Yes I agree with you Eric. If Fernandes wants to give it a go lets take him.I think we are in a far stronger bargaining posistion now than we were at the start of the season. My only concern is if Manny is cup-tied for Europe were we will need him most.

Why was he kicked out? Do we really need him, I would be looking for someone better myself, like Arshavin.

forget that twat. isnt that the reason we didnt go after bellamy or barton becasue of their disciplinary record? no doubting his talent but do we need a bad apple in the camp at moment?

According to this recent report http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=466970 Manny is not cup tied in Europe.

i agree with ean amd james. i think we should go for someone else. the brazilian that scored for metalist against us was good so was arshavin (bad name though) we do need cover for Arteta when he is injured someone that can create and pass the ball well. also we ned another top central defender when yobo is away.

If it wasn’t for the last minute switch of allegiance we would all have him back in a heartbeat and it could be said the majority of players in the EPL are mercenary at heart looking for the meal ticket, if in return for that meal ticket we get into the top four and Champions League then it would pay for itself. All conjecture but then again isn’t signing any player until you actually see how they cope in the EPL? We know Manny can do it as we all saw against Arsenal and his goal against Man Utd, I’d have him back myself.

Manny played against Rosenborg.

We dont need that mercenary ... he blew his chance... better quality around and we are in a stronger position
COYB

I think you’ll find his availability or otherwise is irrelevant. He peed off both the Chairman and Manager of this Club BIG style. Put that together with what the Everton playing staff must have thought of it and I just see it as a non-starter. Either that or the lad goes on one hell of a charm offensive.

No way. Screw him. Come on, ya guys, do we have no pride whatsoever?

Yep, talented footballer, but his questionable character is not good enough for our great Club. Forget this piss taker and let’s get a more reliable alternative in, in January would be good!

David Moyes history with players is you get one chance to come here and if you choose otherwise that’s your lot. He never went back for Barton, Savage or any other player who chose other than Everton.
Fernandes has a lot to offer and Moyes seems to be one of the few managers who can get something out of him, however I doubt he will change tack and sign him.

I can think of a few players who could of ’nearly’ signed for us who now I am glad they havent.
Alan Smith has done nothing for Newcastle. Mikael Forsell is another who has failed to impress at Birmingham. Emre and Scott Parker havent set the world alight either. Parkers wages for an average player would of crippled us 70k a week.
There are a few that I am envious that didnt come off, Benny McCarthy being one.
As for Manny I cant see him coming after he gazumped us. I dont personally want him.

After what he did? No way, everton are too goodfor him, thats my opinion. If he pulls on the blue again, then thats moyes? decision and good enough for me, wearing a blue shirt I will back him,but I think we can do better for the money.

Anyone who walks out on our beloved Blues NO WAY I would have him back, he is like a football nomad wandering from club to club, why did Benfica loan him out in the first place surely they would of wanted him playing for them. There must of been a reason for that.

I’d take him back in a flash. If a quality footballer wants to come to my club then I’ll welcome him back with open arms. He is the type of player we need and will improve us on the football pitch without a doubt.

Nobody knows what happend behind the scenes. I certainly am not going to take the word of the likes of Kenwright and Wyness who have lied to us in the past.

Moyes has never commented on the situation so I dont know his views but Alan Irvine made it very clear that Manuel was a good lad and was all for joining us. I’d rather believe Alan Irvine than our joke of a board. Thats my opinion anyway.

If he hadn’t signed for Valencia where would he be now? He could have signed for us but there is no evidence to say that the Premier league had actually cleared him to join us. Then that leaves him with either rotting in Benfica’s reserves or leaving for Valencia. And with the transfer window two days away its a no brainer.

I’m not saying his attitude is fantastic but he would improve our squad dramatically and that is what I want to see. Us progressing on the pitch.

But saying all that I very much doubt he will be leaving Valencia so theres no point in going on aboiut him as he’s not an Everton player.

I think we all agree that Manny is a quality player.But we are after players that want to stay & play for Everton.Im sure if he wanted to sign for Everton his owners would not step in the way.Tough one to call.

I wonder why it is that the Plastic Ono Band’s "Instant Karma" is my earworm this morning? Hmm.

You buttered your bread Manny, now lie in it.

Why is he out of the squad at Valencia?Anybody know?

I don?t think he would be cuptied as I seem to remember that Mascherano played for West Ham in the UEFA last season and then in the Champions league - it looks like they are considered separate competitons from a UEFA point of view

Lie in buttered bread?? Had me pissing myself there Stig!! Quality.

If we all remember rightly Manny was all for joining us till a combination of prem leagues rule changes and board dragging feet allowed Valencia to nab him. I dont think he’s to blame, he just wants to further his career (as do 99%) of footballers.

So if he’s available then get him in, the more quality the better. Its only Everton who’ll gain from that.

Far too many of the comments miss out one really important word - POTENTIAL. Fernandes has the POTENTIAL to become a quality player.

Sure he provided flashes of brilliance but far too often, for a central midfielder, he went missing in action. In the Premier League, you need all your players firing throughout the game, particularly against the better teams, and for me, he just didn’t do it often enough.

However he is only young and there’s nothing to say he wouldn’t learn, but there is no guarantee. Hence he has POTENTIAL.

Now there are two questions:

1. Would you be prepared to spend £12m on potential?, and
2. Where would the money come from? Don’t forget we have already spent the Fernandes money on Yakubu. The cupboard is now bare.

Personally, I’d pass on him - you see I have pride in the Blue shirt and there has got to be a massive doubt if he could ever comprehend what that means.

We bid for Fernandes and Yakubu at the same time, so I don’t see how you can say we spent the money that way.
Look at Everton’s season so far. I reckon we are one class midfielder away from being genuine contenders. Our midfield is neat, but we lack the extra playmaker that Fernandes was with us.

I’d sell AJ and buy him - we don’t need a 5th striker.

Stuart, the reason the Fernandes deal fell over was that, out of financial necessity, we tried to stagger payments over 3 years, and you can’t do that if there is still 3rd party ownership.

Believe me, we don’t have £12m to spend, so the argument, interesting though it is, is purely academic.

Steve

I still think we need the extra oomph in midfield, and I think we’ll have to spend to get it. Although I admire AJ, I think we have to play a different game to fit him in. Hence at some point, I would sell him and use the money to buy in midfield. I do accept that MF was way over valued in the Valencia deal though.

Fernandes is overpriced, he went missing too much too often for my liking and I would think we could bring in a much better player for the type of money wanted for him.
You still have the 3rd party ownership so any deal would remain complicated.
Spend 12m on Arshavin and put him wide that is what I would do

Just trying to be lighthearted there, John L!

And no, I’m not looking for an audition to scab during the Writers’ Guild strike, though I do mine comedy gold now and again...buh-dum-crash!

Seriously though, lads, shouldn’t we just look elsewhere? We still stink of his pissing on us. Remember what happened? He jetted off, leaving his pals in a hospitality suite of ours while he signed a contract for his present club. How humiliating.; it was bad. He’s BarmbyLeague for me.

As far as affording Manny is concerned , I think we could afford him as the overdraft we received from barclays was £25M , the fees for Baines + Jags were covered by what we received for Beats , Killa and Simon Davies , so we spent £12M on Yak , I’d rather he bought Pienaar in January then get Manny fernandes on loan with a proviso we bought him for a fee of £8M at the end of season . He’ll then have 4 months to win the club and fans over . I suspect on reason he’s not playing well for Valencia is he’s realised his mistake in going there after his time with the blues , This rumour of the picture taken with Mikel is thought provoking as they had a decent understanding ,
All purely conjecture , I know but a loan spell might be the answer if he does want to leave .

I got the feeling that Manny was training with us in good faith and then he got told ’you’re a Valencia player’. What I mean is that this third-party ownership may take the player’s decision power away. Is he really his own boss?

"We just sold your contract mate, here’s your plane ticket. And don’t whinge in th epress because of clause 14 paragraph 2."

Where does it say he’s out of the squad? Cant believe a new manager would tell a young player that he’s not required, especially one thats been injured most of the season. Doesnt ring true to me.

As much as I hated him for what he did to us, I believe that we should get him if we can. Unlike United, Liverpool or Chelsea, we can’t spend 20 million on established stars who *may NOT* adapt to the premiership.

Manny can play, we have all seen that. To take the club forward, sometimes we (read the club management) need to swallow our egos and give someone a second chance. Manny IMHO is such a case.

I agree Peter, that’s pretty much the way i understand it too and for all the "i’m sure he had a choice / could have refused" talk when it comes down to it he’s a bit of a pawn and also as much as i’m sure he enjoyed his time with us it’s not as though he was a life long fan! As for whether we could afford the fee we structured a far different fee structure than he eventually went for, within the confines of what is actually allowed in our league. Would i want him back? If it were possible and Moyes still believed in him then yes. But i’d also like AJ to stay and Pienaar’s deal to be made permanent.

Failed at Benfica.

Failed at Portsmouth.

Failed at Valencia.

Patchy at Everton.

Take him on a free but pay money for Manny ?.......can?t see it .

I can’t believe the lack of knowledge being spouted around on this post. Are people telling me Manuel Fernandes isn’t a classy player? If thats the case then most of our team are shite.

Glen Strachan, how was Manny patchy at Everton. He played 8 games and scored 2 goals. He was man of the match against both Arsenal and Spurs (Moyes was booed for taking him off) and put in some good performances in the other six games.

He is alot more than just "POTENTIAL". He is the Portuguese under 21 captain and has also played for the national side. He got to the Champions League semi final at the age of 18/19 and won both the Portuguese league and cup in his first or second season. He didn’t fail at Portsmouth at all. I have spoke to Portsmouth fans who where gutted when he left and where expecting Harry Redknapp to go in for him in the summer. He has also been compared to Makele by the likes of Jose Mourinho and Giovanni Trapattoni and that in itself is no mean feat. I could go on and on about his past but I’m not going to as I know when I see a quality young player.

The only thing that I had doubt about was Manny work ethic but even that in itself can be drummed into you. Look at Yakubu. He was lazier than Manny was yet now after 10 games his work rate has improved dramatically. He played 8 games in the Premiership for us aswell as 10 for Portsmouth and in those games he looked a quality Premiership player. That was at 20/21 without a pre-season. Imagine what he could do fully fit and more mature and wiser.

I haven’t seen a midfielder at Goodison park as good as him for a while. His pace, upper body strength, football brain, passing range, ability to dictate the game and silky skills caught the eye. Yes there where a few rough edges like work rate etc but he is obviously going to improve.

I agree there where times where he went missing but tell me one of our creative players who doesn’t flicker in and out of games. Arteta? Dont make me laugh. Once he starts turning up for away games and not going missing against the "big 4" then I will listen but being honest he just doesn’t. I’m not talking about assists for the odd goal I’m talking about a solid match winning performance. People will probably have a go at me for having a pop at Arteta but I’m a big Arteta fan and know it is in his capabilities so I expect it. Osman and Pienaar our other creative players need good players around them to help them play well.

I’m not saying buy kid because to be honest I dont think he will leave Benfica but if the chance came along I’d take it with open arms.

Patchy? Not having that at all! Connor, you’re spot on there.

No go at Benfica, no go at Pompey or Valencia, we were the only team 2 get the good parts out i think we should loan him till the end of the season (just to see he hasn’t totally lost his touch) and a view to buy for around 8mill thats good business!!!!
and sell hibbert buy downing and a player from Brazil called Leyrielton plays for Goal.

I’ve resisted responding so far because I didnt want to reopen old wounds that are still trying to heal. The only thing that has helped me get over Manny going to Valencia is Pienaar’s form and the fact that he is proving to be a great addition to the team.
Maybe I’m naive but I believe that Manny was not the master of his own destiny, money was the key and why would his owners turn down ’cash in hand’ as it were as opposed to the drawn out deal with EFC.
Surely the comments regarding loyalty to EFC are a bit off the mark? Why should he have any loyalty to us? He was here for a few months and has no links with us beyond playing football.
Shouldnt we Blues who have experienced the ’once a Blue.....’ turnaround, be aware that loyalty is the thing that binds US to Everton, it certainly doesnt bind players or managers for that matter.
We impose our loyalty values on people who are paid to put on the Royal Blue jersey, we on the other hand would pay just to walk onto the pitch and stand next to these guys.
These guys are professional footballers and they will do what is best for them. There are hundreds of footballers, how many can anyone think of that have stayed with a club despite chances to go to better teams?
I can’t think of many and yes there will be some but they are the exception.
Loyalty is the sentiment that us supporters have to carry with us. I don’t have to earn a living by being loyal to Everton, it’s in my blood. Why should we expect players to have anything more than a professional commitment to the people who pay their wages?
If there was the smallest possibility of Manny coming back I would be overjoyed, he was one of the better players I have seen in Royal Blue for many, many years and to say that he went missing in games (like he’s the only player who ever does), is a valid reason to start saying he was a waste of space is incredible.
I don’t suppose we will ever know what really happened on the night of the Blackburn game and the following day, it’s all speculation at best but I for one would walk to Valencia in high heels if it would help get him back!

Wait a second, even if he is out of favour at valencia, what suggest he wants to play for everton again. 1+1=2, perhaps everton is 6 or 7 or no number in fernandes calculations. His current situation at his club has no links or future deals to the EFC.