Will Everton Sell Yakubu for £7 Million?

Looks like West Ham is getting ready to bid for Yakubu. According to Goal.com, "It is understood that a deal has already been agreed in principle with Yakubu's representatives". West Ham seems to be looking for a replacement to Carlton Cole, who is being sought by a plethora of clubs.

Yakubu has been quite a disappointment this season, though we could probably attribute his lack of form to his long-term injury. Everton needs a consistent striker, but also needs the cash. I think this would be a decent move if Everton will be able to secure a striker like Bellamy. If not, I would rather keep him. We know how Yakubu can play when he is in-form. It would be better to hope he can reattain that form, than sell him and hope others can pick up the slack. Striker is still the position where we need new blood and maybe selling Yakubu can bring on that change.

Rumor Mill Update

These are some updates to previous rumors heard:

- Daily Post has a great article that talks about Moyes' interest in Jermaine Beckford. It pretty much says that Moyes is still considering Beckford and that he is one of a couple of strikers that he is "mulling over". The Toffees are also facing competition from Parma as well as a bunch of other clubs.

- One of the other strikers that Moyes seems to be considering is Bobby Zamora of Fulham. The sun reports that Aston Villa and Birmingham City are also vying for Zamora's services. I don't think Zamora will be a good signing. The 8 million pound price tag seems high for someone who historically has had trouble finding the back of the net. I would rather have Bellamy or even take a shot with Beckford.

- Goal.com is reporting that Chelsea and Manchester United are "ready to go toe-to-toe" for Jack Rodwell. The article then precedes to explain that even though Everton would like to keep him, we may lose him just like we failed to keep Wayne Rooney. One thing they forget is that Everton had to sell Rooney in order to stay afloat as the club was going through some financial difficulties in 2004.

Rumor Central

There are about 8 billion rumors surrounding a lot of our players. I am going to try and go through as many as possible. Just remember most of these are RUMORS, not reality.

- Many sources say that we are the likely destination of Jermaine Beckford from Leeds United via free transfer. Not official yet, but I love this move. If it happens, that is.

- Landon Donovan said he would love to come back to Everton. This obviously will not happen until the LA Galaxy have had their say. But it looks like we have the leg up on other clubs if they choose to transfer him.

- According to Goal.com and Mirror Football, contract talks to extend Mikel Arteta have stalled. Manchester United and Arsenal are both highly interested. This worries me a lot. I love Arteta and I think he is one of the most important players on our team. We need to keep him.

- We are being linked with Craig Bellamy of Manchester City, according to Goal.com and Dailymail.co.uk. This is a surprise. Supposedly, he is to cost 7 million pounds for the transfer and high weekly wages, so the only way we could sign him would be with a sale of players. I'm going to be honest, I have always hated Bellamy, but I can't deny that he's a pretty good striker. He would provide a spark whether its from the bench or starting, something Yakubu and Saha have failed to do consistently.

I'm going to go in depth in a future post, but I thought the only missing piece for Everton during the second half of the season was striker. Saha performed phenomenally, but was really streaky and disappeared near the end. Looks like we are really addressing that issue. I can't refrain from saying that I am scared, though. We were perfect at midfield and three major pieces can be taken away from us. As long as we keep at least two (preferably Arteta and Rodwell), I think we will be fine. As much as I love Pienaar, I think he is dispensable, especially if we get a good striker or two.