It hasn’t taken long for David Moyes to turn back to his old club for a helping hand.
According to reports surfacing this afternoon, Manchester United’s new manager has placed a bid for England international left back Leighton Baines.
Baines, 28, shone at Everton under Moyes and is keen to ramp up his career as he aims to become England’s first choice left back ahead of Ashley Cole. However it is reported that Everton do not want to sell Baines and have rejected the initial approach from United for the talented Liverpudlian.
Sky Sports believe Everton have rejected a bid of $17 million for Baines as United aim to rebuild their squad under David Moyes’ watchful eye. Of course Everton want to keep Baines, but an over in excess of $25 million will certainly test their mettle.
United have Patrice Evra at left back, but the French international is now 32 and is coming towards the twilight of his career. Young Dutchman Alexander Büttner has deputized splendidly on the odd occasion Evra was missing during the 2012-13 season. But long-term Baines would be the preferred choice.
Since leaving Wigan Athletic for Everton in 2007 Baines hasn’t looked back. Last season he created more goalscoring chances than any other EPL player, with 116. Baines also scored five goals and added five assists. Not bad for a defender, eh?
So Manchester United want the attacking full back to join but their offer seems somewhat derisory to say the least. If United had offered $17 million while Moyes was manager at Everton he would have told them to... well, he would have advised them in no uncertain terms to go elsewhere, shall we say.
But now Moyes is beginning to build his own squad at United, expect him to look back to Everton for a few other players. Could Marouane Fellaini be another target?
Don’t rule it out. Sir Alex Ferguson did the same when he became United manager way back when. Plenty of Aberdeen’s stars arrived, following Ferguson. In fact that happens almost all the time as new managers want to stamp their own identity and ideals on the playing squad. They have to have players they can trust and have worked with for long periods of time.
Baines would be a tremendous buy for United. But they will have to dig a lot deeper into their pockets if they’re going to make it happen.
He’s worth it. Moyes, Manchester United and most importantly Everton, know that.
