Everton FC had an eventful transfer deadline day, with fan favourite Marouane Fellaini moving to Manchester United as former boss David Moyes finally got his man, on the same day as three new faces arrived at Goodison Park.
A key man going nowhere for now is Leighton Baines, who will remain with the club despite being touted to join Fellaini at the Premier League champions.
Victor Anichebe followed Fellaini out of the door to West Bromwich Albion in a £6m deal, but Blues boss Roberto Martinez managed to sign Wigan’s James McCarthy, as well as Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry on season-long loans from Chelsea and Manchester City respectively.
Fellaini’s move down the M62 brings to a conclusion a summer full of speculation and failed bids, with former Toffees manager Moyes eventually having to shell out £27.5m to land the Belgium international, 25, – only half a million pounds less than the Old Trafford club’s joint £28m bid for both the midfielder and left back Baines, which was angrily rejected out of hand before the start of the season.
Martinez reinvested £13m of the Fellaini income on Wigan’s highly-rated midfield man James McCarthy on a contract thought to run until 2018.
The 22-year-old Republic of Ireland international was still in talks with the Everton manager and chairman after the 11pm deadline on Monday night, but the club confirmed that the appropriate paperwork was filled in on time for the Premier League to ratify the deal.
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan earlier on Monday confirmed that Everton had made a £12m bid for McCarthy that Bill Kenwright wanted to pay over a four-year term, which Whelan described as “ridiculous”.
Although the move seemed to have stalled, the Goodison chief came back to Wigan later in the evening with an upfront offer and a £1m increase on the previous bid.
Indeed, all of the Toffee’s deals were completed with moments to spare, with Gareth Barry only arriving at the Finch Farm training ground at 10.30pm to push through his loan deal from Manchester City, whilst Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku agreed his year-long contract from outside of the country altogether.
Victor Anichebe leaves the side he joined as a boy having broken into the first team fray in 2006, though the 25-year-old only made 131 appearances in his seven-year stay.
Although deadline day once again saw Everton lose one of their best players at the last minute, many fans will feel that securing Leighton Baines’ abilities, at least until January, is somewhat of a victory.
Gareth Barry brings nearly 500 Premier League games’ worth of experience with him to the Blues’ midfield, whilst 20-year-old Lukaku, an £18m Chelsea purchase from Anderlecht in 2011, enjoyed a successful loan spell with West Brom last term, seeing him notch 17 goals in 35 appearances for the Baggies.