That may be but this was a decision that came down to pure economics. If, as seems to be the case, Moyes has roughly the same budget as last summer, then spending £8m to £12m on Fernandes would have been ridiculous, especially when you consider that for all his obvious talent and potential, he was something of a luxury player on the evidence of last season. It would have been great to keep him but we have to be sensible. Now, if you're pointing fingers as to why we haven't enough money, well...

My thoughts exactly Lyndon.. Manny’s a bit of an uncut diamond. At certain times he’s exceptional but I felt he spent a lot of time strolling around the pitch last season. Now, I’d love for him to shape up Ronaldo style while in Everton, but for £8 to £12 mill? I’d say no.

Firstly I think it's a great shame that we haven't been able to secure a deal for Fernandes. He was clearly a player with a lot of talent and potential, perhaps needed to improve his workrate, but then how many 21 year olds are the finished article? He would have been a fine addition to Everton's burgeoning collection of talented players with their best years ahead.

That said, let's not have some over the top reaction about the reasons why he hasn't been signed. Yes, in an ideal world the club would have stumped up the money and brought him over (and let's not forget they still might, one newspaper report doesn't convey 100% fact); but the reality is we could never afford the fee. The club may have some culpability in failing to find the money but the deal was always looking unlikely with such high demands and the third-party situtation. It's a great frustration of our current situation that even when we identify a player who wants to come to us we can't afford to bring him in but Moyes has admirably worked round those constrains before and we're left with the hope that he'll be able to again.

Finally, if it comes to pass, the failure to sign Fernandes is not the end of the world. It just means we need to find another option. We're still in the market for some quality in central midfield and I'm refusing to criticise our transfer dealings emphatically until I know exactly what they are, i.e. when the transfer window closes. For all we know Everton may have chosen not to take Fernandes because they have found a better option. Until we have some facts on these matters let's try to keep a level head and wish well a player who gave us great service in his short time.

Worrying stuff. That said, it wouldn't be the first time that players or managers have been misquoted or a devilish slant has been put on their words, but this does seem pretty definitive.

If it's true, it has both an upside and a downside; the upside is we don't have to worry about picking thru another 'what might have been' postmortem, wondering if David Moyes did not agree on a fee or player wage demands (unless this statement is as a result of failed negotiations regarding same); rather it means the player simply wants to return to Benfica to fight for a first team place. The downside is that it may mean he felt we weren't good enough a club to play for?? The other downside - the most obvious of course - is that we may not see him in Everton blue again, and he will be missed, not least because a replacement of his potential calibre will be very tough to find.

So this potentially raises some worrying issues - even with the promise of European nights next season, are we as attractive a prospect as we could be for upper tier players?

The answer, it seems, will come in the next ten weeks or so. But regardless of failing to agree on fees and personal terms, if Fernandes himself has decided to call it a day even if a year long loan deal was possible, then it does not bode well for us as an 'active and attractive' package as some people claim us to be, this Summer more than ever.

This guy would have taken Everton to the next level..Its a crying shame.

Well that's made my day, any money Moyes now decides to buy a midfielder with will have as much ball control as Lee Carsley. Another day... another kick in the nutts to Evertonians.

Perhaps he could still arrive on a season-loan? That would be the only hope right now, as the facts are that last season we had a paper thin squad - this summer and at the tail end of last season we released several fringe players (Pistone, Weir, Davies, Wright). Moyes not only has to use his budget to replace these guys, but ideally he?ll want to have a larger squad - so spending £8-£12m on a player still developing isn?t going to be a smart move. Fernandes is an excellent player and I?d love to see him back again, but we need more than one player this summer if we?re going to cope with a (hopefully, long) European campaign. Arteta cost us buttons (in comparison) ? I?m sure if our scouting net was cast further afield we could unearth some more gems like him?

I for one am very dissapointed by this story. In my opinion this sums up the lack of ambition at the club. Fernandes clearly proved himself we all know that and should be signed end of as he has the ability to be a world beater literally. We knew his price when we took him on loan so why do we take young players we have no intention of signing ? Secondly if we knew we werent signing Manu why did we not go for Barton , because of a measly £300,000? Mismanagement personified. I ll look forward with baited breath on Kilbans return !

I’m old enough to remember Alex Young, Lyndon.He was a luxury player. Luxury players can sometimes illuminate the dullest of days and win games on their own that would not have been won if they hadn’t been there.I am confident that Manny could have been one of those for us. We have to remember that he was only a kid; used to the game in Portugal and with very little experience of the additional demands and expectations of the Premiership in terms of workrate. Everton really have to be more ambitious than this. Bringing in four or five squad players at the end of July when the ’sales’ start is not the answer for this great Club. A sad day for me.

In another age I remember our massed ranks ( all 21,000 of us at the time ) demanding that we find one hundred long ’uns for a certain Terry Curran.
I think he ended up playing half a dozen games and then fading fast....we seemed to do o.k. from then on however.
Whatever we all think of the way things are at this club ( and I for one one think Kenwright to be a bigger disaster than Johnson ) the fact is we are borassic and do not have £10m to ejaculate on one player.

Well said Eileen, I too remember the luxury of entertainment. The joy of watching someone with silky skills gracing the hallowed turf. I’m sick to death of ’making do’ and being grateful for the points. I want to watch lovely football. Manny and Mikel could have made beautiful football together. Well, dream on. I thought it was too good to be true. All of you who keep harping on about Fernandez being a luxury and disappearing for half the game, just watch, in a few years time we’ll be drooling over his skills and achievements and wishing he could have stayed, £10 bloody million or whatever. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Everyone keeps saying that it shows a lack of ambition by Everton in not signing Manny. Why? I agree he looked great, who couldn’t see it? The fact is though, before him, Arteta was the most skillful player in a blue shirt for years. Before Arteta, it was Gravesen, even Nyarko to begin with, and of all these players, whom all could have been purchased as well as Kanchelskis for the price on Fernandes’ head, who had heard of any of them? Surely people have a bit of faith in Moyesy to at least have a better knowledge of players than we do. We could unearth another player as good as Manny for less than half his price. There is always someone better, you just have to know where to look.
One last thing, as i didn’t want to sign off sounding all Scully (not the RS supporting twonk from that series BTW) but it is my understanding that Benfica where willing to sell, Manny wanted to join and we wanted to buy, the main obstruction seemingly being the 3rd party owners fee, which i think we are right not to pay. And as for Barton, I agree with us not stumping up the extra cash for that too. It seems a bit dodgy to me, especially with Newcastle AND Allardyce being involved... and thats if we ever even bid for him anyway, which is not the story I was told...


P.S. Sorry for any typeos and/or bad formatting... i’m typing this message using my Wii and its a bitch!!!

I agree with Eileen it is indeed a sad day far too few players of his potential are seen in blue shirts these days, Kenwright keeps professing his love but there comes a time to step aside like you do with your kids

What a lot of people are forgetting is that Fernandes is owned by two different parties. Hence all the shite that has been dragged up by West Ham. Do blues supporters really want our team to fined £5m or have points deducted? I think not!

Don't you just love the hysteria! Based on a one-line quote in a tabloid newspaper, the lynch mob gather at Moyes door. Fact is we don't know for sure if the Fernandes deal is on or off. Regarding Nugent, it has been made pretty clear by the player and his club that nothing will happen before the England U-21's leave the Toulon tournament. Regarding Jagielka, his club's priority is trying to get their Premier League place back. Until that matter is resolved, Jagielka's future won't be decided. So what exactly is Moyes supposed to do? Who exactly is doing the dithering here?

As someone who has worked as a journalist for more than 20 years in print, radio and TV, I have seen the football hacks in action. Believe me, they do make it up a lot of time to fill the column inches. Enjoy the gossip by by all means, exchange views on it for sure, but don't take the gossip as gospel! Be a bit patient and let's draw some conclusions when we have something concrete to draw conclusions upon!

Well said Richard Ewart!

Luxury player.. what does that mean? Nonsense. Everton simply have an utter dearth of players with any vision, creativity, class, passing ability and ball skill. Manny had loads and we let him go. Luxury? Well if you insist. I think you’d enjoy life in the championship. The rest of us should continue to demand something better. Say it loud.

he just scored a stunner for portugal u21 :(

When journalists make things up (and I know they do) they always attribute information to nameless ’insiders’ and use phrases such as ’..it is understood that..’etc. They learn this as a way of avoiding getting sued! This, however, was an interview with Manny, conducted during a football tournament (when a lot of interviews take place) and the lad was named and a clear quote attributed to him in which he stated that it was over for him in England. Accordingly this piece of journalism was not ’made up’.
Furthermore, we do not have to be hysterical to be disappointed and the conclusion I draw and which I am disappointed about is that it is highly likely that we will sign a few journeymen like Jagielka this summer while the pearl that was Manny in a Blue shirt gets away.

NIL SATIS NISI OPTIMUM? It doesn’t look like it from where I’m sitting.