Could Marouane Fellaini's move leave Everton in a slump?

As the reports grow stronger that Marouane Fellaini is on his way out of Goodison, it begs the question - If he were to leave the club now, would it spark an Everton slump?

There is no beating around the bush with Fellaini, he is the star man in Everton's midfield and has been in outstanding form for the majority of this season, but with Manchester United and more recently Chelsea apparently ready to trigger his £25m release clause to get him in their strip, could his departure mean the destruction of Everton's season?

Well, if you are a Toffee then you would be arguing no, but as an outsider, it is hard to say that it wouldn't.

Not only would they miss the immense quality that the big Belgian displays on a weekly basis, but surely losing a player of his stature inside the dressing room would have an impact on morale, no?

His popularity amongst the Evertonians is huge. You regularly see the ground full of novelty afro wigs and Fellaini shirts being displayed in the crowd, and they, like David Moyes, will be hoping that he will commit his short-term future to the club.

His 16 appearances in the league have been a massive contributor to Everton sitting in 5th at the time of writing this, scoring 8 goals and providing his team with 5 assists to show for his efforts, but his recent antics with Ryan Shawcross - where it appeared that the Belgian got away with numerous head-butts on the Stoke defender - has dampened his popularity around the country.

Fellaini is seen by Chelsea as the successor to Frank Lampard who is expected to leave the club when his contract runs out at the end of this season, and if they are willing to match his buy-out clause then it is likely the deal will be sorted very quickly.

Ta ra, Marouane.

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Comments

[Stuart Mitchell]

I do not think he will leave in Jan, possibly in the summer if we fail to qualify for Europe.

Will it affect us, Not if the sale is done early and we can sign replacements.

The year after we sold Rooney we came 4th in the league, Lescott, Arteta and Rodwell have left the club for big money and the club moves on smoothly.

I think we need to worry more about Moyes leaving in the summer, contract running out. He has worked miracles with no funds

[Jonesy]

Hate to be the one to point this out, but, Fellaini's buy out clause states that only a Champions League club can activate it. As of right now Chelsea are not in the Champions League. They can no more activate the clause than Norwich, Swansea or Stoke could!. That means Moyes decides whether he leaves or stays and he's said, on record, half a dozen times that Fellaini isnt leaving.

In the summer, if Everton do not make top4, he'll be on his way I'm sure...I expect Baines will go too. Maybe even Moyes himself. It will be a time of upheaval for Everton, but, there'll be some money in the club and still the likes of Jagielka, Osman, Mirallas, Pienaar and Jelavic and still youth prospects like Barkley, Duffy, McAleny and Green coming through. Still a lot of quality there for a good manager to work with and reason for optimism for the future.