Manchester United Are Wasting Time on Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini Bid

With time running out on the summer transfer window and Manchester United still questing for an impact signing, time is not an item in David Moyes' luxury chest. 

This fact makes the reports of the Red Devils' pursuit of Everton players Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini a little curious, and there are enough reports that there would seem to be at least some validity to them. 

In the latest batch, Moyes and United would appear to be upping their bid for the pair: 

Of course, the Red Devils would have ample reason to up their bid if they are truly intent on adding them. 

Manchester United's weak £28 million effort on the first double bid did not go over well. Everton posted news of the bid on their official website. They had this to say about the situation: "Those bids were immediately rejected out of hand as derisory and insulting."

To further state Everton's stance, Everton coach Roberto Martinez not so subtly said: 

Everton's stance over the first bid is understandable. In the above linked ESPN article, the bid is broken down as £16 million for Fellaini and £12 million for Baines. 

That is not a fair offer. That is below the value of Fellaini, who recently had a £23.5 million buyout clause expire.

And, as ESPN notes, it was just in late June when Everton turned down an offer of the same amount for Baines. 

While the new bid is a closer approximation to fair, does anyone think that Everton are excited to help Manchester United out with a fair deal? 

There are still hard feelings about Moyes' offseason departure from Everton to Old Trafford, and those hard feelings have been compounded by the insulting double offer. 

In other words, Everton aren't going to jump at the chance to help improve the Red Devils' lineup. If Moyes wants to pull this transfer off, his club will have to completely overwhelm Everton by overpaying for the pair. 

And as far as the pair goes, it would be a quality addition. However, the focus should be on Fellaini. With the Red Devils doing nothing but swinging and missing on midfielders in this transfer window, the box-to-box skills of Fellaini would play a huge role in Old Trafford this season. 

The Red Devils should just hone in on Fellaini, offer a bid closer to his recently expired buyout clause and then quickly move on to the next target if that bid is rejected. There is no reason to drag this negotiation on.