IN-DEPTH NEWS

Fernandes completes Everton return

Just months after he stunned the club with an eleventh-hour volte face and joined Valencia, Manuel Fernandes is an Everton player once more. The Portuguese midfielder completed a medical and signed on the dotted line today to seal his second temporary spell at Goodison Park.

Reports have been suggesting that the Blues were looking to re-sign him for the past week and David Moyes was even moved to reject the speculation, no doubt mindful of the events of last summer. Now, fans and club officials alike can breathe a sigh of relief and hope that the talented international can turn on the style again in a Blue jersey.

Under the terms of the deal negotiated with the Spanish club earlier this week, Everton will pay Valencia £500,000 for Fernandes' services until the end of the season. They then have first option to make the deal permanent for a reported £12m, although the Blues will be hoping to negotiate that down when the time comes, particularly as Valencia are so keen to offload him.

Fernandes' return is the latest chapter in an eventful 18 months for the 21 year-old who initially came to the Premier League from Iberian giants Benfica as a promising loanee with Portsmouth. He impressed at Fratton Park sufficiently for Harry Redknapp to enquire about making the move permanent but baulked at the £12m asking price.

Sensing an opportunity to draft in a highly gifted player with Premiership experience on a six-month loan and bolster his side's push for Europe, David Moyes approached Fernandes during the January 2007 transfer window.

After protracted negotiations that apparently necessitated Everton dropping a clause in the loan agreement concerning the possibility of making the move permanent in the summer, the club received international clearance for the player on transfer deadline day.

While his performances for the Blues weren't always consistent, Fernandes quickly became a crowd favourite for his skillful cameos — one moment of silken-footed genius against Arsenal left mouths gaping — and a scintillating goal against Manchester Unite that, on another day, woudl have been the icing on the cake of a famous victory. Unfortunately, errors at the back sparked a spectacular collapse and Everton lost 4-2.

Nevertheless, Fernandes helped the side achieve a sixth-place finish and qualification for the Uefa Cup. And the assumption was that he would be part of that European campaign in 2007/08, especially when Everton officials eventually reached an agreement with Benfica and the midfielder's third-party owners over a transfer fee to sign him permanently in August last year.

Everything seemed set for Fernandes to be unveiled as the Blues big midfield signing of the summer and he attended the home game against Blackburn Rovers as the special guest of Chairman Bill Kenwright.

Within 24 hours he had flown to Valencia, presumably on the orders of Benfica who stood receive £12m for the Portuguese international rather than split that sum with his third-party owners, and was soon unveiled at Mestalla while Everton were left in disbelief.

The doubts over just how much say Fernandes had in that stunning u-turn probably go some way to explaining why Evertonians have been so quick to welcome him back to Goodison... although his natural talent will also have had a lot to do with it. Similarly, David Moyes comes across as a man with too much personal pride to be slighted so gallingly by anyone.

Neverthless, the deal makes very good sense for the club, who get another six months to assess his commitment and off-field behaviour and greater depth of quality in midfield. If all goes well, the deal with Valencia — whose manager Ronald Koeman, is committed to getting rid of a player who has only played three matches at Mestalla and who was arrested only a week ago — gives Everton the option to make the transfer permanent in the summer.