First it was Marouane Fellaini saying there’s a chance he might not be an Everton man forever, maybe not even past January 2013. Then came the interest and speculations from the big clubs, more specifically meaning Manchester United and Chelsea, both aching for some impressive midfield presence.

In United’s case, it’s more than just presence. Fellaini turned in a fantastic performance against the Red Devils on the opening matchday of the season at Goodison Park, scoring the only goal as the toffees went on to win 1-0 against Alex Ferguson’s side. Fellaini seems to be getting a bit more freedom to attack this season, with Everton lacking a true option at the striker position.

When you look at the Manchester United midfield and see that Paul Scholes is their best player at the moment, it’s pretty obvious that they need a bit of help. Fellaini can play both the defensive midfielder and also in a more advanced role, which seems to suit his skills a bit better, besides the addition of having a 1.94 CM with excellent aerial ability. Fellaini scored 8 goals on his debut season in England, but has since been subdued by responsibilities and defensive assignments.

Chelsea have a similar problem to Manchester United. Plenty of talent upfront, but stuck in the middle of the park. John Obi Mikel and Frank Lampard just don’t make a very impressive midfield duo, and although there’s the option of Oscar on the bench, hardly used thus far by Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea always seem like a club looking to bring in someone new. The price? Rumors suggest Chelsea willing to offer £30 million for the 24 year old Belgian. Maybe as a deterrent to United, or maybe they just want to test how far the FIFA Fair Play rules can stretch.

As for Fellaini, he backtracked on his words to the Belgian press (saying he might be leaving Everton by January) through his Facebook page, claiming he loves living in Liverpool. David Moyes had a talk with the player about choosing his words more carefully in the future.

They think maybe they can say things that don’t matter – well, they do matter and I’ve made Marouane aware of that. These things happen. I’ve had a word with him, and we move on.

Fellaini has played 110 league matches for Everton since arriving in 2008 from Standard Liege, scoring 16 goals.

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