Ibrahim Afellay to Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur
14/10/10 – Afellay: “Playing in the Premier League would be the best for my prestige. I’d like to play for Liverpool or Manchester United – the top level prospect for any player.”
24/10/12 – Afellay: “Arsenal were interested in me in the last few years at PSV and Barcelona. But, finally, it was not possible to close the subject. I believe that money was the difference between the clubs. This match is not personal revenge for me. I do not need to demonstrate anything against Arsenal. But our objective is to leave London without defeat. The scouts of Wenger have always liked my work but have never made the decisive move. But this is not a trauma for me.”
12/11/12 – Afellay: “My aim is to return to Barca. Now when I look back at my time at Barcelona I only have good memories. Training was always great fun. Incredible really. But I also want to enjoy my football at the moment. That is something that I really feel despite what has happened before. Since I arrived at Barcelona I have been growing both in a football sense as well as a mental sense. I think that I have shown that I can battle through despite the adversity.”
7/12/12 – Afellay: “I have two years left on my Barcelona deal next summer. I am actually enjoying my loan spell in the Bundesliga, I like very much being at Schalke. We will see what might happen in the summer. I am sure we will have a few chats come the end of the campaign. I don’t think anyone is able to know what will happen in the future.”
18/6/13 – Rob Jansen, agent: “The Premier League is a very tempting possibility.”
19/6/13 – Reports claim that both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Afellay.
Leroy Fer to Everton
30/1/13 – Everton pull out of an £8.6m deal to buy Fer after a medical reveals a problem with his knee.
30/1/13 – David Moyes, Everton manager: “He’s a really good player, but it was a situation out of our control. We couldn’t make it work. It was frustrating because we are trying to add, we are trying to progress. Unfortunately this one doesn’t look like it’s going to move on – we’ll look to see if there’s anything else we can do.”
11/3/13 – Fer: “It [Everton] is still a fantastic club. But at the moment I am not thinking about it. Only one thing counts right now: ending the season at FC Twente in a good way.”
17/6/13 – Fer: “I haven’t heard about anything but I think my manager did. I think Everton are still interested in me. I would like to go to the Premier League this summer, it’s a very nice competition – but my focus has been the European Championships, afterwards we will see.”