Proposed Fer transfer collapses

Onwards and upwards. Capoue from Toulouse could be next in line, similar type player.

I know some people like Diame though I heard today that his release clause is nearer 7m than 3.5m which isn't such a good deal for another strong but injury prone midfield destroyer.

I wonder how busy tomorrow will be now...

Sensible business by Everton, we have too many sick notes at the moment without another potential one coming on board.

But hopefully this isn't another Demba Ba type deal that I bet Stoke are cursing now.

I'd rather us be over cautious than gamble like some on here want us to do.

£8million could surely get us a centre mid AND a striker. After all it's nearly what we paid for Jellyfish and super Kev.

Surely the club knew about his knee injury so why announce anything prior to a medical. They did not need to, this one was not on any of the rumour sites etc until EFC announced it on the official website.

This transfer is over because the club tried to re-negotiate not because he failed a medical so why did they pursue? The club would have taken him if Twente would re-negotiate so presumably his medical was not that bad?

Why were they eager to announce it when all they have done is raised the expectations of the fanbase and let us down again!!
I for one am not surprised, it is Everton after all.

Keep applauding BK on the big screen but don't cry when the rollercoaster comes crashing off the rails.

This smacks of EFC trying to pull a fast one and deservedly getting told where to go by Twente !!

Why am I not entirely confident about the 'Everton medical staff's' assessments?

I wonder!

My question is this: Between Leroy Fer and Vadis Odidja-Ofoe, who gives us most value for money? I liked the fact that Fer has a good long shot in him, but I would like a new midfielder to be at least 6'-4" tall and quite strong in the air, plus a good long shooter. Generally I am excited by many Belgian Internationals, as they seem to have it all.

I do not know Vadis Odidja-Ofoe at all so the question becomes: Does Everton have time to find another midfielder or will they have to go for Vadis Odidja-Ofoe because of the time issue?

I fear the most that we will not get any midfielder in at all, and that would be crushing after the Fer deal went wrong at such a late time. Ideally we should have a striker and a midfielder by now, but it seems time is running out again.

Also, they had two players lined up to replace him and needed the money from us to finance those deals, but now pay later from EFC meant that they couldn't replace him as they wanted to.

God knows the board need to pull a rabbitt out of the hat after this debacle. Vadis, get your suitcase packed... and a striker — maybe Gary Hooper!

Most clubs these days announce "x fee has been agreed, subject to terms and a medical". It's not unusual for that to occur. And it seems that the concern is about long term damage - maybe potential for degeneration - which both risks recurrence of the injury and also potential resale value. It's perfectly legitimate to renegotiate the terms at that point to have some more guarantees (and the suggestion doesn't appear to be that we tried to drop the fee, but rather that we wanted some of it to be dependent on appearances).

I don't buy the claim "but they knew about his injury, so why would they announce anything". Seems perfectly possible that they knew he'd been injured, were also under the assumption that he'd made a full recovery and were expecting the medical to be a relative formality until those tests highlighted a possible longer term issue.

The comparisons with Demba Ba are legitimate. He failed medicals at two clubs before going to Newcastle. Newcastle signed him as a calculated risk, knowing that he can't pass a medical. Chelsea did likewise. They're probably in better financial positions to take that kind of risk than us.

Of greater concern is that whether Fer was the right player or not, given those issues, we need a signing or two of that kind of potential quality to add depth to the team, address some issues, as well as provide a positive buzz for us fans.

Also, say Twente did agree to our demands, he came to us and ended up being shite, so when it was coming up to X appearances and we were due to make a payment, what's to stop us keeping him on the bench to avoid making that payment?

I recall a one Joleon Lescott who missed Wolves' entire lone season in the Premier League with a knee injury(ies?) having them allegedly capped after being caught fornicating with a naughty man's Missus...

Lescott went on to be an ever-present Everton back liner and Fer has been playing consistently for months. I think a bit if gloss has done the trick with Elstone. I do love a bit of Everton smoke and mirrors, it just manifests itself in different forms each window.

I think thats our only chance of getting a CM this late in the window.

It ain't often problems occur in the medical, but if there were genuine long term problems with the knee, then what's the point? We've got enough injury prone players at the club!

I hope we don't see the conspiracy theorists back: "Kenwright is an idiot"... "He broke down the deal..."

I subscribe to the "nobody knew who he was until a few days ago" line, so all let's move on. Who knows what the real reason is or was. But given past occurrences, was it not possible to announce the signing once pen had been put to paper? Seems that shower across the park managed to successfully conclude their bit of business. FFS.

Maybe totally off base but if you know yer 'istory.........

No doubt they'll have someone else in mind already.

Just glad I keep to the "Echo... picture... shirt" protocol and never read "great buy" reports or view YouTube until then.

Whatever the reasons and circumstances, only Everton, eh?

1) A fishing rod
2) Deck chair
3) Four pack of Tenants

Should be enough to coerce Gazza out of retirement.

Another era, I accept... but, to reinforce your arguement, a hole in the heart didn't stop us signing Asa Hartford all those years back.

My mate just rang and said Vadis is in Starbucks in Liverpool One and he's with Riquelme and Casillas.

Indeed!

I think the hole in Bills pocket was the result of the financial medical.

I will repeat again, the only chance we will sign anyone is on loan. We Have No Money and the useless Directors refuse to put any money into the Club.

But, as Ian above said, carry on cheering Bill... after all he is looking 24/7 for funds, the Wanker.

Philip Bellis is right, echo....picture....shirt. The club only ever said he was coming for a medical, not that it was a done deal, and it's standard practice to declare this

Dissapointing but it sounds like there are other options being looked at. It could still become very interesting.

Better this than pay £8.5m and have the feller's knee turn to powder after the first stiff challenge.

We've left it very late and I doubt we were looking at other prospects or we would have started negotiations much earlier. It's disappointing as he seemed like the type of dynamic player we need. If he looked crud I doubt we / I would be that bothered about it.

If he was currently sidelined with a knee injury then fair enough but he will probably turn out this weekend for Twente if it's off . Fucking typical Everton... probably counted up and realised they had overspent. We will end up with no one. Probably start playing Jageilka centre midfield. It's not the first time things have gone tits up and it won't be the last.

Hand on heart who believes old bullshit bill understudy Elstone, I would very surprise if any more than a loan or two happens tomorrow.

Personally, I would've paid the money and took a chance on Leeroy. It's not as if Fer has been sidelined this season. He is an ever-present in the Twente side. I bet Elstone and Bill were buzzing at the news of a possible Get out of Jail card.

The new Frank Rijaard is what he has been called in Holland... guess we will never know now.

Live in hope it will end up like last January's window but wont hold my breath.

EFC haven't got a ton of money, and our business model (Ha!) is predicated on "player trading" – so, to shell big bucks on a 23-year-old, they have to be as sure as they can be of a good few years use out of him and a profit once he's sold. Even a 1% chance of blowing all our dough on a potential crock is out of the question.

As for Ba, having failed two medicals, the word was he was "uninsurable" which is what turned off a lot of clubs; imagine we bought a possible crock and his knee DID go — you think the insurance would pay up?? We'd be fucked.

Those slagging the decision to back out need to ask if they'd pay top dollar for a low mileage sports car that just had major engine work, after the AA inspector told you to think twice? Would you fuck.

On the other hand: in terms of PR and business savvy, our top men are evidently a gang of completely useless cunts, so I do support the sentiment.

Fact is, if Plan B is not in place and is not duly delivered, those Laurel and Hardy pair of twats Elstone and Kenwright should be dragged out of their offices and kicked all up and down Goodison Road.

However, if Plan B is delivered, I will be the first to shut the fuck up and be happy.

COYB !!

I don't think it's as simple as just taking a chance. Contrary to an earlier post we did the same with Lescott and the deal took longer to sort out.

1. Just how good is our medical team in the first place? I haven't trusted them in a long time, and have always thought that Basil Rathbone left under strange circumstances.

2. The club has now shown intent to spend, so no excuses not to have a last ditch try at someone before tomorrow. I know last minute business is not ideal, but they've made their bed with this one - sorry for the figurative language. I suspect they never had the money in the first place and that this was nothing but a ruse, but we will know for sure if the club now does nothing.

Yes, we're disappointed (or maybe not!) we didn't sign a guy we hadn't heard of. But we sound like kids who didn't get what they want for xmas so have got to have a tantrum and kick somebody.

1) We need to gamble somehow to get better quality players than we already have without paying above £10 milliion (I don't consider £8 million for a Dutch international midfielder to be outrageously expensive). That means those with some doubts about injuries / temperament or raw talent needing development have to be considered. We haven't been overly successful with the youngsters we have brought in, nor the mavericks we have tried to tame, so that increasingly leaves those with question marks against their medical history.

2) I definitely don't agree that we have a surfeit of central midfielders either currently of the required quality or robustness. We would be greatly improved by a player with qualities similar to either Viera or Essien in their heyday, so I am hopeful we are still looking for someone of that calibre.

Because of Mirallas's reccuring injury would he be a huge gamble if someone wanted to buy him?

- it appears there is some money available
- the next 28 hours or so might be interesting
- we seem to be managing our risks
- 'Arry might now come in and buy him
- no more horse jokes on here

No fucking mention of failed medicals, because he knows he can be called out on that one in the future.

" Some issues" can mean absolutely anything. If his knee was goosed, just fucking tell us. Something stinks.

If Moyesy doesn't want to take the risk, that should be good enough for us. His signings track record speaks for itself. If he thought it was worth a punt (like Lescott), no doubt he'd have done it.

Putting aside whether we actually urgently need a new keeper (I am solidly with Neville Southall on that one) why Butland?

I don't understand the desperation. Why do so many see him as the dogs bollocks?

There cannot be another Club in the world that can turn transfer chases into the circus that Everton do for thousands of reasons.

We only ever 'agreed' to pay them £8m, we didn't say how much and when. The knee was likely the excuse to stagger the payments once we knew they were happy with £8m. Twente needed the cash upfront to buy a player themselves, so they pulled the plug.

We didn't pull out as the papers are saying - from where I'm sitting, they pulled out. We simply don't have £8m up front.

Dislike the comments about not knowing who the lad was until 2 days ago as if that has any bearing on whether we should be disappointed that the deal fell through.

I can't be the only one to have run to google for the majority of our signings in the last 5 years or so. It is simply a consequence of having to look to unearth gems in a potentially worldwide pool of talent.

I'd like to know the answer to that one too Tim. (632)

So the transfer is not going to happen! So man up and move on and get behind the team. I for one am glad we have a board that don't take massive £8 million gambles on a could-be crock. The risk factor for any business... £8m is too much and the idea of staged payments was perfectly reasonable after the results of the medical.

Yes, it's frustrating that we haven't signed anyone as yet and we need more quality but I urge you to forget this deal and get behind the team and not let negativity transmit from the stands to the pitch. COYB!!!!!!

It is really disappointing the deal has fallen through. Moyes did say over the weekend, though, that we might bring in a couple of players before the deadline, so let's hope there's somebody else in the offing.

But now we've shown people we have money to spend - or at least a willingness to commit to spending - as mentioned elsewhere on this thread, and that will make bargaining more difficult.

Question is, is there enough time to get someone else decent in? Presumably Fer was our 2nd or even 3rd choice transfer target (if not lower), who is there left on the list? Will tehy even want to come to us etc..

24 hrs Davey and a game in between for distraction - fingers crossed but am not too hopeful right now.

If Gibson better stay injury free until the end of the season!

FFS!!!

The club wanting him doesn't mean his knee isn't "that bad". The club obviously want him if fit, but they want to ensure that if his knee has issues in future then our losses are limited.

Seems entirely sensible and rational, especially in our situation where we can't afford to spend the best part of £9M on someone who may have future fitness issues that we picked up on in his medical.

You can guarantee that if we had signed him, and his knee had fucked up in the next 6 months the same people calling for him to be signed now, would be calling the club incompetents for either signing him in the first place, or failing to add a suitable clause in the sale contract.

I have no clue. I'm not that bothered about a GK at the moment. That can wait until summer as it does need addressing, though.

I think we pissed off FC Brugge and have now pissed off FC Twente, so I don't see either this deal or the one for Odjidja-Ofoe being resurrected, though I hope I am wrong.

Perhaps it will be revived by Friday - stranger things have happened.

More troubling is that now everyone knows we've got 8 million quid burning a hole in our skyrocket we can't play the poverty card anymore.

"Ah so NOW you want Vadis do you?" *sounds of air being sucked through teeth and hands rubbed together*

Riquelme been seen at Finch Farm........

Moutinho spotted at Goodison......

Still hope yet folks........In Bill Kenwright I trust

Si Cooper, have you seen Rene Adler who plays for Hamburg in the Bundesliga? He would do for me instead of Butland.

Any thoughts on Wanyama of celtic? same type of player as fer but a bit less technical.

More worryingly, it doesn't actually say on the OS who cancelled the deal. Davey? The board? Hopefully it was Moyes decision, otherwise we'll be looking for a new manager before the season is out.

We seriously do need a new GK. I know Howard is good but we need someone better than good

How many of those same people have been moaning about Mirallas and his injuries and blaming that on the club too? They can't win, can they?

I am not a particular fanboy of the management or the ownership of the club, but it does beggar belief sometimes. I wonder why they bother. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

I doubt we have anything like £8m to spend. This would have been an instalments deal.

Fact is, there are too many in the treatment room at the moment and the club need players who are fit and unlikely to break down any time soon.

Fail to see anything wrong here, sounds like due dilligence to me.

I and Kopites I work with where singing the praises of the club yesterday, all agreeing it's much better to just get a deal done behind the scenes and then announce it when its done. It's classy, and you don't look like a tit talking about Snjneider or Tom Ince for weeks.

So it's now fell through and I am entitled to feel a bit pissed off at how the club handled it. Only time will tell if it was a fuck up.

I'm in complete agreement that we do need a proper midfielder, but that doesn't warrant a knee-jerk(sorry) reaction to buy the first player whose club accept our offer. If the club can't find anyone suitable during this transfer window, I'd rather we waited till the summer.

BK "So what's the diagnosis doc"

Doc "Just noticed Bill and thought I better let you know, this lad had a splinter in his finger about 10 mths ago"

BK rubs hand and says "Hey Bobby, get on the phone mate and tell them we want to make payments based on appearances, because we're a bit worried about this splinter injury the lads had"

Agree completely. It's like putting a house into escrow only to come back and ask for reductions in price. Very cheeky move and frankly a move that reeks of desperation and gamesmanship.

Pretty pathetic stuff if you ask me.

As I said on another post, this board does not in any way deserve anyone's benefit of the doubt on anything anymore. It's a sick joke that gets worse and worse each time.

Quote fromTwente " We don't play those type of games".

From your response it was simply a mistake.

That could be completely wrong but you couldn't blame any supporter for thinking that way considering the way this club has been run. I did think that Fer does look a decent player but no better than Capoue. I would be happy with that signing or even Vadis. Whoever comes in needs to be a top quality defensive midfielder.

(1) Against Wigan he stood next to the near post when the ball was crossed in from their left wing, about 5 feet high. Kone was trying to get on the end of it. there was no-one else in sight. What happened next defied belief. Instead of just leaning out and taking the ball, Howard leapt behind Kones' head,did a forward roll and came up looking like Norman Wisdom with his mouth open in shock. In the meantime Kone, without needing to jump, nodded the ball into the net via the space vacated by flying Tim.

(2)The own goal from the Fulham freekick. His head was only six inches from the ball yet he kept his arms bent and made no attempt to straighten them out and make a save.

(3} Sunderland. This didn't cost us because we scored 2 goals but it was probably the worst of the lot .You'll need to view it from behind the goal in order to fully appreciate the magnitude of his misjudgement.

The ball suddenly looped over high from their left wing and was heading for somewhere around the penalty spot. With Osman half asleep Johnson whipped round and readied himself for a left footed half volley....here we go again. what happened next ? Did Howard,who was standing on the centre of the goal line, make straight for Johnson and the ball.? Well, no he didn't. For some inexplicable reason his first three steps were at a 45 degree angle away from the action. Realising his mistake, he tried to recover but Johnson just rolled the ball into the unguarded net.

(4) The last minute Norwich fiasco.

Yes, he is a very good shot-stopper, but thats all. When he has time to think I shut my eyes and pray.

(Cue snarky comments i.e. "can he track back", "will he be happy on the bench" etc)

Realistically however, he's going to take the money in Ukraine, Russia etc

Many thanks, Si Cooper # 695
for calling my attention!

I see a lot of mistakes from goalkeepers in general these days and I am not convinced it would be easy to replace / supplement Howard from the ranks of the available and inexpensive.

Here's European football expert Andy Brassell with reaction from Twente's Leroy Fer, speaking after his move to Everton broke down on Wednesday. because of a problem with the 23-year-old's knee.
The midfielder is "deeply disappointed", he told the website of his representatives Sport Promotion, but is hopeful a deal to take him to Goodison Park can be resurrected in the summer.
"Everyone has done everything to make this transfer happen,'' lamented Fer. "I was even prepared to financially brainstorm to get around the problem, but nothing helped.'' The 23-year-old, who is now preparing for Twente's Eredivisie match against Utrecht on Sunday instead of the Toffees' game with Aston Villa, said he understood Everton's position.
"I was approved by the doctors in England," he said. "The meniscus is firmly back in order, but the wound is still fresh, although I can play back smoothly. Everton then decided to change the method of payment - slightly more for their security than directly because of the medical results. I can understand that, especially when you're talking about this kind of money.''