Everton confirm a deal to sign FC Twente midfielder Leroy Fer is off. evertonfc.com/news/archive/2…
— Official Everton (@Everton) January 30, 2013
The Toffees announced on Monday that an £8.6million fee had been agreed with the Dutch club for the Netherlands international and the player flew to Merseyside to discuss terms. However, the player's medical revealed a knee injury that prompted Everton to ask Twente to renegotiate the terms of the deal, with the fee paid in more installments and based on appearances. Twente were reluctant to alter those terms and despite last minute talks between the two clubs, Everton confirmed they were pulling out of a deal.
It is extremely frustrating but I have to back the club's stance on this. With money tight, Everton cannot afford to waste cash and the medical obviously showed that there was a chance - even if it was a small one - that Fer could have broken down with a serious knee injury. Manchester United fans endured a similar situation with Owen Hargreaves, who only played a handful of games for the club in four years. Everton were right to try and renegotiate the payment schedule with Twente - they were still prepared to pay the full transfer fee after all. The only problem now is that David Moyes only has one more day to try and bring in a replacement. There will, of course, be targets, but these moves can be complicated and we have already ran out of time on one deal before - Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe back in August. The whole saga does puncture the growing feeling of optimism among Everton fans following the Cup win on Saturday and the original announcement of the Fer deal on Monday.