As Manchester United continues to explore ways of upgrading its roster, multiple sources report that the club and head coach David Moyes recently had a joint bid for 2 Everton players rejected for financial reasons. According to FOX Sports, offers for Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini were turned down because the team's officials felt the bid was insulting.
Tabling a dual offer of £28, Man U thought they'd have a legitimate opportunity to reel in two figures capable of helping the club retain its Premier League trophy. Fellaini would surely bolster the midfield unit of the Red Devils, a primary positional target of David Moyes during the transfer window while Baines could have strengthened the Old Trafford defense. Not taking long to reject the offer once it was formally submitted, Everton and manager Roberto Martinez never came close to entertaining the transfer.
"Everton can confirm that it has received bids from Manchester United for two players," the club said in an official statement. "Those bids were immediately 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 anyway."
Man U reportedly offered £16m for Fellaini and £12m for Baines, and now that David Moyes finds himself dealing with another transfer period failure, the club hopes there will still be other opportunities before the window closes on September 2. Fellaini did have a buyout clause and if any team -- not just Manchester United -- were to meet the financial requirements, the player would leave Everton, but the offer from Old Trafford was not nearly enough.
"Marouane had a buy-out clause where it was very straightforward," Roberto Martinez said to ESPN FC recently. "If someone met that valuation, the club had no say. That finished on July 31 so you can imagine during that period everyone was a bit expectant about what would happen. Once that date went, you just focus on working for the next season."
The attempt at the transfer makes sense for David Moyes, since he is the coach that originally brought both players to Everton. Moyes was the manager at Goodison Park from 2002 to 2013 and in 2007, the 50-year-old signed Baines away from Wigan for £6m. A year later, Moyes acquired Fellaini for a club record fee of £15m. Fellaini had previously played for Standard Liege.
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