Fresh talk of new contract for Baines

Good!

I'm sure that the club will/should be pulling out, all the stops to negotiate the new contract with Leighton. I have already read a few different articles, since the window shut, that Man. Ure. are in the process of trying to entice him, by fair or foul means, between now and the January window.

With a decent run of results and performances, between now and then, we could put a run together, and be knocking on the door of the Champions League. Or, I am being too optimistic?

The £75k weekly wage is a bad omen. Arteta had £75k a week wage... he left to Arsenal. Fellaini, £75k a week, left for Man Utd. I think Baines should be offered £80k a week as he is the best left back around and is the creator we have.

Baines showed class and respect towards the club in not trying to force through a move. However, the truth is we would be very naive to think he didn't want to.

If he signs a new contract, he effectively ends any chance of getting that move at all. The club is still right to try and tempt him but, for me, if he doesn't, he should still be lauded as a world class player who is a very rare example of integrity in an industry which has none. I hope I am wrong but, if not, I'll just enjoy a great player at our club while we still have him.

Sign him up asap! Give him his £75k per week. Stick a release clause in for £21m so that Moyes can pay us £25m after that release clause expires.

Pay the man!

Loyalty from a footballer, no fuss, no whingeing. Class, what our club is all about. Pay the man, give him a bonus and the freedom of the city.

"It would have created more instability if we had done that while the window was open."

And put the kybosh on any chance of transfer.

Very true Eric (956)

But that was then and this is now

Lord Leighton of Baines has remained loyal to Everton and Roberto
Though I'm sure that improvements to his contract will be appreciated by this "Royal Blue King of Style & Dignity"

Consider this if you will

He has already been managed by Roberto, and had he stayed at "The Leg Emporium", would last season have collected an FA Cup Winners Medal (and most likely Wigan would not have been relegated)

He has already played under mufc's new manager

Maybe this intelligent and considered, stylish and dignified, genuine and honest professional footballer looked at the possibilities and thought "11 years but no silver, 4 years and FA Cup Winners !"

Never mind £75K a week, give him the ton, 6 year contract and and loyalty bonuses paid annually

And get him on the Goodison Timeline as "The Man Who could neither be bought not sold ! "

Lord Leighton Of Baines !

Tony "He has already been managed by Roberto"

No he hasn't.

Eric (959)

Aww bum, you're right. Even with his degree of talent he still hasn't mastered time travel

Guess that's me just poured cold piss on my own strawberries

Nevertheles, the contract bit IS justified

Hopefully he will sign his contract as if he doesn't it will look like bad business by the club to not sell him when we would have got a decent sum. . After this season he will be in his final year so we will be looking at 4 or 5 million. Of course we may have told him we will sell in Jan to avoid losing two top players in one window but that isn't out style is it 😁

Give him whatever he wants. Easily the best player we've had for the last 4 seasons. Can't remember him ever getting injured either, I think he's easily got another 4 years at the top. I can see him putting a good few crosses on Lukaku's head this season

Great that Leighton stayed.
Best left back in Europe.
Lets not start giving the bollocks out about "contract negotiations would have upset the stability"
The club kept its options open re the sale of Baines,hence the delay in contract negotiations.
Do yourself a favour Roberto,don't start spieling the company line for Billy Liar

No doubt Baines must be suitably rewarded to effectively keep him at Goodison for the rest of his career. He's not only the best left back in Europe, his only rival for a place in an all time Everton team would be the great Ray Wilson.
Fellaini's departure was sadly inevitable with his Champions League clause, but at least Moyes ended up looking pretty stupid after his disgraceful attempt to sign both players on the cheap, as late as possible in the window.
Can it be too much to hope that Moyes has been told in no uncertain terms that Everton won't ever be selling to him again?

He is very deserving of a new contract even if it is based on loyalty. Leighton in my opinion has been our best player since Kanchelskis and his stats would be much higher if he was creating for Van Persie and Rooney instead of Jelavic and Anichibe. Set the bench mark for all players who come into this club, if you fulfill your potential and play for the badge not the paycheck then you will be rewarded and when we do make sure the media is there for the announcement!

Damn right, Paul (#975) Let us never take our eyes off this shower for one second. Like them 'angel figures' in Dr Who, we blink and they'll move on us.

They're watching Barkley now as the next bumper harvest.

I'm all for making him our top earner and showing him we appreciate his attitude and performance, but I don't think that will make any difference as to whether he stays or goes in January (or next summer). I suspect money's not the issue for Leighton.

If we look like we're going to qualify for Europe next season, that might make a difference. Also, if he can get in - and stay in - the England side while with us then that would remove another reason for moving. I've a feeling he'll start against Moldova but not against Ukraine. (Unlike most on here, I do actually care how the England team does! Apart from which, it makes me proud that we have three players in the squad.)

It is quite a strong indictment of Moyes's transfer strategy that he was after Leighton Baines in the first place. As good as he is, Leighton will be 29 in December and so surely Moyes should be looking to bring in a younger player with potential.

I reckon we will be fending off suitors for Baines, Barkley and Stones sooner rather than later.

I just wish that suitors would come in for Heitinga....but I reckon that is a pretty forlorn hope.

I think most thought we might lose Leighton as well as Fellaini, and who could blame him if he had also decided that the time was right to move on. I am sure had he asked for a move then it would have been very hard for us to keep him, and although the temptation must have been great for him to ask to go he deserves all the credit for not putting in a transfer request. These days players will kiss any club badge of any colour as long as they are getting enough cash, wonder how long it will take before we see Fellaini doing exactly that. I hope that we can offer him enough money to get him to extend his contract which would probably kill off any offer for him in the next window. I think if a new contract is not signed in the next few weeks then he might be wanting to see how we are doing come Jan or he may then decide to move on, so for me the next 4/5 weeks are crucial.

The only people talking about Barkley and Stones leaving Everton are Everton fans!

Why are we drumming up the interest?

We should be the ones pleading for these lads to be given new 5 year contracts - not suggesting where they might fit into other people's teams.

It used to piss me off when Moyes would dish out long term contracts to players that would end when they were in their mid 30's but I would happily give Baines a 6 year deal.

Phil - the only people who read TW are Evertonians, so what's the problem? No one wants to see them go, but we know how it works at boardroom level and just preparing ourselves for the (almost) inevitable. I expect us to have a while yet to enjoy them - and, who knows, if we do well enough then maybe we can afford to keep them.

I must admit, I'm in two minds about Ross getting a run out against Moldova tonight. I don't want him to attract suitors just yet, thank you very much.

Phil

Sorry to disagree but it was RM who said that Barkley would be another player who will attract interest from other clubs, although I haven't heard him say anything about Stones. So I would suggest that RM doesn't encourage anybody to show interest in any of our players.

Of course Barkley will attract suitors. Any half decent young English player getting a couple of games is automatically hyped as the next big thing. Barkley, who is more than just half decent, will attract huge interest. If he gets twenty to thirty starts this season there will be any amount of transfer hype next summer.

The transfer window will remain ajar until St Leighton puts pen to a fat contract. I am unnerved by the fee Man Utd paid for Fellaini. I also consider that any business being done with the Manc charlatans indicates that our sickly relationship with them is still active.

Can someone please convince me that the £27.5 mill didn't include a down-payment for a deal to take Baines in a bargain booze swoop in January? That would be consistent with our board who exist hand-to-mouth and just scraped approval for a so-called successful transfer window.

It's a conspiracy theory born out of observing how our board operate and also spending too much time reading ToffeeWeb. I am more than open to it being debunked. Perhaps the value of the new contract will help prove me wrong.

A Man Utd fan I work with said to me the other day "you should sell us Baines, we desperately need cover for Evra"!!! The next day after my mind had been on a constant loop of "W...T...F" I put him straight.

Bainsey, great player, what can I say, marvellous.

Do you work in Liverpool, Manchester or elsewhere, John? I've found Man Utd fans down South are effing clueless.

Kev, London. There's so many clueless fans down here. But the one that wind me up the most are the ones who say "I used to support such and and such but now I follow Man Utd" or "my grandad was from Manchester so even though I've never been there...". Glory hunters!

A West Ham fan once said to me "you can't consider yourself a fan of a club until you've supported them when they've struggled." so I'm looking forward to seeing how many cockney reds there are come next season!

John (034)

Good post, confirming what most of us norveners knew along ! With reference to the last line ' so I'm looking forward to seeing how many cockney reds there are come next season! '

Even with the charismatic new manager they now have ?

Anyone who admits to have ever changed teams should immediately be dismissed as a gobshite - not to be trusted.

Also, anyone from Berkshire or (insert any home County here) who supports Utd or the shite, won't be able to name any player from the pre-Sky era - try it, great fun watching them squirm.

Yeah until they say Bobby Charlton, but I get what you mean.

I thought as much, John (034). I doubt a Mancunian would be so stupid. The ignorance of glory-hunting southerners knows no bounds! Plenty of knowledgeable fans in and around the capital too, to be fair - but they tend to support their local team.

Nobody deserves £75.000 per week to play football, however that is the crazy reality we have ended up with. That said, if the likes of Tevez, Barton, Odemwingie, Cabaye and all the other sulking prima donnas are on big bucks then a player with the talent, class and modesty of Baines deserves to be earning big too. Well deserved and well overdue. I just hope the team can achieve something special over the next few seasons to reward him with glory as well as money!

I consider Baines's new contract as the last business of the transfer window.

Come on, Bill.

Fact is 75k a week is a lot for us but he could easily be getting over 100k a week at a CL club.

Given the market and his ability, 75k a week is very cheap. Thank god he's not a mercenary and hasn't got a c*nt of an agent, otherwise he'd be long gone!

Pay him whatever he wants and then sell to Manu for 30m next summer!

I think that Baines, given his age, felt that this was his last big chance to move to a CL club. I can't see a CL club look to buy him in January as I'm not sure if he could be registered for the CL at that stage.

Next summer he will be facing into his 30th birthday and no club is going to pay anywhere near the fee we would be looking for him. I think this was the reason why he looked for a move, even if he didn't put in a formal transfer request.

Anyone know what Fellaini's (new) deal/wages is/are?

On SSN last night, some presenter was almost shooting his tatty water about how "He GAVE UP a loyalty bonus of SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFF-TEE THOUSAND POUNDS!"

He was trying to make out big bird was a cross between Mother Theresa and Bob Geldof, but I was thinking, well his wages are probably better now and no doubt there will be plenty of added sponsorship as he's with 'the biggest club in the world' - he'll be 'giving up' fuck-all and anything he 'lost' he will more than get back.

"Sky Sports News - telling it in a very uncomplicated way so the pea-brained can get it, for 20 years" (or whatever)

I think I'm going to commit sacrilege here but I think we should sell him if we can get around £20m for him. Maybe put that in as a release fee.

Yes he is a great player and also seemingly a man of principles in a business which generally lacks them, but he is almost 29. Very, very soon he will be worth a fraction of the current valuation.

I've been very critical of the board re the financial position- and noted that yet again, we've had a transfer window that banked big amounts of cash, despite the positives in the short term, but the truth is, if our business model relies on asset stripping, we can't afford to watch the value of a prize asset disintegrate in a matter of months. I'd sooner keep the likes of Barkley- or even buy the likes of Lukaku. And yes, unfortunately I do see that as an either/or, while the current board is in control.

Any proposing to actually sell Baines because his value will start to drop (probably not for 3 or 4 years) ask yourself how many league places have we gained due to the little man on the left, how many cup matches has he won for us by banging in crosses, corners and free kicks. How much will the actions of the man earn for the club in the next few years compared to the amount his value will drop.

Personally I think we should keep him until he's ready to coach, and then see how good he is at that too.

Steve, that is a fair point and a difficult question to answer but you position this as though we have free choice here with an implication that not selling him doesn't have knock on effects elsewhere.

We do not. For better or worse, our club's business model appears to demand £5m plus per season net transfer income.Not selling Baines when the time is ripe, is likely to mean selling another, younger prize asset e.g Barkley at some point.

This is about the lesser of two (or more) evils. I don't deny all are 'evils' but I can't help that. In an ideal world, we'd keep Baines and use all of Fellaini's money to buy one or both of Lukaku or Delboy, if they turn out to be good. That's actually what BK promised, use all funds generated. All I'm saying is, he's lying, that won't happen, so we might as well deal with reality and figure out which sale hits us worst.

My view is that selling Baines is the least bad option.

I think all the top 4 could be in for Baines next summer. Spurs, united, city and Chelsea could do with him. Evra and cole will be knocking on, whilst city and spurs left backs are rubbish. If he's starting in brazil and signed a new contract, he'll be worth more than £15m.

Without a doubt the best bit of news on that farcical last day of the window was that Leighton Baines was still an Everton player.

His contribution to our team could not be replaced and his behaviour over the whole summer has been exemplary.

Aside from turning draws in to wins getting Leighton to sign a new contract should be a priority for Roberto Martinez. But as someone has already said the money is not the real motivation the lad wants to be proven at the highest level and wants European football.

We must wait and hope he signs.

We should stop talking about selling our best players e.g Bainsey, Barkley etc...and go out and try and buy good, young English talents like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Townsend, Livermore, Cleverley etc... These are players who simply won't get games as their clubs prefer to buy expensive foreigners. This could be an attractive, and viable, alternative for us.

I didn't expect to see Barkley in here. Hopefully, the people around him are in his ear that getting first-team football with EFC the next couple years is more important than a pay-rise next season; at some rich club he might not get first-team play with. With that, young Ross is no secret in the EPL; one of the most touted players (if not THE most) in England.

Ross, we love you and want you to stay. You stay for your career or get dumped for cash by Bill's landlords, give us your best until "you stay for your career or get...."

Colin, how much would it cost to buy good young English talent. If Rodwell was worth 15m with his injury record, what price tag would you put on Barkley or Townsend? A twenty two year old McCarthy cost us upwards of 15m, depending on what you read. It's attractive to buy young talent but I honestly don't think it's viable for us financially. We only got McCarthy on the strength of selling Felliani.

It was easy to cherry pick Southampton's quality young players when they were in the championship. Chamberlain and Bale got picked up for peanuts. How much would it cost to prize Luke Shaw off them now, especially now that they are in the PL and are looking to develop a squad good enough to stay there? If Wigan were still in the PL, would we have gotten McCarthy.

For me, selling Baines next summer and increasing the overall quality of the squad makes sense. The reason for this for me is that the age profile and quality of the squad has not been this healthy in a long time. Selling Baines would continue this upward trend.

I know it sounds like complete heresy to advocate selling Baines, especially after the running battle we had over the summer with Utd. I just think that losing both him and Felliani at once would have been a disaster and sent out all the wrong messages, regardless of the wad of cash it would have brought in. Instead, we have reinvested the Felliani money wisely on players and have been rightly lauded for it and also for how we handled Utd in relation to making a stand on Baines.

Next summer, Baines will be facing into his thirtieth birthday. Regardless of the loyalty a club and a player show each other, there is always a right time to sell a player. If we sell Baines next summer before his powers start to wane, we can make good use of a transfer fee that it still hugely important for us, regardless of the extra t.v money

We could have got Redmond for 3m. That was a bargain I thought for a young player with his talent.

I think value for money is crucial and is in part how Tottenham have moved forward in the last few years, clever dealings by levy. Hopefully RM will bring through some young players and find a few more bargains as he did at Wigan.

Eugene. For what it's worth, and that's probably not too much, the Sun said that Fellaini was being offered £110k a week by Man Utd, but reduced it by £20k a week to £90k for the 4 years of his contract, thereby saving them £4.9m overall.

According to the Sun, Everton had refused to drop below £27.5m and Manure would not go above the release clause figure and it was going to go tits up until Fellaini stepped in, asked for a transfer, which gave Everton more money and made his 'amazing gesture' vomit, vomit. As he was still getting another £15k a week above what he's been earning, it's difficult not to reply to that amazing gesture with an amazing gesture of the two-fingered variety of your own isn't it?

For all tv at we are happy enough with the outcome this time, just remember two things:

Firstly Kenwright has come out of this window with a profit of £10m. Will it be forthcoming in January?

And Football is a greed ridden trough with just about every snout clamouring to get its share. Would any other business be throwing vast sums of money around recklessly like Monopoly money on what is essentially a gamble with just minutes to go to a deadline in media orchestrated casino? It may make interesting entertainment for us but it smacks of an industry with Wild West values and morals. Anything and anyone is fair game including us fans, who are seen as either mugs or a nuisance by many in the game.

Kieran, would these young players prefer to rot on the bench, or in the reserves, or would they prefer to take a pay cut and play regular football? I think it will come to a point when young players will start forcing their agents to get them deals at clubs where they will be playing regularly rather then getting paid millions only to fade into oblivion.

INce must have been listening to you Colin.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/504013/20130905/tottenham-transfer-news-tom-ince-everton-blackpool.htm

Baines is a class act, the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch — a perfect roll model, for the likes of Coleman, McCarthy, Barkley.

Hopefully with the squad we have now we can push on for the Euro spots — and a good cup run wouldn't go amiss!!!

If Baines signs then he's off next summer.
How many times have we seen this with our highest paid player?

But if he doesn't sign Michael, he will become a free agent and we lose him for nothing! At least with a long contract we will get a god fee if he does decide to leave.

Rumours he might go in Jan.

Harold (827)
Those rumours will probably continue to grow too.

Just depends who is in control at "the theatre of prawns" by then.

As to the issue raised earlier regarding whether if Baines joined in Jan he would be eligible to play in CL, my incling was that he would not.

However, I took a peep at the UEFA regulations and first impression was that my understanding did seem to be the case, but the further I read the more my eyes glazed over.
I left with the impression that "under no circumstances can a new player be added to the registered squad" (unless the club & UEFA feel that it suits them).

Those interested should read "XI Player Eligibility, Article 18, General provisions" (about 1/3 way down) of this document:
http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/competitions/Regulations/01/94/62/34/1946234_DOWNLOAD.pdf