Man Utd open talks for Fellaini?

I would always want us to keep our best players and he is one of them. Some people have short memories; there are one or two memorable occasions where he failed to turn up for the game but many more were he bossed it (Man City at home when he pirouetted and took the proverbial out if Bellamy still raises a smile).

I'm also rather fed up with the media and other Clubs and their fans seeing our players as fair game. This squad has demonstrated consistently it is one or two players away from properly challenging for the Champions League, so I would rather we added a few players with the quality than get rid of a great goal scoring midfielder. Certainly not selling to another top six side.

The Guardian at 12:40 are running with Man Utd opening negotiations with us over Afro. It seems a little bit convenient if stories like this are being run as the 'clause' is running out. Could well be happening now, so expect either a drawn out negotiation until deadline day or a few new players joining.

Or of course us pissing all our money on James McCarthy, no way worth £15 million and I think Dave Whelen will take a much lower bid with 'add ons' by deadline day. If he doesn't then send Jags, Gibbo and Johnny round to break his leg. I could see us doing that for McCarthy as Whelan will want the cash to put back all he has spent already.

Steve #804, if Fellaini's release clause states 'bids from a CL club' then that's automatically someone above us in the EPL.

Eric, obviously. My point was that we seem to be continually presented as a feeder Club for the Teams in the current (last few Seasons) top 6. We keep getting told we don't need to sell. We are seen as somehow not a top side in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, but we are; and in my view have punched below our weight recently due to DM poor tactics. The infamous clause allows Clubs in CL positions to bid and if they meet the Clause price we have to allow Felli to talk to them. It doesn't mean it's a done deal, why not offer him a new contract at Everton instead ?

If he is going, do it quickly and get a replacement in.
Just seen that Luis Gustavo of Bayern could be up for sale - how about him if Fellaini goes? Proven defensive midfielder at the very highest level and still only 26.

Guardian 12:40 - Man U open bidding - Official site 13:58 - Roberto states no offers........ however we do know how slow the official site is at getting up to date new up.

This would be one of the least surprising transfers of the Summer. We all know Fellaini has been a consistently very good - occasionally brilliant - player for Everton; he can dominate games yet can also be petulant or stupid. If there is a trigger in his contract that has been pressed then Everton will little option other than to sell. The clause is there to balance player ambition and a financial return for the club. We can debate whether this is sensible or fair, but we have to live with it - unless you want an unsightly wrangle like the one going on at Liverpool.

I'm more interested in keeping Baines and had resigned myself to Fellaini leaving at some point soon. Replacing Fellaini may prove tricky and I do suspect he will be a big miss in the larger games where he tended to excel.

Paul #835 Luis Gustavo is a great shout he is certainly surplus to requirement at Bayern. However I don't think he would be keen to come, we have no European footie let alone Champions League.

One for the future. Delli Ali from MK Dons, who is 17. My brother lives near MK and goes to all the games he has been w**king on about this lad for ages. I saw him recently and he is fast, forward passing, up and down Viera type. At this stage no better than Junior, but 3 or 4 years younger and taller, so he isn't first team.

If Man Utd have hit the transfer clause, how is there any need for discussions with Everton?

Not a great piece of timing for BK - the later the money comes in the more chance it has of evaporating by the time the next window opens.

Cash up front - no old lag, young hopeful(-less) thrown in as makeweight. Straight swap for Rooney as Moyes must be so desperate to get rid but not to Chelsea. WR gets all his image rights, whatever marketing deals he wants etc etc. I'd take that. Small matter of a 2 thirds wage cut (and the rest) but stranger things have happened.

Andrew - probably because Man U want to know if we would take a player or two as part of the deal...I'm praying that it isn't Welbeck. Could be Anderson, good player on the ball, but could do with dropping some timber!

The Hairy Strikers won't be as good with him in a red shirt.

I feel Fellaini has himself set on leaving,as during this pre-season he has been barely going through the motions! Even before all the transfer talk, when DM was still in charge,he was too inconsistent for me! Worldbeater for one or two games,then followed up by many mediocre performances!
While I appreciate it won't be easy to replace him it is not impossible! I would rather have a player who gave 100% each game with slightly less skill than one who gives 40-50% and has unused skill (or when the mood takes him) I just hope it can sorted sooner rather than later!

Seems to me like Man U are trying to get him for lower than the release clause or else there would be no need for discussion. Would not be surprised to see them offer something like £12m plus Anderson.

Luis Gustavo would be a great addition. We need someone mobile who can retain the ball under pressure and pass it about. The tabloids would have us believe it may be Jorginho of Verona or Marrone from Juve.

Have always been a fan of Fellaini but not convinced he fits into this new system where so much will depend on central midfield finding space and moving the ball on quickly and efficiently. Having said that he is one of our very few ball winners.

Whatever happens I hope it happens quickly or else it may overshadow/disrupt the start of our season in Lescott fashion.

Interestingly David Luiz might be off To Barcelona.

He has big hair and is a box to box defensive midfielder. Or a defender. I could never figure it out.

Tenuous.

Hopefully Chelsea come in with a far more reasonable 25-30 mil bid.

Andrew #843, we would have to agree with them which of their surplus players we are going to take in part ex and when.

Scholes now as down payment with Giggs in a couple of years to complete the deal?

Obviously would not like to lose him, but if one star player has to go, would rather be Fellaini than Bainesy. And really, 6 months ago we were all resigned to the fact we wouldn't have Fellaini for this upcoming season, no one thought he would stay, so get it done early and buy a good replacement.

After watching Fellaini last night lets cash in on him, he wasnt interested ok it was a friendly but all the same he wasnt on his game at all, maybe Moyes had been on the phone to him before the game.

The French guy Coupe who Cardiff are interested in would be my choice as he is a hard tackling battling midfielder who would fit in well.

Didn't we take take Howard & Neville as part of the Rooney money?

If Fellaini wants to go, and Utd are prepared to pay the £23m, then we can resign ourselves to the fact it suits both the club ( because we sell to buy) and the player - not saying I want him to go BTW.

I will be seriously pissed off if we take a Utd reserve, or even two plus cash as a part-ex deal. That is just letting them piss all over us again.

£23m cash, up front, or fuck off.

I`d take almost any of the Mancs strikers given what we`ve seen from our four in the pre-season.

Then the rest of the dough can go to Wigan for some more relegation fodder.

That's the spirit Phil!

Phil, your Wigan comments are becoming as predictable as certain other people's Moyes comments

The 'in the know' transfer guy on talk sport reckons United are confident on getting both Fellaini and Baines later in the window while they concentrate on Fabregas, and that they are both keen to go.
Supposedly Marrone would come in as a replacement for MF and we have Siqueira lined up for the left back slot.

Hernnadez and £15m would do for me

Obviously the solution is a swap deal with Wayne coming home!

Hernandez would be awesome but unlikely I suspect. I actually think there is a good player in Anderson somewhere if he were fit and had a run of games. Suits Martinez style at least of being mobile and comfortable on the ball. Needs to shed a a few obviously!

Sam, Anderson is a laughing stock amongst their support, they would love nothing more than to unload him as part of a deal for Fellaini.

Why should we swap our best player for their worst, plus cash?

Just don't get that line of thinking at all. Any player deemed valuable to them, will not form part of a swap deal - doesn't that give you a clue?

Phil jones might want regular football in a World Cup year.

Kevin, the same was said of Gibson and he is now one of our most important players.

I know United fans who rate him highly and think were he played consistently would be brilliant. Depends on what sort of shape he's in and what he was valued at but personally I would probably take £19m plus a fit Anderson.

This is in my opinion just the papers putting 2 and 2 together and getting 7.

Fabregas deal looks like it's a non starter, so in the mind of the press, that means that Moyes is going to go back to Everton and put an offer in for Fellaini.

If they do, and I think that of Moyes doesn't get someone in for his midfield after missing out on Thiago, Strootman and no it's looking more and more likely Fabregas, there is a good chance he will go for Fellaini.

Personally I think as long as Roberto gets, ALL the money and can re-invest it with enough time, then it may not be a bad thing in the long term, because there's no point having a player at the club, whose mind is elsewhere and I do question what Fellaini's aim is for this season.

Absolutely guaranteed is that if Fellaini goes we won't sign a better player. When Arteta who did we get?
Rooney left who did we get?
Lescott, even Rodwell

They left shite players came in.

Oh and I agree with the comments above, personally I'd have Anderson as part of the deal, as long as he's fit and he was valued reasonably, he could potentially be a good acquisition if given a full season playing, something he has never had at Utd. & I think they would be happy to let him go, with Powell there.

Fair enough Sam -but the point is, Martinez must want the player, otherwise Utd are dictating our first team transfer policy!

Gibson missed a hell of a lot of last season Sam, hopefully he can get a good run this season, or we have a sicknote who is draining a big wage.

Anderson was quoted as saying he needs to lose weight - 10 days before the season starts!! WTF?

"He’s a great person, but a new manager means new mentality and I’m happy with that. Training is hard under David Moyes but that’s good for me. I need to train hard. I need to run and I’m feeling good, with power in my legs. I need to get fit and lose weight. I need to lose two more kilos to be at my best weight.”

I would hope we can take the cash, and let Martinez decide who he wants, not whoever is surplus to the Utd squad.

Phil Jones? He might get a job starring in War Horse but that's about it.

Kevin, of course. If RM doesn't like the player then no point whatsoever.

Hopefully he will have some devilishly good players we have never heard of lined up. But if he were to get Anderson then get him on the slim fast and chained to a stairmaster and I reckon you might have a top player on your hands.

They said that about Gibson too.

The monied clubs have strong squads and have players around the fringe of the first team who they invest in. They do that because they hope they'll develop into world beaters.

The ones that don't are still decent players but when they're not needed by their club their prices naturally drop.

He's carrying enough weight without having to haul a StairMaster around for 90 minutes.

With regards to Fellani if we have to sell him, then let him go to Chelsea or Arsenal or City but not Man U. They take the piss out of us, Moyes, Rooney etc and letters of apologies whilst we under Moyes took their cast offs. Lets stop behaving their feeder club and give them the finger for once!

We need 25 Million as a minimum lets at least try and create a little bit of a bidding war to ensure we have funds to buy replacements.

Good point, Phil. Maybe you could unlock him just for matches.

What's the love in with the Crab Gibson all about. He's light weight, slow, injury prone and can't run with ball. I've never seen him in the opposition box or tracking back and tackling in our box.

He sits there deep in loads of space and if giving time hits a long range ball over the top. Yes his range of passing is good, but that's it. Everyone else has to do his running and if you close him down he hasn't even got the skill to get away from his man or make space for himself.

What do you people watch when you go the game?

Fellaini, Arteta and Rodwell have miles more about them. And Barkley will come good too.

Sell Fellaini and play Gibson and McCarthy CM ....we are fucked, big time

I was just scan reading this and saw a comment that I can't find now, typical!!

The 'IN THE KNOW TRANSFER GUY ON TALK SPORT' (straight away I am very dubious), 'SAYS UTD WILL COME IN FOR BAINES & FELLAINI LATER ON IN THE WINDOW AS THEY KNOW THEY CAN GET THEM.'

If I was a club looking to get Fabregas in after they had very publically failed with a number of bids for other players, I wouldn't be twiddling my fingers to bring two International well established premier league players in till the end of the season I'd be doing it straight away to signal that the club was still ambitious, players wanted to come and hadn't gone backwards since the last stalwart of a manager had retired, but then that is just my opinion.

Also it's well publicised that we are not happy with Utd & Moyes in the manner the entire manner he left the club for nothing, the manner in which he took certain staff members with him and the entire underhand goings on for most of last season. How much of the clubs value do you think the board based on having Moyes as a manger? I wouldn't of thought it was an insignificant amount.

I have it on very good authority that a certain senior member of our board can be extremely difficult to do business with if they feel like they've been made 'had off,' which we certainly where by Moyes & Utd, in most of our opinions. So the days of friendly chats between the two clubs are more than likely something of the past.

"The Guardian claims that Manchester United have opened negotiations with Everton over a deal for Marouane Fellaini, with a £23.5M bid on the table to trigger the buy-out clause that expires on 15 August."

From the introduction at the top of this page.

"Fellaini's Everton contract contained a £23.5m buyout clause but this expired on 31 July, meaning that his value will determined by the market."

From the Guardian article that is linked to at the top of the page. The Daily Mail says the same thing.

Anyone explain?

Also, as a bit of a poll, would you:

A) fight to keep Fellaini and try to add one more somehow, maybe a loan or Diame for £3.5M if that's true, or

B) sell Fellaini and sign 2 or 3 players, possibly Marrone from Juventus, Jorginho from Hellas Verona, and maybe even one more.

If there's a £23.5M bid on the table, and you get to make the decision, what would you do?

I think I'd sell for that price and bring the new guys in, but I'd be worried at the amount of upheaval over the summer. Although its been boring I think the stability of our playing squad has always been good for us.

Matt #900, that's James Morgan at #868 (ctrl + F mate!).

There's nothing there that you couldn't just make up from internet rumours. If United did leave it late on purpose, they'd be screwing us over, and they know it, so our only options are to say 'no' or add £5-10M onto each fee. Either way doesn't make much sense for United.

Sell Fellaini and bring in Luis Gustavo, Jelle Vossen and Toby Alderweireld
I'm only guess-timating obviously but I reckon their value is £15m + £5m +£5m so we are close to what Fellaini would go for.
Fingers crossed!

Alan Smith. Gibson. Nail on head.

Alan Smith. Gibson. Bollocks.

Cheers Mike.

Alan Smith. Gibson. Hammer On Thumb

Matt, I too am sceptical about what the guy was saying, hence the apostrophes which should have been inverted commas.
Though your point about wanting to get players in early doesn't quite go with Dithering Davies ethos.
We should tell them to piss off, a) because we want to keep our best players and b) because of the way they acted over Moyes, amongst probably another dozen reasons.

Anyway on another note have you seen, I'm assuming it's todays Sky Sports News footage outside Castle Greyskull with the Kopites about Suarez.

Firstly not one of them I would say is from North of Watford!!

Then a kid, again from down South, wearing his club shirt, who is no more than 8 says, " Sell him, he's a Vampire he bites people."

Brilliant!!

Completely agree James, more so for me to put another nail in his Manure coffin not that I'm bothered how he does other than when we play them. Their fans I talk to really aren't impressed with him & the Rooney debacle is doing him no favours. I really can't see him getting a full season in, before they get rid of him, but that's by the by.

I hope Blue Bill doesn't look at the money & if he does go, which I think he will, we get a really good deal for the club.

It's very difficult to keep hold of quality players when you don't qualify for European competition. I wouldn't begrudge Fellaini joining a Champions League outfit.

We'd probably all do the same - footballers careers are relatively short, you can't waste them.

Mike 901 I was always under the impression that the buy out clause had to be triggered by the 15th August, just before the season started. I don't know where the idea of it being the end of July came from.

If Moyes wants Fellaini then (again) he isn't doing us any favours by pissing around and leaving it till the last minute, he's had the last 6 weeks or so to get this sorted out.

Had a couple of messages from Manure colleagues today asking if I've heard the rumour about Rooney coming to us plus cash for Fellaini and Baines as Dithering Davie won't sell Rooney to Chelsea or Arsenal?

Anyone else heard this?

Personally I'd do a straight swap - Fellaini for Rooney

Baines? NO NO NO...

"Fellaini's Everton contract contained a £23.5m buyout clause but this expired on 31 July, meaning that his value will determined by the market"
- The Guardian

Sell immediately the price goes above 25 million, get in James McCarthy, younger and a better passer than Gibson & Osman. Use the rest of the money to put towards another class striker - job done

I think the clause lapses the 14/08. If OFM wants him, let him pay that or more. I wonder what Felli feels like knowing he's about 4th choice?

Colin if he gets a big pay rise and Champions League football I don't think he'll ask too many questions about how many names were above him on the list.

Ray, id be very surprised if any offer goes above 23.5m. Any club that was prepared to spend that much on him would do before the clause expired not wait for the clause to do so and then bid more.

As for McCarthy, if we can get him for 6-8m then fine but no more. He's very tidy but not alot more. For the £15m quoted for him I would expect someone of a higher pedigree and either more creative or dominant as a defensive force.

Colin. He might have always been OFM's first choice.

In an ideal world, Moyes wants Fellaini and Fabregas. That could be one hell of a midfield... Except that Fabregas won't come!

In terms of replacements, anyone heard of Jordie Clasie? Very good, young, Dutch, technical player. Is small in stature but tenacious and very good on the ball. Has been called the dutch 'xavi'. He's just breaking into the Dutch team and would possibly cost around the £7-£10m mark. Otherwise what about Eriksen from Ajax? Two very talented young midfielders who would suit the type of football Martinez wants to play.

£23.5 million plus one of Wellbeck, Jones, Rooney or Hernandez, otherwise Moyes and Man Utd should be told where to go — and not politely either!!!

I can see Fellaini going but not Bainsey. I think Bainsey will end his career with us. McCarthy and a creative, tricky little midfielder would be the ideal replacements for the big man.

Why anyone would suggest getting Anderson as part of the deal is beyond me. I don't think that there is ANY squad player at united who would change my mind us. Cleverley isn't a bad player and may be on Martinez's radar having already played for him (seemingly a pre requisite these days) but I agree wholeheartedly with Kevin Tully that player exchange is useless unless we actually want one of their squad players

United fans going spare on the radio saying this signals a change of style from footie to hoofball a la Everton!!!!

Who'd a thought it ?.... utd fans who know about football.

Need to sell asap (including Baines if he wants out) and give Roberto the cash - no arsing around.

James Morgan, Absolutely spot on pal!! We should tell Man Utd to fuck off!! They've taken the piss for long enough now, they aren't prepared to sell their best players to rival teams, eg, Rooney... Why the fuck should we sell — especially to them?

I firmly believe this deal will go through. Manure failed in trying to tempt Fabregas and Fellaini is a must for them with Rooney leaving soon.
Everton will benefit with the big cheque..

Sam (984) I wouldn't spend 23.5 mill for Felli which is why I find the Guardian information a bit strange. McCarthy is worth £8-10 million in my estimation, he's still learning and seemed very happy under RM at Wigan.

I hope whatever happens we don't end up taking some Man U lightweight as part of an exchange deal. Fergie knew he was going and didn't clear out the dross before he left - Anderson & co. not wanted!

Alan Smith

If Fellaini is as good as you say he is, then all the top clubs would be knocking our door down to try and buy him. The reality is - he is inconsistent, not very creative and he can't thread quality balls through to forward players. Yes he has games where he is unplayable against the right opposition, but compared to a player like Yaya Toure he is substandard. I also think Fellaini was detrimental to Jelavic's form as well.

Finally, if you can't see all the quality Gibson brings to the table, then you really don't have a clue what your talking about

Personally I'd be happy to see the fro go - if we can get 25m+ and RM can use the money to bring in at least 2 if not 3 players.

His head seems to be elsewhere, he's on about 80k a week and I don't think he fits into the style that RM is trying to bring to the club. Add all those together and I think we should get the most we get from manu and move on. We need a couple of CMs and another CB if Heitinga moves on - hopefully we can sort this out asap so this doesn't drag on until the start of the season.

On a side note, its interesting (though not personally surprised) to see that as soon as SAF goes and Moyes steps in, manu can't attract any 'big' players. Think this is the end of the two decade long road of success for the red mancs. Title will be between Chelsea and man city imo.

Let Fellani go, he can meet up with Moyes again. The return of Little & Large but twice as funny. The pair of them will win nothing.

Not sure what to make of all this. Tabloid speculation or serious intent on Man U's part? I would prefer to keep Felli as I rate the big guy. However if he does want out we should get a deal done asap and bring in two or three decent players as a replacements.

McCarthy would be great if we could get him for for around £10m, ideal midfield dynamo to challenge Gibson. Capoue from Toulouse would be an excellent box to box midfielder with strength and aerial threat. Could be available for about the same sort of price.

Perhaps a third defensive / central midfielder at around £4-5m to give us real depth and options. Perhaps a Spanish style player with good technique on the ball. We could come out of this a much stronger team!

I don't think Fellaini has the style to play in Martinez preferred system in a box to box role.
He takes to long to get his feet set imo
Never seems to have the ball completely under control.
In our new system it will be one and two touch quick passing

Mark frere

mentioned gibsons only quality, his range of passing.

Fellaini was inconsistent up front. Put toure up front and see how consistent he is.

Comparing him to toure proves how good he is. Fellaini also won more tackles and covered more ground and scored more goals than ay utd midfielder.

Paul

What's Busquets doing at Barca then?

Let's be fair Alan, the only other options in that position for Barca are Alex Song and Mascherano. That's why he's still at Barca.

Capoue is in talks with Tottenham. They are, as we all know desperately short of central midfield players

Alan
Toure has played just behind the striker on many occasions for Man City, and he looked ten times the player Fellaini is. I was actually comparing how shit Fellaini is in comparison to Toure.

Gibson actually has excellent positional sense and protects the back 4 better than Fellaini has ever been able to do. The big Belguim lacks the discipline to just sit in front of the back 4 and play the holding midfield role correctly.

Perhaps you should watch our games a little bit more closely instead of obsessing over Fellaini

@Andrew
Just seen news about Capoue. Yes Spurs are a bit short in midfield (rolls eyes). £9.5m seems like a sensible price in todays market. I remember Moyes was rumoured to be tracking him a while back. This is exactly why we need to settle the Fellaini business quickly, one way or the other. Players need time to settle in and if we leave it too late all of the decent targets will be gone!

Perhaps you should count how many tackles gets in, compared to Gibson.

Then look at how many times people run off Gibson and how easy are midfield is run through when Fellaini was not there.

Toure wasn't used as a target man and playing in a great side. And did he ever put in performance like Fellaini against utd? And who else beside Toure is better than Fellaini in this leaque? Not many

Anyway, the point is; Fellaini is a CM. judge him as such, fairly if possible. And surely you agree that he's much better than Gibson and Everton will be weaker without him.

Huddlestone
Parker
Sandro
Dembele
Sigurdsson
Holtby
Paulinho
Livermore

What are they playing at? Ridiculous.

It's called adding depth and more competition to a squad Phil. Spurs are aiming high this season and they need better than Scott Parker in their midfield.

Alan

Busquets is the water carrier for Barcelona, his role is to protect the back 4 and break up oppositions play. His role in the team allows the likes of Iniesta and Xavi do what they are best, and that is control the midfield. Busquets is the perfect holding midfielder for Barcelona. I don't see him giving the ball away too much, he just breaks up play then passes it simple

As well as preparing for the departure of Donkey Kong Bale.

We should be worried about Moyes coming in for Gibson then Mark?
In fact Real Madrid and Chelsea will come calling soon

You could say Mark, similar to Gibson's role for us.

What makes any of you think that by getting rid of felli we will get 2 or 3 similar quality or better olayers in.

If the top clubs are willing to pay 23 million for him don't you think they have already exhausted the market and found no one better at that price or who is available.

And for all the criticism he gets Moyes knows a good player when he sees one.

Should have added I would prefer to have 3 top class MF players than 5 less than good MF players.

That has been our problem over the years. We need top class allround MF players instead of compensating for shortcomings by packing MF.

Who is better in the Busquets role then, Fellaini or Gibson?

Think about pressing, covering ground, tackling, strength, determination, skill and ball control. Exactly what Fellaini brought to the party before last season when Moyes moved him up front because Jelavic lost form.

Shame about Capoue, he could have been a perfect fellaini replacement. Strange buy for Spurs unless they see him as a CB.

Ross

Eight centre mids and going for nine? That's a bit OTT when they don't even have CL football. Anyway, that's their problem.

Asking who you'd prefer, Gibson or Fellaini, in DM depends entirely how we are going to play. It looks very much like Martinez wants the DM to come deep and take the ball - probably because our defenders aren't good enough to spread play themselves. In that situation Gibson is clearly the better option.

If it were up to me I'd have Gibbo drop deeper when we're in possession and Fellaini drop deep when we lose it. Not as easy as that obviously.

Well Alan, if Gibson wasn't so injury prone, then i'm sure many of the top clubs would be interested. Gibson had his fair share of injuries at Man Utd, and was in competition for a starting place with the likes of Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick.

If the alleged £25M can buy us three top class players (two being midfielders), then I'd be happy to see him leave.

To me, has has been brilliant or average and how many poor first halves did he have last season before a rocket up his arse at half-time turned him into a match winner?

I like Gibson a lot but I bet he doesn't play 20 Premier League games this season due to fitness so sell and replace with real quality.

Fellaini has the look of a player who doesn't want to be here anymore, it's sad but all rather inevitable.We havent any cash and the squad is just too short in numbers for us to keep him.

Obviously we won't get in two or three that are as good as Fellaini is right now, but we could get in players who will do a job now and have the potential to play at the same level. In the meantime we have a bigger squad with more options so its not all bad.

Personally I would prefer it if Fellaini stays for at least one more year, but if he decides he wants to leave we should get it done quickly so we can get these players in before the season kicks off. The nightmare scenario is Fellaini leaving on deadline day and us not having time to get anyone in. Think of kicking off a season with only Gibson as a first choice CM! Barkley, Pienaar and Osman can play there, but we need strength and reliability in our engine room. Even if Felli stays we desperately need another defensive/central midfielder.

I wish we could have as much choice in one position as Spurs have Phil.

I actually think we miss Gibson more than Fellaini when injured/suspended. That does not mean that Gibson is a better player but simply that we don't have anyone else capable of dictating the tempo in the middle like him.

Alan

Fellaini has never been able to play the holding midfield role correctly, he's more of a box-to-box midfielder. He lacks the positional sense and concentration to play holding midfielder role.

Gibson on the other hand has good positional sense and has the discipline to just sit there. The one thing that lets Gibson down is - his mobility, but may I add he's still more mobile than Carrick at Man Utd or Huddlestone at Spurs

By the way Moyes didn't move Fellaini forward because Jelavic lost his form. Fellaini started the season playing just behind Jelavic, filling the void which was left by Cahill's departure

Alan Fellaini doesn't know the first thing about playing defensive mid. His positional play is absolutely atrocious and his idea of defensive mid is to stand a yard infront of the centrebacks and allow the opposition midfield to dominate possession. Gibson is the only player in our team who can play holding mid unless Junior or Lundstram break through. Its an area that needs strengthening unless we play a back 5 and you don't need one. If we get anything over 20 million for him off anyone it will be good business as he more than anyone is holding us back from playing the type of football we all want to see played.

Against Juve' For someone who was not interested, Fellaini covered more ground, made more tackles, did more passing of the ball and had more attempts at goal, blocked more shots at our goal than the rest of them put together.

Fellaini is NOT a defensive midfielder. To suggest tackling is one of his best attributes is laughable.

This is how low we have sunk to under Kenwright, having to sell our best players to survive and to get some resources for the manager to use. We should be keeping this squad and building on it. If we were showing a bit more ambition and good management (in the running of the club) then the likes of Fellaini would be staying with us. As it is surely he's a very good player who is very effective in his proper role in midfield next to Gibson. No doubt about it he will be missed.

Since when does any does a CM just ' sit there' mark.

All this 'holding midfield' is just a phrase. It sounds good and makes sense on paper bu the game is played on grass. The last thing you want is a midfielder to have is no mobility.

Also, who wins more tackles, Fellaini or Gibson? There's no point holding midfield if your not wining tackles.

Were is all this tactical ill discipline your accusing Fellaini of coming from? Because he gets forward? Plays one twos and gets up the pitch? When's he's CM I've never seen anyone run through our midfield. But they do when he's not there.

Viera and keane were the best 'holding midfielders' and they never just sat in there, they covered every inch of the pitch. Exactly what Fellaini tries to do. Even makele was nippy and mobile.

Gibson sits in and doesn't protect the back 4, because he never tackles. Your confusing not moving with good positional sense. Good positional sense is blocking off a pass whilst closing down the man on the ball. Or not letting your opposit number run in behind you whilst your static or ball watching.

Ill let you have the last word, but just think back to the season before last and all the games when Fellaini was in his natural position. He dominated possession and ran he midfield at least 90% o the time. Even against man city and the mighty yaya toure.

Alan.. two seasons ago Fellaini was distinctly average..and inconsistent.

To suggest he 'dominated possession and ran midfield in 90% of games' during a period when we were known for hoofball is frankly a made up soundbite pulled from your arse.

His release clause has ran out I'm right in thinking? If so we can ask for 30m. 23m is pretty low considering his age and what we paid for him. Spurs just signed Capoue apparently for 10m. A far better player shame we weren't in for him.

Tackling is pretty much irrelevant in the modern game as you're barely allowed to do it. Fellaini's ball winning stats were the reason Moyes bought him, this was explained in an article linked from this website a few months back.

Fellaini has hardly ever had a consistent run in his best position for Everton. When someone finally gives him that, he's going to be clearly world class.

As for arguing about Gibson vs Fellaini, that's pretty stupid. They are different players and you should expect different things from them. You should also play both of them together. Its frustrating how many people don't seem to rate Fellaini, he was our top scorer last season playing out of position. In fact its frustrating how many people slag off our own players in general, the assumption always seems to be that other players out there, who you don't watch, a flawless, when actually you just don't see their flaws. Yaya Toure played with his head up his arse for most of last season, but you didn't watch it so you think he's awesome.

"Your confusing not moving with good positional sense. Good positional sense is blocking off a pass whilst closing down the man on the ball."

Phil Neville was brilliant at that but people would come on here and slag him off. I remember the Swansea away game in particular.

If we sell Fellaini without him putting in a transfer request we'll have to pay him most of the balance of his contract somewhere in the region of £7.5M-15M. He's got 4 years left on a £75k a week contract.

The club insisted on Lescott and Arteta requesting a move so we wouldn't have to pay the contract balance. We need £25-£30M to make money on the deal.

We can all thank Pat Nevin for the power footballers have now. They all receive "severance pay" when sold on without an official request.

Iain...no we don't. Unless we are selling Fellaini against his will, we will not have to pay him any large payoff amount. Do you actually think we will sell a player we ostensibly want to keep whilst giving him a massive pay off? that's pure fantasy. It's not how transfers work in reality.

With respect to the discussion...Fellaini is an underrated tackler, and I think it's misplaced to state that we were known for hoofball two seasons ago, but Fellaini did not run the mid in 90% of games. Fellaini has fantastic capacity...but I do not believe he has ever been consistent enough, even over one season, to draw comparisons with Vieira, Keane and Busquets, which have been lazily thrown about on here without recognising just how good those three were, and in the latter's case, are. In a different system I would perhaps advocating keeping him, but he will simply be not as effective under Martinez, as he was last season. I'm hoping we can take someone on loan if this deal materialises, to ease the loss of Fellaini. Cleverly would appeal, depending on how DM sees his United future.

I think the question comes down to whether we could better invest the potential 23.5 million? I think we could. We could bring in Alderweireld, and sell Heitinga for a minimal amount. That would leave us slightly under 20 odd million to invest in a couple of central midfielders, and to preferably buy outright an attacking left sided wide mid. I think a tradition dm would help...and Diame offers good value if his rumored 3.5million buy out clause applies. I'd personally love to see Ince come in at 8m, and then the rest invested in another central midfielder. I like Gibson on his day, but he is too injury prone, and Osman is getting older, and also suffers from an inconsistency which will never disappear. I don't think we will improve on Fellaini buy selling him...but I think we can improve the team and the squad, and that selling is ultimately for the greater good.

The problem is that Fellani wants to play in the Champions League, and we can't offer him it. Maybe we should keep him for another year, and see what happens... But, as we saw last year, Spurs couldn't do it with 71 points, so it's going to be tough. However, if we look at the games, we were robbed in and thrown away, we could've sneaked in. But I do agree – we shouldn't be weakening the side if we can't replace them with the same quality.

Jesus Iain (218) is that true? Surely that can't be right or all players sold wouldn't make any cash for the clubs?

It does raise the bigger question as to when the fans will stop lampooning chairmen and managers and start pointing their ire at the real people who are fucking their clubs and ruining the game - namely vile football agents and to be frank the greedy players themselves.

We're all happy to (quite rightly) bash the fat cat CEOS and bankers who get ludicrously overpaid for their work (to the detriment of the tax-payer and the rest of us -there's no such thing as free money), but footballers as a group are stupidly overpaid for what they do and are effectively taking stacks of money out of the clubs and our pockets each week. I appreciate that it's not just the fans who pay the gate receipts any more, but it's the wider fans who buy the Sky subscriptions and merchandising that all have to be sold to fund these guys mock-tudor mansions, sports cars and designer-clad wags.

It's not like these people perform socially valuable service, or even in the most part act as great role models. They do definitely provide entertainment (at times), but there are millions of other people who would gladly have a crack at their jobs for a fraction of the cost. Granted there'd be a drop in quality but would that really mire the enjoyment? Looking back to old school games the quality of football does seem slow and crappy by comparison, but I don't think the crowds cared.

I've often wondered about whether the game is played at such a pace these days in comparison to games played 20 or 30 years ago, but is it really true? I'm sure some University or other has carried out a study to prove that it is true or else it wouldn't keep popping up in conversation and commentaries would it? I also think that if the pitches were roughly the same size 100 years ago as they are now, then surely they should be bigger today or else we should only have 9 or 10 aside to compensate for the increase in physique and fitness. Don't shoot be down I'm only thinking out loud.