Everton on Thursday night rejected the latest bid from Manchester United for Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines, believed to be around $58.9 million. However, according to the Daily Mirror, the English champion is still miles away from meeting the Toffees’ asking price for its star duo: $77.5 million.
Despite the fact that Everton boss Roberto Martinez is starting to tire from the speculation linking Fellaini and Baines to United, the Mirror says he has a contingency plan in the event that he loses one or both players, which includes Manchester City’s Gareth Barry, Blackpool’s Thomas Ince and his former Wigan Athletic midfielder James McCarthy.
"Every time you have a good player, if you're going to expect to lose him because they think that the grass is always greener elsewhere, it's a challenge,” Martinez said. "Of course, players will always like that next challenge and to go to play Champions League football and win trophies. In football, nothing is guaranteed. Clubs need to be strong, and must be allowed to be stronger than the players.”