Guardian confirms Fellaini Transfer
Comments (36)
Everton ended their summer-long search for a central midfielder in dramatic fashion last night when they secured a club record deal for Marouane Fellaini of Standard Liège. The 20-year-old agreed a five-year contract with the Goodison Park club only an hour before the transfer deadline, easing the manager David Moyes' growing frustration at his lack of big-money recruits.
Fellaini, a Belgium international, will cost about £15m after a day of extensive negotiations that resulted in Everton eclipsing their previous record outlay of £11.25m on Yakubu Ayegbeni. Moyes has been desperate to sign a powerful, young and industrious midfielder since releasing Lee Carsley at the end of last season and, along with several Premier League managers, was alerted by Fellaini's impressive performances against Liverpool in the Champions League qualifying round.
The Belgian champions have been drawn to face Everton in the first round of the Uefa Cup but having been thwarted in his attempts to lure Joao Moutinho from Sporting Lisbon and Stéphane M'Bia of Rennes, Moyes will now have Fellaini on his side when he attempts to reach the group stages of the competition.
The record purchase will also ease some of the growing pressure on the Everton hierarchy after an arduous summer in the transfer market.
Craig O'Connor,
Derbyshire Posted 02/09/2008 at 01:20:49
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Michael Kenrick
Hmmm... now, correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't this ... GOOD NEWS? Isn't this the kind of GOOD NEWS we've all been craving for???
And exactly how was this possible if, as so many of our wise and knowledgeable contributors have assured us repeatedly "we don't have a pot to piss in"???
ps: Sorry, Craig, I switched your story to that from the Guardian.
Thank Christ for that.
Now get Lescott to left back and Jags back in the middle and get tight again at least.
Marouane Fellaini is THE big money and exciting new signing to get the fans' mouths watering.
Just think... the way he'll be able to link up with 30-year-old Louis Saha after he gets over his calf strain, Lars Jacobsen, the out of contract since January right back, some Ecuadrian video star and Wigan's third-choice goalkeeper.
I for one can't wait.
It is good news. If we?d have got Obinna as well I would?ve been at least mildly satisfied. But £15million? I suppose if Moutinho is worth £20M, then that must be the going rate. But you know what I mean, he?s a bit of a gamble.
Well, he looked great against the shite, but I will hold my celebrations until I actually see him play for us.
This player is special; Man Utd, Chelsea etc have all expressed an interest... let's just hope Everton can start their season again at Stoke and get all our players back from injury. I would love to see Moyes play 4-5-1 with Arteta Fellaini and Cahill in the middle.
It’s on the OS now btw.
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/fellaini-becomes-record-signing.html
Its even on the OS now. I think its a good buy but BK is still not off the hook.
Also, where is the pace we need?
I have seen him play a few times and he is quality. He has a bit of everything and is very much in the Veira mould.
Yes we have broken the record but that's not really as good as it sounds! We got £10.5m for AJ that means a grand spend of not even £5m! Pretty much means we didnt have a pot to piss in! sell to buy!
I am still very worried about the season! We have not kept up with our rivals even with this transfer : (
Great news... i can go to sleep now.
Yes Michael it is good news, much belated but good none the less. It doesn’t change the fact that we need to get some answers as to what the hell happened this summer, but this is a player who everyone just watched play very well against the Reds, adds some much needed size to our midfield and is at least one quality signing that we were promised. So we got one quality guy to control the midfield, one Danish international to cover at right back, a mostly unknown Ecuadorian who I have watched play for his country quite a few times and looked very decent, Saha who can be a quality signing up front as long as he stays healthy which is no small task for him, and some 3rd choice veteran keeper.
So 5 players in, and the keeper is on a 2-3 year contract so we won’t have to hear about needing a keeper for a few years now, hopefully. It wasn’t the summer we expected or needed, it has gotten us off to a terrible start in the league and lowered moral throughout the team and fan base. But at least it’s over now, for all of our sakes. Saha could actually work out in the end and this midfielder should prove to be a very good signing. Hopefully Cahill and Pienaar can come back healthy and the rest of our midfield can stay reasonably healthy. If that happens we should be okay this season. And there’s always the money we should have left for the January window (that one was specially for you Michael because we know how much you can’t wait for the January window talk to start).
It’s something not enough but we needed a midfielder hope he’s able to cut it.
I am made up weve got him but at the same time would of love Hunt and Obinna just to add width to the squad. We still have AvdM but the official site says it is unknown when he will be back in action which doesnt suprise me. Our squad will have a different look to it hopefully against Stoke.
Let's all rejoice that the bloody transfer window is shut and that we can now concentrate on watching our team play. I for one think Saha will work for us and this Fellaini will turn into a top midfielder in the Premier League
To be honest, despite the big fee, I still see this as a bare minimum that just about stops BK getting lynched. We really needed Fellaini AND a Moutinho type playmaker. We only have Ossie at the moment and he?s not top quality. I?m really gutted we didn?t get Obinna as well, he would?ve added a completely new dimension.
Well I’m pleased with this signing despite having never seen him play and depite not having heard of him before last week. For all I know he’s half the player Castillo is.
Fickle lot aren’t we?
Sky News Football reports: Marouane Fellaini?s agent has confirmed that the Belgian midfielder sealed a move to Everton before the transfer window closed. Tottenham, Newcastle, West Ham and Everton were all reported to be locked in a battle to land the highly-rated Standard Liege star. But it is now Everton won the race and sealed Fellaini?s signature on a five-year contract in a club record deal. Everton have agreed to pay ?16million (£13m) - also Belgian transfer record - for the 20-year-old international. Eveton looked to have worked right up to the deadline on Monday and successfully brokered a deal with Standard?s vice-president Luciano D?Onofrio. Although Standard have revealed that they had been in talks with Everton for a number of weeks. Fellaini?s agent Christophe Henrotay confirmed the deal was done in time. "It is all okay," he said."Marouane has signed for five-years and Standard gets ?16 million." Everton are yet to confirm the deal but should David Moyes have sealed the move then it will be something of a coup as Fellaini is one of the most highly-rated young midfielders in Europe.
I can?t believe we actually still pulled this off! Welcome Mano! After hearing of Obinna?s work permit rejection this morning, and the media wanking all day over Man City?s bid for Berbatov and the Shite doing their signings, I could not see a light at the end of the dark tunnel. Now we at least have a fighting chance this season (although we could have used Obinna badly). I am relieved as hell, but it does not disguise how in many ways we are still a "small club", as much as we try to fool ourselves. This desastrous summer must be a wake-up call for severe changes in the way this club in run.
This is a fantastic signing, we have the talent in there I think - all we needed was someone to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and give everyone a lift - this is exactly the player for that.
I do accept Kenwright must carry various blames with him but what I think is a more honest interpretation is that not only do you need money these days, you need an absolute shit load of it. Outside the big four, our biggest rivals all have serious investment - Villa, Spurs, Porstmouth, City, Newcastle. What I think has come has a real shock to us all is that finishing 4th, 5th and 6th in 4 years doesn?t even bring you close.
To take this club forward, we really need an investor and with a called-in new stadium plan this summer, it is not hard to see why it didn?t come. The harrowing reality is that not only the big four can throw money at players; the fact is Everton can?t. I think we all knew deep-down that we could afford one big signing this summer but that was it. It?s not the Everton way to throw money at whoever but I am agrieved to say it is going to have to become that way sooner rather than later.
£15m for a Belgian 20-year-old... I hope he?s worth it. I agree with Ben Brown, we need the other half of the central mid pairing as well, a playmaker to help Arteta.
What about Stephen Appiah? If no-one signed him today couldn't he be a possible centre-mid? Certainly a filler...
Good thinking Stef, try and get in touch with Moyes!
I hope he lives up to his billing. A wide player with pace would have been nice also, but at least this is an important piece of the puzzle filled.
Thank God. Now if I can get over the Portsmouth match...
I am amazed at what it takes to satisfy some people. "we dont have money" etc, then we spend 15 mil and we have " is he worth it ?, can he play with our other new players , I can?t wait (Ste Blundell).
What a bunch of moaners (aka NUFC fans) some of us are becoming.
Doug, we have every right to moan. Things weren’t looking to good on the signing front. Apart from the unknowns, which I cannot judge, we hadn’t bought anyone of any significance. I think we all want the best for Everton so when we don’t see that happening we complain. In fact, I don’t think too many people complain on here without reason.
Doug : you do realise our net spending is still less than £0
Granted Fellaini is a good signing (although a little overpriced due to us leaving to so late) but it shouldn't paper over the cracks. We have not strengthed like we should have. The Fellaini transfer should have been funded by the sales of Johnson and McFadden and we should have then had another £20-25 million to spend on top of that. Obviously we didn't have this kind of money and for this reason we need new owners who can provide that kind of money each season. Whilst all the other teams are improving around us we are at a standstill.
Either which way you care to look at things, we’re better off now than at this point last season.
Wessels : Nash
Stubbs : Jacobsen
Carsley : Fellaini
Gravesen : Castillo
AJ : Saha
Plus Rodwell & Baxter (maybe Gosling) that have gotten to the point that they’ll spend more time with the 1st XI than the reserves.
With a fit again Pienaar & Cahill, our starting line-up potentially has the ability to deal with any and all comers.
My only moan?
I’m pretty sure Fellaini’s cup-tied for Europe.
Those are invented numbers Dave. The truth is you don?t know where the McFadden money went - maybe it already serviced a payment for the Yakubu signing last season?
Honestly I?m starting to get the feeling that if we had paid £20 million for Fellaini, £5 million for Jakobsen, and £10 million for Saha some people would have been happier!
We?ve signed two midfielders, a right back, a striker and a keeper. Let's see how they go and if it turns out that they?re shit then we can complain that the board didn?t support the manager with funds or that the manager didn?t spend wisely. In the meantime be glad we got some bodies, probably haven?t set ourselves up for a financial fall, and that we still have a first team capable of better performances that Saturday.
Doesn?t mean I haven?t hated the last few months, though.
At the end of the day, it?s all a bit irrelevant when you think what City (who haven?t made our steady progress over the last 4 years) can now do to their team.
Now I know they're are plenty of Mailbag entries with plenty of angry Evertonians airing plenty of grievances about our transfer activity.
And I know it's linked that Fellaini has signed for us, despite a lack of coverage in the English media or OS.
And finally, this may have been mentioned earlier, but a literal translation of the news article on the Official Standard Liege site has the excerpt:
"Marouane Fellaini not play the 1st round of the UEFA Cup in accordance with the settlement thereof."
The first round is on the 18th of September (and the second leg on the 2nd of October), so when is this transfer going through? If it's already been agreed that Fellaini won't play against us, then I'm also pretty confident that they've missed the transfer deadline. Hang on...yes, that is correct, it's 80 minutes past the deadline, so I doubt a further 17 days would make a difference?
I actually agree with you, Doug. There is way too much moaning on this site even now with the great news we got. Having said that, even the biggest optimists have to admit that we need a drastic change. I feel a fool to have believed a few months ago that this was the year we would challenge the Sky Four. I realize that the most disheartening aspect is not who we failed to sign this summer, but rather who our competitors Villa, NUFC, Pompey, City and Spurs ARE signing.
Scott Milne?s point is spot on and what is more that we have over last season is absolutely no room for complacency, we have a real back-to-the-wall, all-hands-to-the-pump attitude and to be honest, it?s that sort of attitude that makes you feel most like an Evertonian. That?s when we at our best, that?s why we have done so well in the League, that?s why Moyes was just the right man to be at the helm during that time.
I for one am not going to lose my faith in him; I know full well he doesn?t bring in crap players to this club and certainly not for £15m or whatever it was. Let everyone else write us off but let?s not start letting that affect us. We know we?ve got a quality keeper, solid defence, quality midfield and guaranteed goals up front ? what more can you ask for?
I don?t want to come across as a moaner, but £15mil for a player none of us heard of a couple of weeks ago, it's a little worrying. Hopefully he?ll become a class player for us, but I hope that he wasn?t bought on the back of the two R? games he played in.
Basically we?ve spent £15 mil this window, which is pretty much the same that we?ve recouped from the Johnson and McFadden sales. So if we?ve had money in place all summer for transfers, why haven?t more players been brought in, eg. Moutinho? I also agree with the comment that its great that we have this ?Carsley? replacement but what about the creative player that we were crying out for?
People say that this transfer has got BK off the hook, not a chance!
Speak for yourself Krisitan. Iv known about him for 2 years. We put a bid in for him in march which got turned down. Over the past 2 years he has been tracked by Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Spurs and Villa and is considered one of the best young midfielders in europe.
Great signingand tracked by over 30 scouts in his last2 games.
The new Vieira--quite possibly.
I am barely able to stand with a bout of crippling back trouble but what the hey. Just need ti find out the Man City thing is a fake shiek havin a laugh and my day will be complete
According to the Standard Liege site Fellaini can't play in our forthcoming UEFA cup tie. Now on a positive note if this lad is a good as I hope he is (I have no idea but look forward to being pleasantly surprised) then it's a good thing he can't play AGAINST us and would seem to improve our chances of progressing in the competition. But on the other hand it seems an unacceptable clause to have in the terms of any signing (wasn't there some kick off's about a similar situation involving Tim Howard and Man Utd?). Or is the information on the Liege website misleading? Is Fellaini inelligible to play for us at all in Europe having already represented Standard Liege in the Champions League qualifiers?
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And exactly how was this possible if, as so many of our wise and knowledgeable contributors have assured us repeatedly "we don't have a pot to piss in"???
ps: Sorry, Craig, I switched your story to that from the Guardian.