Fellaini

Status
Not open for further replies.
In absence of getting someone better Fellaini is far from a shabby signing. As others have said his strength, power, height would be great assets and would provide some additional steel in midfield, whether that be as a starter is another question, but we certainly need quality cover for Carrick, so I'd say result. And there is no reason we can't play both of them when we need a stronger 2 in midfield.

But whether he is good enough or not is irrelevant when we are wasting time with low-ball offers that will only result in more frustration and bad relations. However, bidding less than £24m makes sense. The clause was there and no team in the world chose to take it, so that is about as factual as you can get for saying he is not worth £24m. But clearly from Martinez's comments he is worth close to £24m, certainly to Everton at the very least, otherwise why would he be so thankful for not losing him.

Baines is clearly worth more than £12m to Everton, even if £12m is a fair price for his age.

Given the above it is non-sensical to bid an effective £12m AGAIN for Baines and £16m for Fellaini. It's like we are going for a bulk buy discount! The minimum we should be bidding is around £14m for Baines and around £19m for Fellaini. That would be on the fairly low side of Everton's valuations, but would at least be a sensible start point and not just a rude low-ball pisstake! Personally I wouldn't bother with Baines at all, great player, but how can we keep Evra and Baines happy and I would keep Evra happy as it he a great team player. Plus we have backup with Fabio and Buttner.
 
Sam said:
Maybe, but if Moyes see's that as his future there, then who are we to argue?...Don't forget he's only 25, with scope for improvement. Infact, he's the same age as Carrick was when we signed him, and look how much he's improved, in all aspects of his game.
Click to expand...

Obviously he'll improve. Like any 25 year old we sign
 
Had the most amount of passes he's ever had in a league game against Norwich according to MNF; room to change his game from previous seasons - whether Moyes will change that who knows.
 
i like what the club are doing with the bids, putting forward a realistic valuation of two players who the manager knows, but aren't our top priorities.
It would be stupid to buy at inflated amounts, just because we need a central-midfielder. Fellaini won't help with our problems. Wouldn't be a complete waste of space & money like Young, but if the transfer goes through he won't be far from it
 
signing him would at least stop us getting beaten up by him each year!

Saturday we had the biggest height threat I can remember for ages at corners, Vidic, Ferdinand, VP, Welbeck and Jones. Add Fellaini to that and we're looking strong physically.
 
Ash_G said:
How would Chelsea over power us. Lamps, Ramires and Oscar v Carrick, Clev/Ando, Kagawa/Rooney, looks even at the very least to me. I meant he's a stop gap in that whilst he's better than Clev/Ando currently I don't think he's an ideal first choice united midfielder either, we'd still need a creative player if we want to actually improve for the CL. Of course with any understudy it's never ideal to lose the main man but he'd be more insurance than anything and if you get the right player no reason he can't do a job.
Click to expand...

Why do we even need this creative player? The main thing we have to look at that will be different from last year is SAF's insistence on playing only 2 men centrally. If we play Fellaini and Carrick, with one of Cleverley, Rooney, Giggs, Kagawa, Januzaj or Lingard in front of them, them being allowed to do what they do best will increase creativity in that area. A 4-2-3-1 is the system of choice for many teams abroad, and we cannot match it without one more solid player next to Carrick. We are spoiled for choice we have so many options for the 3 behind RVP in that system, I see no desperate need for anyone else. Where we lack is someone who can sit next to Carrick and provide the base which allows the wealth of attacking talent we already have to concentrate on attacking.

If we look at Bayern last year, they had Martinez and Schweini. No world class creativity there. Far more of a solid reliable base, which then allows for their creative players up front to flourish. I just don't see how we can improve that much by still having only Carrick to fulfil that role, whether we sign a Fabregas type or not, they will certainly not help us much in that regard.
 
Mainoldo said:
What do you mean.. You just said if Carrick gets injured we need an understudy to cover him, yes that would be a step down considering he is an 'understudy' however he still wouldn't be better than Fellaini so we still look weak. A creative player is not going to protect Carrick or the defense and I would rather have a 'proven' creative player which I believe/hope we are looking for.
Click to expand...

I mean an understudy to the holding role and then look to bring in an established creative player. Fellaini isn't going to come and be carricks understudy for over 20m he's gonna be playing with him. Yes the understudy wouldn't be as good as carrick but he's meant to be insurance now, you can't have a top quality replacement in ever area of the pitch.
 
I reckon Moyes knows more than anyone how much Everton values its players, the amount they would probably accept as a transfer fee and the negotiation strategy required. The initial low bid does not worry me at all.

Im just disappointed we could not get in a more superior player.

Still needs must; Fellaini is better than what we have so does improve us, and gives Moyes 6-12 months to identify and get the player we really need to help take this sqaud to genuine world class competitiveness.
 
Not sure how a bid is 'insulting' or why people on here care so much about the fee. It is not our money and 5 million is neither here nor there to a club like United. Negotiation is about achieving the right outcome at an acceptable price, that's all.

Baines and Fellaini would strengthen the squad a lot. They would probably be two of the best XI, instead of Evra and Cleverley.
 
surf said:
Baines and Fellaini would strengthen the squad a lot. They would probably be two of the best XI, instead of Evra and Cleverley.
Click to expand...
Cleverley is a better CM than Fellaini and Evra is a better defender than Baines (except twice a season when he shits himself against Lennon).
 
We pay 20m for Fellaini now, and we have good enough player to improve our midfield. And if next season we get Fabregas or other exciting midfielder, Fellaini's value will still be similar as we pay now if we decide to sell, or he wants to move out. A real win-win strategy for us.
 
He doesn't really improve it though, he's just another option there, I wouldn't necessarily say he's better than Cleverley, though I guess he's a lot more likely to remain fully fit and available.

Quantity hasn't been the problem with our midfield in the last few years, quality has.
 
Cina said:
He doesn't really improve it though, he's just another option there, I wouldn't necessarily say he's better than Cleverley, though I guess he's a lot more likely to remain fully fit and available.

Quantity hasn't been the problem with our midfield in the last few years, quality has.
Click to expand...

Don't you think it's actually been both? We've had Rooney, Jones, Rafael, Park and Giggs in there at times because of the lack of both quantity and quality. Giggs fair enough has tried to re-invent himself, but as we saw last season...he's so much better putting balls in the box from the left.
 
Fellaini is definitely better than Cleverley IMO, not even close. He is so underrated on here.
 
I can see Eddie making a second bid of £26m for both Fellaini and Baines lol
 
ISSYNAZAR said:
Don't you think it's actually been both? We've had Rooney, Jones, Rafael, Park and Giggs in there at times because of the lack of both quantity and quality. Giggs fair enough has tried to re-invent himself, but as we saw last season...he's so much better putting balls in the box from the left.
Click to expand...

Well those were usually due to injury issues than the amount of players available, we've used midfielders in defense at times too due to injuries, after all.

I guess he'd "improve" it in that he'd instantly be our 2nd/3rd best midfielder but he wouldn't really help us take it back to the level it was at from 06-08.
 
peterstorey said:
Cleverley is a better CM than Fellaini and Evra is a better defender than Baines (except twice a season when he shits himself against Lennon).
Click to expand...

I agree in the main. Nothing to expand on the Evra V Baines debate. In terms of Cleverly V Fellaini, that's a far more controversial call. In terms of United at their best playing a fast tempo one touch attacking football Cleverley is a better option than Fellaini. There 's a certainly touch and weight of pass that Cleverley is cabable of that Fellaini isn't imo.

Obviously that's just one aspect of Fellaini's game though.
 
Top said:
I am warming to the idea of him. Mainly because we need at least something.
Click to expand...


This is pretty much how I feel about it. Getting Fellaini is certainly preferable to getting no one.

I still think I prefer Cleverley as a partner to Carrick, Fellaini would be good as cover for Carrick. My only gripe with this transfer is that I have a feeling he won't be brought in as back up, so obviously Cleverley will be benched.
 
golden_blunder said:
Some absolute drivel in this thread today

First of all, Glaston, take your condescending tone and shove it up your fat arse. Feeling a bit high and mighty at the moment are ya?

Only one point I agree on in your post and that is that we shouldnt pay less than what Everton signed him for, considering he was a success

The rest is rubbish.. "resigned to Felliani" what does that even mean?

As for the rest of you, Moyes has said he would like to get 2 bodies into midfield, so just because we may sign Felliani, doesnt necessarily mean thats us done. I see very little wrong with our approach thus far. We tried for 2 Barca players that are absolutely top drawer, 1 followed his old coach, the 2nd decided he'd rather stay where he was for now. Theres no shame in either of those scenarios. Its not like either of them said "Manchester United? Pah! I wouldnt piss on them, dont waste my time!" or "United fans are idiots"

(though the latter i'd say "yeah, fair play")

just chill out ffs
Click to expand...


You never see anything wrong with our approach. If Moyes announced he was going to sacrifice virgins at the full moon, you'd say, "On reflection, I think it's exactly the right thing to do."

At least we've fulfilled our promise at the beginning of the transfer window. We're still after the 'best players' (that Everton have to offer).

On the bright side, we may not get in any w/c players, but may actually turn a profit in the window. The Glazers will be delighted.

There's still hope that we're after Ronaldo. I'm not sure an initial bid of £30m, followed by a second of £35m, will do the trick though.

{We'll probably announce that we've bought Ronnie for £65m in the next few days. :lol: }
 
sammsky1 said:
I reckon Moyes knows more than anyone how much Everton values its players, the amount they would probably accept as a transfer fee and the negotiation strategy required. The initial low bid does not worry me at all. Im just disappointed we could not get in a more superior player.

Still needs must; Fellaini is better than what we have so does improve us, and gives Moyes 6-12 months to identify and get the player we really need to help take this sqaud to genuine world class competitiveness.
Click to expand...

My concern with an initial low bid is that it has proven to be completely counter productive. Considering that Moyes knows how much Everton would value their best players, which I would agree with, then why bother making a bid that Everton will not only reject, but find insulting? It all seems a bit point less, if that is the case. Time is not on our side here, if Moyes knows the value then why not make a serious bid close to what Everton would probably accept?

Don't understand why we are bothering to make a combined bid for Baines and Fellaini, that seems to equate to less than Fellaini's recently expired release clause, with no improvement upon the original bid for Baines that was rejected last time. I find the whole reasoning behind such attempts completely bizarre and pointless. If we really want the players let's just stop this pointless posturing and fecking around and get them signed or look elsewhere.
 
gza the genius said:
This is pretty much how I feel about it. Getting Fellaini is certainly preferable to getting no one.

I still think I prefer Cleverley as a partner to Carrick, Fellaini would be good as cover for Carrick. My only gripe with this transfer is that I have a feeling he won't be brought in as back up, so obviously Cleverley will be benched.
Click to expand...

I think if he is signed it will definitely be for the first team, we already have one expensive bench warmer, we are hardly going to pay over £20m for another. Which in my view is a good thing. If what we already have is enough then surely we wouldn't be so desperate to buy. Bottom line, we have a good squad but the midfield needs improving. Cleverley does not improve it when partnering Carrick, but Fellaini will make us more solid, which may then provide us a better base to improve the overall capacity of our creative play.
 
We're going to end up paying more than that release clause aren't we.
 
We need more than just a couple of CM's for the season. Signing a new player doesnt mean one is automatically benched. There has to be rotation of players and also the ability to pick horses for courses. There are a lot of games to be played and we need more options.
 
It would be stupid for the club to call a bid an insult and then accept a fee only 4-6 million higher than the original.
 
SilentWitness said:
It would be stupid for the club to call a bid an insult and then accept a fee only 4-6 million higher than the original.
Click to expand...


I don't think you'll sell Baines, but I do think you'll sell Fellaini for 20-21m.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.