Everton Transfers: Could Baines and Fellaini Follow Moyes to Manchester United?

After what was a truly emotional, memorable final home game of the season for Everton, what's next for the Toffees' star personnel without their manager, David Moyes?

With all but a handful of the club's current roster brought in during his tenure, many players will surely be seeking assurance of the Toffees' future ambition, to make sure it matches their own.

Many media outlets have already used the highly predictable, yet rarely accurate, strategy of linking any newly appointed manager with the leading talent from his former squad. Making Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini prime targets for Moyes, with bids supposedly imminent (via the Mirror).

Both players could of course go, as could any player. Football is too unpredictable to guarantee otherwise. However, if this scenario is genuinely on the cards, each player's situation has to be assessed carefully and individually.

Taking the case of Fellaini first, despite his imperious start to the season and several influential displays, there would actually be a lot of sense in the Toffees allowing the Belgian to move on.

His heavily rumoured buy-out clause leaves the club potentially powerless to prevent him from going if that price is matched. But if that were the case, that considerable sum would certainly ease the strain on the club's notoriously precarious finances.

That buy-out fee is assumed to be in the region of £24 million, and should it come in, it would then also allow a new manager some rare leverage in the transfer market.

The Belgian is also said to be the Toffees' highest earner, and with his wages—along with those of Phil Neville and Moyes—all removed from the wage bill, Everton's next manager would be able to come in and immediately shape a squad in his desired image.

Fellaini has certainly produced some devastating spells this season, but there is a consensus among some supporters that his goals have often swayed the media's perception. Some are also unable to forgive his inept display against Wigan in the FA Cup.

Fellaini has often drifted through games before scoring a goal late on to steal the headlines. His 2013 form has been especially patchy when in an attacking berth, with Everton appearing noticeably disjointed hitting endless long balls to him.

The game against West Ham showed how much potential the current side has to play with less emphasis on the direct style his attacking presence commands.

However, while there may be reasons to accept a Fellaini departure, Leighton Baines is very much a different story. While the left-back will be 29 at the end of the year, and any financial adviser would surely urge the Toffees to cash in before his value entirely diminishes, he is simply too much of an integral piece to part with.

Going forward, he is a creative marvel. No player in the Premier League can top the 113 chances he's made so far this season, in fact he's 19 clear of his nearest challenger—despite playing and attacking from left-back.

Out of Everton's 465 chances created this season, he's been behind just under 25 percent. He's also the only player in the top flight to have played every minute of the Premier League season while he's touched the ball over 500 times more than any of his teammates—highlighting his prominence in his side's approach.

In short, he's imperative and Everton are fortunate to have his services. Any sudden absence would create a massive chasm in the side's overall system, which will already experience a sizeable enough jolt without Moyes at the helm. 

The constant, calming presence of Moyes has always helped mask Everton's financial woes and create an aura of stability, even at moments of obvious weakness. While selling either of these star players on the back of the manager's departure would be a risk, the clubs have their hands tied with Fellaini.

If the Belgian does moves on, the Toffees would at least be able to command an entirely unrealistic asking price for Baines, in an effort to price out potential suitors.

His value should be inflated enough either way, and spending big on a 28-year-old, with minimal sell-on value, would certainly contradict Moyes' transfer ethos at Everton and, aside from special circumstances, United's too. 

Evertonians will be hoping those transfer principles, along with Moyes' respect for their club, prevent him from returning to Merseyside in pursuit of Baines. While this weekend's game at Chelsea may be Fellaini's last for the club, keeping Baines must be a high priority.

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