Manchester United are set to make a new and improved £35 million bid for Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini and left-back Leighton Baines, according to the Mirror. The new offer comes as United's initial bid of £28 million for the midfielder and defender was dismissed as "derisory and insulting" by the Toffees. Red Devils manager David Moyes wants to be reunited at Old Trafford with the two players he signed for Everton from Standard Liege and Wigan, respectively, but his Goodison successor Roberto Martinez has slammed his move as "a waste of time." However, the Premier League champions are determined to sign the duo and will increase their original offer by £7 million. The new bid would rate Fellaini at £20 million - still less than the value of the 25-year-old's now-expired release clause - and England left-back Baines at £15 million. Moyes, who has endured a frustrating summer transfer window having only managed to sign right-back Guillermo Varela from Peñarol after taking over from the retired Sir Alex Ferguson, is determined to re-sign his two former players and is aware that his old employers need to sell before they can buy. But Martinez wants to retain the duo's services, and does not want a repeat of his experiences as Wigan manager, where he was stripped on key players and failed to replace them adequately. Moyes is hoping on agreeing on a fee with Everton soon, but with less than two weeks to go until the closure of the transfer window, the Toffees are running out of time to reinvest the money.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
