not be the most skillful player in the world but his enthusiasm, fitness and stamina levels are important assets.

He will be leaving free and gracias, which seems a shame.

He came in on the crest of a wave with Carlo, James etc at the club and initially did well.

It is clear to all of us he is a player with limited technical abilities but is a willing runner. That was fine for us over the last number of years when staying in the league was the focus.

If there is to be any evolution at all across the squad, then it makes complete sense that he moves on after this season and we opt for younger, more dynamic and technically gifted players in this role.

All the best to him; clearly his heart has been in the right place but his finishing most certainly was not.

Is there a reason why players’ contracts that expire in June, or loan arrangements that end June, are being discussed now?

I get players agents may be asking but there’s 11 games to go, lots to play for? Why demotivate players?

Moyes had said recently that no contracts would be discussed until we hit 40 points. Either he has been overruled or the club have decided we are virtually safe and some players wanted to know where they stand.

Doucoure and Gueye allegedly had offers from Saudi Arabia (the new MLS), so I’m guessing they wanted an answer sooner rather than later.

Coleman, Young, Keane, Harrison, Lindstrom, Alcaraz are the next decisions to make.

Don’t rule out him being released, but still re-signing.

Jay.

Out of that lot, I’d only keep Lindstrom and Alcaraz.

Christy #7, £130k pw is really not a huge wage in Premier League terms.

It’s big for us obviously. But as we improve we’ll have to start paying this and more to a lot of players.

When he was safe on a long-term contract, he took his foot off the gas for a long time. It was only as his contract was expiring, he upped the ante and got an extension, and we have seen the same thing happen since with subsequent 1-year extensions.

I would have liked to have seen more out of him when he was in the first few years of his original deal and several years younger.

Robert #15, I don’t agree:130k a week is a big salary.

We should be basing our model on the Brighton or Bournemouth style, not Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal.

Move to a results-based rewards system rather than fat salaries. Perform well and you get rewarded.

No surprise, given his roster-topping salary and reduced goal production.

I cannot recall a player who worked harder or had more obvious love for the club than Doucoure. He has done the badge proud. I hope he gets subbed off in the final game at Goodison so that he can get the farewell roar from the crowd he deserves. He epitomizes Everton itself in recent years — grossly imperfect but relentless in passion and effort, and ultimately a survivor.

Two images of him will remain with me. One, of course, is that goal against Bournemouth. The other is celebrating in front of the RS fans a few weeks ago — I know some of y’all didn’t care for it, but I loved it.

And hey, this makes DK a happy man, so it’s a good thing!

Kieran #16, love ya man but… Whaaat?

I gotta know… when did you EVER see him take his foot off the gas?

I never saw that, not for a minute in 140 games. He frequently drove me crazy, but never, ever because of lack of effort.

Doucoure has been a good signing and his goal kept us up.

To me, he has always looked like he has been fully committed to the club and played with a smile on his face… But then again, he should be smiling on £130,000 a week.

He was undoubtedly our most important player in Dyche’s 1st season in how we were set up but thankfully we’ve moved on from that nightmare now, and Doucoure will be a peripheral figure once we have fully fit squad, so it’s the right time to move on for both parties.

I’d use that £130,000 wages to try and sign Angel Gomes on a Bosman this summer.

Ian # 17, I get where you are coming from.

Brighton and Bournemouth have done very well as minnows to get where they are – but they haven’t achieved anything that we would be proud of (iIndeed, they only managed about the same points as us last season if you ignore our disgraceful deduction).

They are absolutely good models to follow for the next stage of our development but, at some point, we will need to pay the sorts of salaries the richest 9 clubs pay.

And within the top richest 9 clubs, £130k pw isn’t a massive salary.

If we’re to establish ourselves in the Top 6 or Top 4 (possibly even Top 8 unfortunately), then at some point, we’ll have to pay the going rate or thereabouts for salaries at that level.

Mike,

He started strong in a defensive kind of role under Carlo in Carlo’s first season but the next year his stats in a more active role dropped off under Rafa. He carried on being poor under Frank Lampard to the extent he was dropped.

Then suddenly, with 6 months of his contract left, he had (by his standards) a goal glut under Dyche to end that season and earn a new deal. Since when we’ve kept him on the straight and narrow by running year to year.

Likewise at Watford, he started off well then, by Year 3, his goal involvements had halved from the prior two seasons.

Brighton, minnows?

They were second only to Chelsea in spending among all of Europe’s leagues during the 2024 summer transfer window, spending just under £200M.

For those guys questioning why we are discussing contracts now – we aren’t. The issue here is there was a date by which we had to agree to exercise the additional year option.

That date has now passed without the club talking to him about exercising the option, so he will be a free agent at the end of his contract.

If we are to become a Top 6 club, we will have to pay top wages unless we get super smart/lucky, which I consider a longshot.

Yes, £130k is a lot of money in anybody’s language, but the best players now want to sign for clubs in Euro comps. which is a barrier for us at this time. Its a bit of a chicken and an egg situation.

Moshiri was giving over the odds contracts to attract player to come, at least that’s how it seems to me.

On any given matchday, we don’t know what Doucoure is going to do.

One minute, he can’t find another blue shirt; the next, he’s scoring the winning goal or a very quick one – he’s pure frustration to the max.

Because of his current wages, will he take a lower wage and a 1-year contract if he was to be offered? Or is he off elsewhere, like Saudi for eye-watering wages?

We get nothing, so he’s in a win-win situation; see how he performs if picked over the next 11 matches…

For me, we need younger eager players with less demands on wages to keep ahead of PSR – does anyone know where we stand financially in that respect?

“Moshiri was giving over the odds contracts to attract players to come” – and we all know how that worked out for us don’t we?

I’ve got nothing against Doucoure as he generally worked hard and gave his all, but he just doesn’t have the quality we need and certainly doesn’t justify $130K pw. Let him move on along with most of our soon to be out of contract players.

We’re currently 16th in the league and have struggled to avoid relegation over recent years, so we need to recognize that a change in approach is needed.

So we should take the gamble with recruiting mostly younger, up and coming talent rather than continue with the failed ‘gamble’ of signing or re-signing older and expensive players in the hope that they can revive or end their careers with us. That certainly hasn’t worked out too well for us up till now has it?