OF all the rumours signposting imminent Goodison departures during a tense summer for Evertonians, there was one that caused greater nail-biting than most.

Losing Phil Jagielka, Marouane Fellaini or Jack Rodwell would have been bad enough. But the prospect of Leighton Baines making the short journey across Stanley Park to Liverpool brought anyone of a Blue persuasion out in a cold sweat.

In a football city that thrives dangerously on speculation – think Juan Roman Riquelme perennially joining Everton, Zinedine Zidane spotted at John Lennon Airport every six months – such conjecture is always taken with a significant pinch of salt.

But while on the surface appearing to have more substance, Baines believes the talk was more outlandish than any previous offering on the Mersey grapevine.

After all, as the Kirkby-born defender insists, when it comes to local players, you are either Everton or Liverpool. Not both.

“As far as I am concerned it was just speculation, it was never an option, just one of those things,” says Baines. “When you're from Liverpool, it's either Liverpool or Everton, one and not the other.

“You do one but you don't do both and that's that. You understand it more if you're brought up in the area and know what it means to everyone.