Everton have made a strong statement while rejecting the bid of Manchester United for Fellaini and Baines and have issued a statement on their website. United have made a cumulative bid of £28m for the two players with £16m for Fellaini and £12m for Baines.
The Belgian Felliani had a release clause of £23.5m in his contract which has expired now. United had earlier made a bid of same amount for Baines and got it rejected and rather improving on their bid, they have come back with the same amount and this has irked the club management. Everton’s Director of Communications, Alan Myers has issued the following statement on the website.
“Those bids were rejected out of hand as derisory and insulting. The club did not make public these details as it was vital Roberto Martinez’s preparations for the opening game of the Premier League season were not disrupted in any way.”
Current United and former Everton manager David Moyes is certainly aware of Everton’s hard stance, for he once shrewdly led the negotiations with other clubs himself. Now it would be an interesting watch as to how do United react to this. They have tried to sign Thiago and Fabregas from Barcelona earlier, but failed. With not much time left on the transfer window, they may just come back with a better offer, an offer hard for Everton to refuse.
On the other hand, Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport reports that Manchester United have now joined the race to sign Samuel Eto’o along with Chelsea and two Italian clubs. United’s failure to attract any big names in the current transfer window have convinced Moyes that Eto’o would be a perfect player to join the United ranks inspite of the Van Persie calling the shots in the front with aplomb.
Russian club Anzhi want to sell the striker for financial ground and other top clubs look to seize this opportunity. If Rooney leaves United, like he has been hinting all summer, Eto’o would be the perfect replacement for the England international. Now the noteworthy thing would be if United can successfully bring Eto’o to Old Trafford or they lose out to their competitors.