Manuel Fernandes could still be an Everton loan arranger

Jun 16 2008 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

EVERTON have played down reports that Manuel Fernandes is set to join the club on a permanent basis by the end of the week.

Reports yesterday suggested that the Portuguese midfielder would be allowed to join David Moyes’s side from Valencia at a cut-down £6million price if the Goodison Park outfit could seal a deal by June 20.

However, Goodison officials insist that Fernandes is just one of a number of potential targets on the manager’s radar and his name has not been mentioned around the club for several weeks.

Moyes declared on several occasions last season that he was disappointed with the 22-year-old’s form as Fernandes struggled to make the same impact as he had done on a loan period at Goodison Park 12 months earlier.

The player himself admitted that he had not played to his full potential during his second spell on Merseyside, partly due to some niggling injuries, but a couple of encouraging displays towards the end of the campaign ensured that a more likely outcome for Fernandes would be a third loan move to Everton next season, if Valencia consent, rather than a permanent switch.

Fernandes originally arrived in the Premier League early in the 2006/07 campaign on loan at Portsmouth from Benfica but failed to hold down a regular place at Fratton Park, with manager Harry Redknapp later revealing that if the player was named in three consecutive games, a permanent transfer would be triggered.

After briefly returning to Lisbon, Fernandes joined Everton in a protracted move at the end of the January transfer window.

The Portuguese international initially impressed on Merseyside and netted twice before the end of the campaign, including a spectacular goal against Manchester United.

Fernandes’s form prompted Moyes to chase his signature but on the back of the Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano controversy at West Ham United, the player’s third party ownership by a private group Global Sports Investment complicated the transaction.

Everton reported that Fernandes had shook on a permanent switch to Goodison Park on August 25 for what would have been a club record £12m fee, but 48 hours later the player had sealed a move to Spanish side Valencia instead. However, Fernandes struggled to adapt in La Liga in a side fighting against relegation and he was allowed to return to Everton for a second loan spell in January.

With new coach Unai Emery now installed at the Mestalla, Fernandes is believed to have been told he can move on.

Meanwhile, several Everton players were on international duty over the weekend.

Defender Joseph Yobo, captaining Nigeria in a World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifier in Malabo, netted the only goal of the game just five minutes in against Equatorial Guinea.

It was the second time in a week that Yobo had struck a winner for the Super Eagles after his 89th-minute effort secured the points away against Sierra Leone seven days earlier.

The victory keeps Nigeria top of their group with three wins from as many matches and Yobo was joined by Goodison team-mates Ayegbeni Yakubu, who played the entire 90 minutes, and Victor Anichebe, who came on for the last half an hour.

In the same group there was less joy for Steven Pienaar as he played in South Africa’s 1-0 defeat to Sierra Leone.

The competition doubles up for qualification to the 2010 African Nations Cup and World Cup finals tournaments and although South Africa have already booked their place in the latter competition as hosts, their participation in the continental finals in Angola is now in doubt.