Fernandes — That Old Chestnut

I will confess that I am one of his fans and, while he did not have a spectacular return last season, I believe he is worth a further punt. What follows may well spark a debate, but as I am the one writing this article, I will put forward my point of view....

When Manny turned up for the Blackburn game last season it was widely reported that he would be signing for us within the next 48 hours (how many times did we hear that last summer?). I personally do not believe that he knew anything about the Valencia bid at that point. If he had then it seems highly illogical that he would turn up at Goodson Park, we would simply have received a call from his agent informing us that we had been outbid and asking if we were still interested. If that did indeed happen, then we have not been told so by the board. After the match I suspect that he was ?summoned? by his agent/owners to return home where he was effectively presented with a ?fait accompli?. He still had to make the choice to sign, but was it really a difficult choice?

He was offered the chance to play in Spain, which is virtually home territory for him; he was offered a higher salary than was on the table with EFC; Valencia had qualified for the Champions League and Valencia clearly thought that he was worth the full asking price, while we had publicly said on numerous occasions that he was not. Forget football for a moment, forget, if you can, your allegiance to EFC, consider this as simply a job offer and then put yourself in his shoes. What would you have done?

Whatever the truth, he signed for them but a short while later, with the appointment of Koeman, it turned into a nightmare and I dare say he must have wished on numerous occasions that he had signed for us. Enter DM in January offering an olive branch and the chance of escape. Did Manny use that chance fully? Even as a fan, I would have to admit that he did not, at least not until the last four or five games of the season when we started to see the kind of form that had us all purring the season before.

Fundamentally, he is a good player and potentially a very good one. Why then did he struggle last season? It has been reported that he was carrying an injury and that his self belief was at a particularly low ebb. DM has himself stated that Manny is the kind of player who needs ?an occasional hug? and to generally feel wanted, which may well have some of you choking on your beer! But, we have seen/heard this kind of thing before and Manny certainly did pick up his form towards the end of the season. So, the question, should we sign him again?

I can fully understand why many fans, particularly the detractors, would say that EFC should absolutely not spend any of the summer budget (????) on a permanent Fernandes deal and, even as a fan, I would agree. There has, however, been a suggestion that DM will try to secure him on a season long loan. This, in my view, would be a clever move. Assuming that Valencia are prepared to play ball and Manny does return on loan, then DM has to make the situation crystal clear to him. This is (and must be) his final chance with EFC.

To secure a permanent move, he must prove over a full season that he is both good enough and consistent enough to warrant the club laying out a substantial fee for him next summer. In the fans? eyes, he must have at least as big an impact as Peanut last season and possibly more, given the difference in transfer fees.

Assuming that EFC are strong enough to negotiate an acceptable future transfer fee should we wish to take up the option, then a season long loan is, in my view, a win/win situation. If he does prove his worth and the fans are baying for the club to buy him outright, then we will have gained a very good season out of him for very little outlay. If he doesn?t quite convince enough for the club to consider a permanent move as being value for money, then we wave him goodbye at the end of the season, but even if this is the case, I dare say that he will have had enough good, perhaps match winning, performances during the season to make the outlay worthwhile.

Although I am not generally a huge fan of the loan system I think this one could work well for us. Fernandes has Premier League experience, he knows us (and we know him) and he knows what DM expects and demands. At a time when we desperately need to add depth to our squad, but with available funds an uncertainty, then this would seem to me to be a sound and sensible option to consider.

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