Baines not tempted by lucrative offer

Aug 7 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

LEIGHTON BAINES has allowed his heart to rule his wallet by choosing a move to Everton.

The left-back underwent a medical last night after the Goodison outfit reached an agreement with Wigan Athletic over a £5million fee which could rise to £6m if a number of add-on clauses are triggered.

Baines rejected overtures from Newcastle United despite the Magpies believed to be offering a greater salary package than Everton.

But the 22-year-old Merseysider, who had already turned down a move to Sunderland, was intent on becoming David Moyes’s third signing of the summer following the £4m arrival of Phil Jagielka and the season-long loan deal for Steven Pienaar.

The transfer should be copper-bottomed today with Baines poised to put pen to paper on a five-year contract. However, the defender is not in line for a swift reunion with Wigan in Saturday’s Premier League opener at Goodison.

Baines is nursing a hamstring strain and in any case would need time to build up his fitness after missing out on much of the Latics’ pre-season preparations.

Baines was awarded a two-week holiday after helping England to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championships in June, and has since appeared in just two of Wigan’s friendlies, playing only 70 minutes in total.

With the Baines move almost finalised, Everton will now focus their attention on capturing Argentina international Luis ‘Lucho’ Gonzalez. Valencia are considered their strongest rivals for the 26-year-old Porto skipper, who is almost certain to depart Portugal before the transfer window slams shut.

It emerged yesterday that Lyon and Juventus are also tracking the midfielder, although interest from Manchester City and Real

Madrid appears to have waned.

Nevertheless, Everton are increasingly confident their club record offer of around £10m will be enough to land the player, who starred for his country in last year’s World Cup and the recent Copa America.

Everton’s summer spending has been backed by Joseph Yobo, who believes there will be further movements into Goodison before the end of the month.

“It’s all about buying quality rather than quantity,” said the Nigerian.

“The manager knows what he is doing.

“We all want to see better players coming in. We are playing in Europe and we know it is going to be a tough season.

“Our squad is not the biggest and we have got a few injuries, to Vaughany and Tim.

“But they will recover before too long and who knows what will happen before the start of the season?

“If we can sign one or two quality players, that would be great.”

Reports in Spain have linked Everton with Barcelona’s Santi Ezquerro, a 30-year-old striker who is available on a free transfer.

Equerro travelled with Barcelona on their pre-season tour of Scotland and has reportedly attracted interest from Premier League rivals Manchester City and Bolton.