The first move, by Celtic who made an outrageous attempt to take Faddy on a year’s loan, was dismissed out of hand. Today’s Herald reports, "There was a conversation between the clubs along those lines but it was a complete non-starter and never got as far as James or myself being involved," said McFadden's agent, John Lonergan, highlighting the fact that the only party to benefit from such a move would be Celtic.
A bigger threat came last night when the Independent announced that David Moyes of Everton had tabled a million pound bid and that our number ten was in
But that story was rebutted by no less that the Sun which carried this report in its early edition. “And Everton have also been knocked back after launching a deadline-busting swoop to land the
The Scotsman joined the clamour too saying, “EVERTON had a £1.25million bid for James McFadden turned down by Motherwell just hours before last night’s transfer deadline.”.
Fans heard from the BBC this morning that we were holding out for a sum of one and a half million – but again there were reminders that we would have to wait until five this evening to know if we would see Faddy in Claret and amber again.
Radio Clyde pitched in with confirmation that a 1.25m bid had been declined. But Hugh K added that Terry Butcher had thought that the offer had been accepted. Keevins claimed that TB had phoned James to congratulate him on his move. It looks as though John Boyle had blocked the deal. Keevins claimed that as the Scottish deadline has passed then no further move was possible.
It looks like it will be a long, tense day for fans of the Mighty ‘Well (and no doubt a tense day for James too!)