Fellaini's contract has £22M buyout clause

Of course, what would help, if it came to that scenario, is Fellaini himself refusing to (a) move (obviously) or (b) helping us out by refusing to go unless it's a price that would better benefit the club... yeah?

"England’s top clubs are on alert over reports that Marouane Fellaini has a £22million buyout clause in his contract."

What "reports"? None whatsoever.

Paul Mitchell, I think you are pretty close to the mark, and it isn't just the Mail that can't bear the possibility of their darlings being usurped.

What would be shameful is that the club have put a value on him at less than half what Chelsea paid for Torres when Fellaini is right up there with Toure as the best midfielder in this country. I also read the clause stipulates 'only to a team in the CL' — it would be wonderful if we beat Chelsea to 4th, wouldn't it?!

It's chief purpose is to help generate a self-sustaining culture of fear amongst its mainly elderly readers, shaping their paranoia to a point where the sole beacon of truth is the Daily Mail.

Unsettling blues players is just a nice little sideline.

Kenwright, you fuckin dickhead.

If this is true, it’s a shame on our negotiating team, because ‘ridiculously large buyout clauses’ are something we should copy for the Spanish game.

The ball is in EFC court.

I don't see Blue bill turning down a £22m bid. He should have had a higher clause put it. At least £25-30m.

'I don't see Blue bill turning down a £22m bid'

He'll turn it down because he can get much more than that. I believe this clause is nothing more than made-up guff. Fellaini may well go in the summer... but it will be £30 million.

Well, I guess you're right — he didn't.

I think keeping Baines is more important.

I would think the buy-out clause amount would be negotiated between the player and the club (after all a club doesn't need a buy-out clause) and he would want a lower amount to encourage interest and to give him options. Worst thing is I don't think you can get a bidding war with this sort of thing, just a bunch of clubs offering the same amount and the player takes his pick.

Doesn't mean he will go, just that he might and for less money than we would like.

He's a top player but he's only started to make good on his potential this season. We did well without him in the three games he was suspended, this showed to me we can live without him.

Like it or not, we don't have the cash power as those around us — or even below us. So we have to be prepared to lose players like him.

I reckon a summer departure, whether we're top four or not.

He hasn't yet reached his prime; the best is yet to come... if we sell him for £25 million this year, you can bet in a couple years he will be worth twice that.

We sold Rooney for as much as we could.

Don't you think there will be more interest in Fellaini than there was for a very promising teenager?

Everybody quotes the Rooney transfer as some sort of travesty. We got £25+ million for an 18 year old for gods sake! Considering our position at the time I think we did well to hang on for that amount.

Today, it's Fellaini; tomorrow it will be Baines; on Thursday it will be Jelavic... you get my point. Whether there's any truth in these reports, who knows?

Why do they do this? Symbiosis. They all feed off each other and it's revolting to watch. All I can do is stop buying the papers and I suggest that you do the same.

Surely this poverty situation cannot last forever. I'm sick and tired of watching our lack of ambition manifest itself every time there is a transfer window. Teams at the top strengthen their squads WHILST they are on top and not wait until they slide.

Our fans deserve backing for DM. Other teams are active already, why do we constantly wait until the last minute to do anything. It's like Scrooge dithering over pennies the way our board do business. Each acquisition is long drawn out, but transfers out are done pretty quickly.

Please will the board back our manager and encourage him and his better players to stay!!

How do you propose we buy players with no money Trevor?

Come on, does every thread have to go down this route? It's painful.

Jonathan, you're spot on there, mate. I don't buy papers, I just get all the rummours on here. Tell a lie... I get the Echo every night. The papers just keep making stories up about us and hoping they get one right.

If we don't finish top four (and I don't EXPECT we will) then someone will be sold in the summer. If this story is true, it is likely to be Fellaini and for less than we might have expected.

Also I believe that we won't finish in the top 4 and we will have to have our yearly sacrificial lamb..... let the good times roll!

We consistently finish above most other premiership teams, we have higher gates and have unloaded most if not all our highest earners.

We loan out lots more players than loan in.

We take freebee's every season.

EVERY business has a budget and part must be on some sort of allowance for buying assets/merchandise.
We had budgetted for employing Ofoe and it did not come to fruition due to being too late to complete formalities.
This is money that has so far not been used.

I cannot believe that other clubs who have far lower gates, who consistently finish below us every season can buy players and we cannot.

As Victor Meldrew says 'I don't believe it', you can if you like.

Stats can be produced to suit any argument including mine.

Do you think Bill will take his cut of that?

I don't agree with the 'feeder club' term but we are a selling club and have to in order to survive; Bill and his cohorts have us mortgaged to the hilt and we need to keep paying the interest on those loans.

If the clause is indeed real (only paper speculation at the moment) then they will all bid £22million which will be accepted, provided they are in the Champions League. They will then enter a bidding war over what they offer the player, all aiming to give him a better contract and conditions so that he picks them. We wont see a penny over the amount stated in the clause.

If a club that isn't in the champions league comes in then they will have to make a bid which is acceptable to Everton, but then why would Fellaini want to go to a club that isn't in the Champions league?

Perhaps somebody else could provide more of the details.

Also, I believe that the clause is set at £24 million, Steve, aside from the issue of the previous point I have just made, just to be clear, are you saying that once the clause has been activated, then that crystallises the fee and we can not get any more ? I.e. there is no bidding war aside from the aspect of meeting the players requirements? Cheers, Ian

My only fear is that so far there has only been any real speculation about Chelsea and Arsenal. I can't see the gunners getting into a bidding war over him, so that just leaves Chelsea.

If he's destined to leave us in the January or Summer window, then we need a few more clubs to show serious interest in him. However, I'm ever the optimist and holding out for us to keep him for at least another 12 months.

If we make the Champions League and he decides to stay with us then we don't have to buy him, though he may use the threat of someone coming in as a way of getting more money. If we don't meet his expectations and someone else will then he will be off to the highest bidder (in personal contract terms, not transfer fee unfortunately).

This is just speculation at this stage however.

Why would anyone bid more as it cannot guarantee them getting the player? Only agreeing personal terms with the player can do that.

Often the selling club will try to get the player to move to the highest bidding club, and offer him a percentage of the extra transfer fee gained as a sweetener.

I agree with some of what Trevor says. I think our finances are constantly manipulated depending on who is using them to make a point. Yes we have debt but then so do most clubs. Our debt is a drop in the ocean compared to the likes of Liverpool and United. The difference is our credit limit has been maxed out. We have sold off all our assets and have a pitiful stream of sponsorship deals. We also have piss poor marketing people at the club.

I'm not saying this is the case but am merely asking the question.

People also say the supposed buy-out clause in Fellani's contract is too low and say we should have negotiated it higher. However, do any of us actually know for a fact that such a clause exists, and if so, how much it is? Supposing for a minute that thee is a clause and it is £24m, then maybe this is the highest Fellani and his advisors would accept in order to sign the new contract last year? Without signing that contract then his value would now actually be declining with each passing month as he neared the end of his last deal, so maybe such a clause, if it exists isn't actually that bad afterall?

I don't really get why people can't buy everton stuff online. Plan ahead, it's always in stock etc.

The shirt sale deal that they have now is probably their best option, the buy-out clause in Fellaini's contract will almost certainly have been dictated by his side as he was in the driving seat. He almost certainly knows his next move already and he was exceptionally kind to the Club in how he has behaved overall and in his signing of the new contract which has ensured that Everton will get good value for him.

Once the bidding starts, he will go for perhaps a lot more than £22 million. It's been wonderful to see him pass through and I think we can say that we have helped make him the great player he has become with us. To be honest, I despaired the first few times I saw him and yet now he is amongst the top in his trade worldwide. Hopefully we can use the money to heal the balance sheet a bit and continue our pretty remarkable recovery apace.

Even if we got 4th he would be playing for a team that has to negotiate a qualifier and has no track record in the tournament, whatsoever.

I personally don't think he is worth over £30 million. If an established Champions League team bid over £20 million, triggering whatever clause may or may not exist, he would probably want to go and our board would undoubtedly be ecstatic.

I personally find an expectation he will stay past this season highly unrealistic, mainly due to the way we operate.

Someones got to go, its what we do I'm afraid. Everything else has been hocked or flogged.

The club will offer him some of the extra fee gained as a sweetener, this is common practice. I think £25 million to £30 million would be a good deal, although I would prefer to keep him.

To the buyout clause, Si has it on the money. The only way you'd get more than the clause amount is if there was a bidding war and the player stipulated to the bidding clubs that a higher transfer fee would sway his decision, and what player in his right mind would put his future employer through that?

If anything, a buyout clause is a maximum rather than a minimum. What I can't accept is that Fellaini is considered worth around the same now as Lescott was nearly four years ago - and Lescott's fee was after a transfer request which drastically drops a players value. What I do accept (begrudgingly of course) is that as soon as Bill sees £20m+, his eyes light up and he's on it like a fat kid on a smartie.

The richer clubs know this, and they use the same business model as loan sharks. You give your clients (in this case the selling club) just enough to maintain the position, not enough to not need you in the future. If Chelsea or United or any of the rich clubs pay us £40m for a player, they are essentially relieving us of a massive part of our debt, and thus, enhancing our future position which will affect them in a bad way. No way are they going to pay a penny more than they need to, and they will try to low-ball us wherever they can.

It's not always in stock i'm afraid. Was in Everton 2 last week and couldn't buy an away kit for my nephew who's 4. No plans to get them in either. The choice of stuff in the shop is shocking to be honest.

I went in to spend money and couldn't. Nothing much in there other than the main kit.

I really can't see him pushing a move, surely we could have a bidding war? I really rate Fellaini, but £25mil and up and I'm happy. Baines is the key for me; we could replace Fellaini, you can't replace Leighton...

It seems to me that the club are content with this plucky "people's club" image. Football is a business now and we need to wake up to that fact.

It wouldn't surprise me in fact if it were revealed we don't even have a PR guy. There has been countless missed opportunities to improve the Everton brand globally. I think it partly comes from this massive inferiority complex we had until recently with constantly being in the RS's shadow.

All I know is this kind of approach wouldn't fly in my line of work.

A risk that may be worth taking is to spend some or most of what we would get for him eventually on bringing in some decent players in January — assuming there are fair-value targets out there.

If we get CL, then hopefully he'll stay and if we get through the quals, then the CL money should more than pay back the investment. If we don't get CL, then doubtless he'll be off and we can recover the money that way.

There's risk here, but nothing ventured, nothing gained... and this seems to be a rare opportunity to at least have a chance of making the step up.

The club had little choice in November 2011 but to negotiate the best deal they could at the time. Fellaini probably wanted a lower buyout figure and EFC probably asked for £30m, so £24m a not unsurprising compromise.

Chelsea are not currently a participating CL team are they? So in the UK that leaves Man Utd and Arsenal. I suspect Arsenal simply won't pay the wages and as far as the January window goes that means Man Utd "only" have to offer him I guess around £120k pw and meet the fee required and he's off... I can't imagine why they wouldn't do it frankly. He would be sensational for them, playing behind VP or Rooney or deeper... surely a brilliant buy.

PSG could of course do both the fee and the wages and we'd prefer him to go there. So I'm not sure why he isn't likely to leave soon... gutted if it happens, but if its to be now then let it happen ASAP so Moyes has a chance to spend the £16m he's likely to get from the fee.

I can see the mounting hysteria re his departure and I get it; Felli has been incredible for us this season, though there have been a small number of games where he was on the pitch but only just... and there was the Stoke debacle. But he's a class act and a huge miss, though the bottom line for me is that when he goes, now or in the summer, there's a fighting chance of actually seeing a very good return on the pitch from his transfer fee.

I don't feel this way about Baines. He is simply one of best players I've ever seen in my lifetime of supporting the club and cannot be adequately replaced over the next few years. If he went I'd be devastated and frankly I think most blues would share that view.

Mark (#478) – almost word for word mate, except that my belief is that the Big Fella wants to play this season out with us. The final position will decide everything, with the possibility of a small grey area.

Baines is a god without doubt but I think we'd miss Fellaini as much, if not more so. Reason? Both require opposing coaches to set up their teams to deal with them. Baines is double/treble marked now (just as we have dealt with Bale).

Fellaini for me is the Holy Trinity rolled into one. And although there is still a ridiculous amount of refereeing bias against him (he gets booked for being Belgian, or possibly Moroccan – I'll hold my peace on that one) he sucks defenders to him. Space for Pienaar and Ossie is created.

But this is too much detail. The main thing is that they fear us more than we fear them – although Moyes will never be free of his morbid obsession. Hence Pip's amazing career.

So what's this nonsense about a buy-out clause. Is there a top-rated Prem player that doesn't have one? Doubt it. So little shits who 'work' for the Mail and the like can pick any name out of the hat any day of the week and 'report' a 'story'. What's changed? Nothing. What's the story? Nothing. Listen to Marouane. Listen to Leighton. They aren't professional liars, they're footballers. Sure, Abramovich says 'give them £40 million from petty cash' and he's gone. Like any of us would be. But at least we wouldn't buy Andy Carroll with the proceeds.

As for the Vauxhall Corsa. Being a good socialist, I think you'll find that this was his symbol of solidarity with the workers of Ellesmere Port when General Motors were threatening to move production to the hopelessly inefficient Opel workers in Germany. Having then discovered that nobody was interested in stealing his primary means of transport, he stuck with it. Simple really.

In this instance, we should get McCarthy from Wigan and Odjidja-Ofoe from Brugge both can play defensive midfield (a position I don't agree with, any modern footballer should be able to do both). These two lads can do both and so can Gibson so with Pienaar & Mirallas outside of them keep Baines plus Jelavic up front.

Look to see if we can get in Jack Butland to pressure Howard we will be a good side and we would certainly win more than we lose. If Fellaini was interesting United, test them with including Wellbeck into the deal as I believe he has a big future in the game.

Anyone else heard this?