United's Fellaini transfer fee less than thought after player gave up bonuses

Manchester United paid £23.5m to Marouane Fellaini, rather than the £27.5m figure widely circulated, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Fellaini had been due to receive £4m in bonuses on the completion of the transfer, which would have been factored into the price Everton demanded, but the player's decision to hand in a transfer request, thereby relinquishing the bonuses, allowed Everton to accept a lower fee (since the amount of money received would have been the same.)

It's a good sign for Fellaini that he wanted to play for us enough to give up that £4m, although before we paint him as any Saint Francis of Assisi, we should probably be aware that if it meant either that or staying at Everton, he'll probably end up in pocket with the presumable wage rise.

The other positive is it means that our board obviously aren't quite as clueless as thought, since we ended up paying the same as the release clause. Although it would have been nice to have him for Chelsea, Liverpool, and to get him settled in earlier.

Nonetheless, thanks for that, Marouane. Let's just hope you can cope with the pressure of being asked to be the sole answer to our problems.