I'm not sure the difference between Lukaku and Benteke is as much as you think. Certainly not more than double the value. In fact Benteke has a better Premier League goals per game ratio (1 in 2.31) than Lukaku (1 in 2.48). If Lukaku's overall play was particularly good then it would make more sense to value him a lot higher, but it isn't.

It's all hypothetical of course as we don't know how much Liverpool would want for Benteke or whether they'd even sell him to a rival like us, but if we were able to bring him in for around £30m it's worth considering at least.

Maybe maybe not.

But the only fact that matters is who is more likely to score double figures in this league?

I would be pretty confident in saying that Lukaku will be nearer then Costa in goals then many strikers in the league and will score more goals then Bentake and Remy combined.

Costa is more then likely to be on the negative end of a 50/50 ref decision after last nights game (and will more then likely happen a few times in the season)

We know Lukaku can score double figures in this league.

My issue with Benteke is its been a while since he has shown his quality. Not completely his fault of course, Injuries have been a problem etc.

The league has changed massively since 2012-2013 and he has missed an awful lot of football since then.

I think Liverpool would sell him to anyone if they could get within a couple of million of what they would bought him for

At the moment he don't look like a player who can get the goals needed for us to get where we need to be and has not done for a while now.

It wasn't that long ago he was firing in the goals. 2014/15 season he scored 15 in 34 appearances for a poor Villa team. Even last season at Liverpool where he didn't really fit in with their style of play he still managed to reach double figures. He made 42 appearances last season so injuries obviously haven't been a recent problem for him.

It would be a low risk transfer, we'd probably recoup all or most of the fee in a year's time if we wanted to sell him.

Lyon are reportedly interested in Remy. He would allegedly be a replacement for Lacazette if Arsenal come up with an offer they can't refuse.
Just a thought, but wouldn't it be worth us testing out Lyon and seeing if they'd be interested in a player+cash deal ?
Lacazette would be a different type of striker, he's not a big hold-up the ball type CF. But he's strong for his size, likes to run at defenders and is very sharp in and around the box.

I'm not keen on Benteke, it's a lot of money to pay for a back-up. At least with Lukaku you have the chance that he could become really top class, or even world class, in a year or two. I can't see Benteke ever being more than we see right now. Big difference in price though I have to admit.

I can't see Lukaku ever being really top class, nevermind world class. If I did then I'd think the money was worth paying.

Lacazette would be my preference too, if we're prepared to spend that sort of money. Would give us something different, as you say.

I'd be happy with lacazette for remy

Scuppering Arsenals strike force and Liverpool having a 30m asset in the reserves is also win win as they are our direct rivals.

We are looking for a player who scores goals in this league as long as he does that what does it matter if a player is regarded with such a over used tag as "world class"?.

If you look at the reasons mentioned for not buy Lakaku they would have fitted into any of the discussions during the transfer windows in a certain other premierships thread over the last few years.

Yes it's a lot of money but we cannot ignore how the current market is running that has been one of the biggest factors in Wenger and Arsenal fall

You never know if any tranfer will come off so be it 20m or 75m you are just as likely to be wasting it then anything else, Just because one option means we waste less money is not enough of a reason to go that way.

"low risk" options often bring low risk rewards, if we finished 4th or 5th last season then I think we could get away with such a strategy.

We have to operate in the transfer market as it is and not what we think it is.

The question has to be with any transfer has to be is in keeping with the current market? If it

Bentake was valued at certain figure not so long ago and for what ever reason has done very little to back up that value where as Lakaku was given a very similar value (and by us unlike Bentake who's value was decided by player and Villa when negotiating a new contract) and has gone on to increase that valuation.

I think at times as a club and as fans due to our mistakes in transfers we have to some degree became scared of big money transfers and would rather take low level risks and that's not going to cut it in the current market

You are acting like you can take their previous transfer values as similar, without adding all the extra factors that were the reason for those values appearing similar.

Benteke went for 30 million, but in 12 months the market has changed so, according to some, as he is on a big value long term contract, his price has probably increased by 20 million in the last year for a proven pl goal scorer.

Would you not say, according to those that you stated Lukaku was with 75 million, say benteke is a 50 million striker?

No because Lukaku since the valuation of 30m has scored 30 odd goals where Bentake has scored 9. Everton don't wish to sell Lukaku while Liverpool want to sell Bentake. Lakaku will have a major say in where Everton finish,Bentake will not have any say in where Liverpool finish, Everton will need to replace Lakaku, Liverpool will not have to do the same.

While Bentake has some transfer value to some clubs at 30m he has very little or no value at that figure for us because of the players we already have at the club.

Everton want to keep Lukaku, Liverpool had made it clear there is no place for Benteke. If you are trying to buy something the seller doesn't want or have a use for its going to be cheaper than trying to buy something from someone who doesn't really want to sell. The inflationary effect of transfers may save Liverpool making a loss on Benteke though.

Ken Bates "thought" Kerry Dixon was not worth the money (a extra payment if he got a game for England), Many of us did not "think" Lamps was worth the money. You can not operate in such a insane concept like the transfer market on what you think is worth a set amount of money.

You can buy a player for 8.5m who has spent two seasons in relatively low leagues like Ligue 2 and one in Ligue 1 and he has a excellent season and is seen as a bargain at 32m, More then double the price after one season.

We have to look beyond our views of players and looking at valuation as a figure

Forgetting the transfer fee for a moment, I just don't think Lukaku is good enough to be anything other than back-up for us. That's whether we spend £30m on him or £75m, it makes no difference to that view. Everton's about his level.

If we were signing him as a back-up striker then fine, but you don't spend £75m on one of those. Not even Real Madrid would do that.

How can you say forget the fee then say " you don't spend x amount of money"?

We are spending the money on a player who has scored close on 70 goals in three seasons and have to value it accordingly, Again its not about what we think about him or if he is back up or main striker.

At the moment I don't see enough goals in this team unless Costa injury issues suddenly clears up and he has a personality transplant. We have only seen Costa perform for one season (why is not important) and taking a massive risk on him.

We need a striker who scores goals in this league and as many as possible, Lakaku regardless of our opinion on him has proven for 3 seasons he can do that.

I said forgetting it for a moment to make the point that he's not good enough to be our main striker whatever we pay. I brought the money back into it again when talking about him being a back-up only.

If we were signing him for £30m to sit on the bench and provide cover for Costa then that would be fine, but we both know Everton won't be selling him for that amount. I get that he's a valuable asset to them, but I personally don't think he's worth the money they'd want to sell to us, if he's not good enough to be our main striker. Everton is probably around about his level. I've seen nothing to suggest he would cut it at a top club with the deficiencies in his play, his mental attitude etc.

If we're spending the big bucks then Lacazette would be the one to pursue, as Richmond says. You don't buy an inferior player just because they already play in the Premier League. That sort of thing might add a bonus point or two when looking at players but shouldn't be your main criteria.

The trouble is needs must must the devil drives and I think that is where we are today.

Costa on day one has marked his cards yet again and its a worry, If we had a proven goalscorer I would take him out of the firing range for this month therefore mangering his fitness concerns and letting the fuss die down. We should not have to do that but I think we do

We have Watford,Bristol and Burnley all very winnable games taking into account our performance from Monday but we need to turn that performance into goals.

For all the good performance we only scored one goal from open play that needs to change, That is what will decide if we finish if we finish top 4 or not and we have to finish top 4.

Lakaku the evidence says is more likely to do that then someone who has never played a second in this league, We don't know but the odd's do shorten. If we have to pay more to shorten the odds so be it. Even if we had to pick between Bentake and Lakaku the odd's are in Lakaku's favor, I think even the biggest gambler if asked who would score more goals Lakaku or Betake (or most strikers we could get in) next season they would put it on Lakaku

Costa for me is our main striker but he has to be managed, If we had a different main striker then I think it might be different. If we had done better with our transfers in the past then maybe we would not be where we are.

The market says he is worth the money and I think that is how we need to value players. Wenger has ignored the market valuations of players time and time again and said similar things about players and why not to meet those valuations it has cost not only his team but is dangerously close to damaging his legacy.

Can't see why Costa needs time off already. He's just had a decent summer break, not being involved in the Euros, and looked fit enough the other night considering the stage of the season we're at where no-one's quite at full match fitness yet.

As for Lukaku we'll just have to disagree on whether he's good enough and leave it at that. Otherwise we're just going around the houses. We did the same last summer when you were attempting to justify the signing of Falcao.

I only taking Costa out before he takes himself out. He stepped over the line again during the West Ham game and for the next couple of weeks he will be the ref's number one target and since he is unable to curb his actions we need to manage him better

Stepped over the line? In what way?

If you're referring to his challenge on Adrian I think it was a bit misjudged, but was a genuine attempt to get to the ball. Hardly the red mist descending.

If Costa needs managing to the extent that he needs to be taken out of the firing line after one game of the season due to his mentality /red mist etc... He's too much of a liability

Maybe but due to the nature of reporting of these incidents it is going to play in ref's minds also with the new rules regarding talking to ref's its something that could become a issue. Its been mentioned more then once that players have been spoken to yet he goes and does exactly what he has been warned not to do and it was not even 20 minutes into the game, Under the new rules him just touching the ref on the shoulder as he seemed to do is going cost us

It should not be a massive deal if done in the right way. His mentality/red mist can channeled in the right direction but that takes managing and time no more then a player with injuries etc.

Playing certain players into certain situations is just good management,

I don't think pulling him out of the team for a few games for no concrete reason after he's just scored the winning goal in the first game of the season is good management at all. All that's likely to do is unsettle him.

I feel that you're clutching at straws with this one in your argument for signing Lukaku.

If they was games against Utd,Liverpool etc I would not pull him out but its against Watford,Bristol and Burnley. We need to make more use of a squad system and those three games are perfect for it more so when in Sept we have Arsenal and Liverpool which are games we will need him for.

He's unlikely to start the cup game anyway, Batshuayi will get a run out I would imagine. As for the league games he absolutely should start them. It won't do him any good going into that Liverpool match in a month's time having not played (or only sparingly) since the opening game of the season. Like everyone else in the team he's still building his match fitness up.