COMMENT: Football feast needed from Fernandes to erase bitter taste

Jan 11 2008 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

GET that ‘fatted calf’ on standby at Goodison Park because Everton are preparing to welcome their latest Prodigal Son back into the fold.

Less than five months after Manuel Fernandes turned his back on the club to join Valencia after shaking on a move to Everton with chairman Bill Kenwright, the Portuguese midfielder is poised – how many times have we had to write that? – to return to Goodison.

One thing we’ve all learnt from the two previous protracted moves for Fernandes last year – one temporary which proved successful in January and one permanent in August which ultimately failed – is that these deals are far from straightforward.

Unless you’re Valencia that is.

After an army of Everton staff members had spent a large part of last summer going over the details of Fernandes’s contract details with fine-tooth combs, the Spaniards somehow snapped him up in what seemed like a matter of hours.

But after struggling to make an impact at the Mestalla, Fernandes, presumably having digested a large slice of humble pie, is back on Merseyside to iron out a loan return for the remainder of the season.

When the player initially walked out on Goodison after the 1-1 draw with Blackburn earlier this season to board a plane to Spain, an Everton comeback, certainly one within the same campaign, looked highly unlikely.

However, when you’ve been involved in football for any period of time in any capacity whether it’s as a player, manager, supporter or journalist you learn to expect the unexpected, especially when it comes to brass-necked professionals.

Sol Campbell shocked Tottenham fans by joining Arsenal when his contract expired at White Hart Lane while Luis Figo quit Barcelona for Real Madrid.

Even managers like Harry Redknapp have got into the act, leaving Portsmouth for South coast rivals Southampton and then going back to Fratton Park again.

Sure, there’s an initial outburst from angry fans but soon everyone just gets on with their lives.

We shouldn’t even be surprised if, before he finally hangs up his boots, a certain Manchester United badge-kissing striker of whom we were told to ‘remember the name’ eventually ends up back in a royal blue jersey, muttering about mistakes he made in his youth.

And, despite all the current animosity between him and his former adoring public, he would be welcomed back with open arms if any homecoming ever materialises.

The late Alan Ball famously declared: “Once Everton has touched you nothing will be the same,” and it does seem poignant that so many former Everton players return to Goodison Park regardless of the circumstances of their initial departure.

Dave Hickson, David Johnson, Alan Harper, Peter Beagrie, David Unsworth, Duncan Ferguson, Francis Jeffers and Thomas Gravesen – they all came back.

Fernandes, still a month shy of his 22nd birthday, would just be the latest addition to that long list.

The Portuguese midfielder is undoubtedly a talented individual, hence why Everton have gone to so much trouble and been through so much heartache to try and sign him on three separate occasions.

Whether he is worth the £12million fee Valencia paid for his services last summer – a figure which would have seen him eclipse Ayegbeni Yakubu as Everton’s record buy – is another matter.

So to take Fernandes on loan from the Spaniards for the second half of the season for a mere £500,000 seems as though it would be a good piece of business for manager David Moyes, who would presumably be looking to net the player for less than the price agreed last year if any permanent switch follows this summer.

Neat and tidy in possession, with a good touch, a decent tackling ability and an eye for a spectacular goal, the former Benfica man has many attributes to become a fine midfielder.

However, as Moyes eluded last season after Fernandes had hit a wonder strike against Manchester United, the player is not yet the finished article and has to work on various elements of his game.

At times the Portugal inter-national seemed to indulge in a certain amount of trickery and show-boating which, although skilful, was not necessarily to the benefit of the team.

But as the recent absences of Mikel Arteta through suspension and Leon Osman through injury have shown, Everton cannot take their midfield creativity for granted.

Also with Steven Pienaar having departed for the African Cup of Nations this week and the ageing Thomas Gravesen not yet recapturing his form of old, there seems to be a definite opening for Fernandes in Moyes’s midfield.

Fernandes himself must have been as frustrated as anyone by the way the long-winded negotiations dragged out last August but the manner of his 11th hour change of heart left a bitter taste in the mouth of many Evertonians.

However, if this move can prove to be mutually beneficial for both the club and the player then the reasons become clear as to why he is being offered redemption at Goodison.