Manchester United have been accused of "lacking common sense" over their recent double-bid for Everton left-back Leighton Baines and midfielder Marouane Fellaini, according to the
Express. United made a £28 million swoop for the Englishman and Belgian earlier this week, which was flatly rejected by the Toffee's and branded "derisory and insulting". And now manager Roberto Martinez has launched a scathing attack on the Premier League champions by telling them they lack common sense. United's offer saw them value Baines at £12 million and Fellaini at £16 million, which is less than the £17.5 million he cost Everton when he moved from Standard Liege in 2008. In his attack, Martinez drew comparisons between the current regime at Old Trafford, headed by new Chief Executive Ed Woodward and David Moyes, and the old one of David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson. He said:
Ive never seen Manchester United working in this manner before. When you want a player you just do the business quietly, you get it done and thats it. I dont know if this is a new way of working. Theres been a previous relationship of 11 years with a manager and he had a great relationship with the chairman , so you can imagine its extra sensitive. But I never wanted to look into what the bid meant, what was behind it or the timing of it. I never assessed that at all. In fact, it wasnt even a bid because it never reached any sort of valuation."
And Martinez also revealed United are yet to make a bid that Everton would even consider accepting. He continued:
There isnt an offer on the table where anyone would consider anything. If theyd matched the valuation maybe then you would listen to one of the players or have to open up, but that hasnt been the situation. The market brings the valuation. But clearly, if you invest a certain amount in a player and that player is one of the outstanding performers in the league, then Im sure that price has gone up. It is common sense, isnt it? All weve had is a bid that doesnt go anywhere near the reality, so it doesnt go any further.
It would appear as though United have seriously misjudged the level at which Everton would be prepared to consider selling two of their most valued assets. But there is growing concern among fans of the Goodison Park club that the Toffee's have yet to release a statement stating neither player will be sold this summer, as derby rivals Liverpool did with Luis Suarez. And Martinez refused to offer Everton fans the same assurances over Baines and Fellaini.
If I say I can guarantee they will stay I would be lying because if Real Madrid decides to give us 100m euros for a player Im sure we will not be able to stop that.