Everton F.C. midfielder Leon Osman believes the club’s supporters should find it easy to forgive David Moyes for attempting to sign both Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines for Manchester United in the summer of 2013.
United submitted a £36 million bid for the Toffees’ star duo in August 2013, but ended up merely signing Fellaini on deadline day for a whopping £27.5 million.
The hysteria surrounding the saga painted Moyes as a villain who was destroying his former club, and unjustly so.
In Leon Osman’s new book Ossie: My Autobiography, published in the Liverpool Echo, the midfielder writes: “It’s disappointing how sour it has since turned between the fans and Moyes after he bought Fellaini and tried to get Leighton Baines.
“He should be welcomed back to Goodison whenever he wants to come but it’s not the case at the moment and that’s really upsetting. I’m disappointed in it all.
“Far too much was made of what happened with Fellaini and Baines. Moyes was doing what we had employed him to do for all those years – strengthen his squad in whatever way he saw fit.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise. Look at Roberto Martinez: He wins the FA Cup at Wigan, gets his move to Everton and goes back to sign four players because he knows them and trusts them.
“It was no surprise that Davie Moyes tried to sign players from Everton. I think, as fans, we should find it easy to forgive him. He loves the club, he really does.”
During his 11-year spell at Goodison Park, Moyes’ only shortcoming was not winning a trophy.
The former Preston North End boss won over 42 percent of his games as manager of the Toffees, which was enough for him to given the reigns at Manchester United following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Shortly after being appointed United manager, Moyes met with Baines, Osman, Phil Neville, Phil Jagielka, Tim Howard, and Tony Hibbert.
According to Osman’s autobiography, the meeting went something like this: “We all congratulated him and told him he had earned a move like that for all his effort and what he’d done for the club.
“He sat us down and told us it wasn’t planned but that he’d received a phone call from Sir Alex, who asked to meet him and then told him he wanted him to be the next manager of Man United.
“Moyesy looked us straight in the eyes and told us he hadn’t expected the offer. I absolutely believe what he told us. For me, he ran his contract down so it was easier to get offers like that but I genuinely don’t believe he had United on his mind.
“We had a cup of tea together and chatted about stuff as a group. We wished him luck, he wished us luck, and he spoke to the rest of the players the following day and said: ‘Let’s finish the season in a positive way.'”
Moyes is currently unattached but do not expect him to be without employment for much longer. In fact, I would not be surprised if Moysie was managing an English Premier League side later this season.
The obvious destination would have been Newcastle Untied, but Alan Pardew has rescued himself from Davy Jones’ Locker following back-to-back wins over Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
With Harry Redknapp backed by the bookmakers at 2/1 to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post, Queens Park Rangers could be a potential destination for Moyes.
In addition, Sunderland, who were absolutely humiliated by Southampton in an 8-0 thrashing at St Mary’s earlier this month, could be in contention for Moysie’s services in the very near future.
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