Everton Star Heading To Chelsea Fc

ABOVE: Marouane Fellaini could be heading to Chelsea in the summer

CHELSEA are still hopeful they will sign Belgium striker Marouane Fellaini in the summer from Everton for £25million.

The Londoners had hoped to sign him during the last transfer window but a deal couldn’t be thrashed out by all the parties involved.

Manchester United also showed an interest in landing Fellaini, 25, but after forking out £22m on signing Robin van Persie from ­Arsenal in the summer, their resources were limited.

Fellaini’s form has dipped since he was subjected to the transfer ­speculation and Everton might just now feel the time is right to sell.

Chelsea are believed to be ready to offer a five-year deal with wages of £4.5m.

Losing him would be a major blow to Everton boss David Moyes but there have been rumours that Fellaini, signed for a club record £15m from Standard Liege, has a buyout clause in his contract believed to be more than £22m.

If he joins Chelsea he would link up with fellow Belgian Eden Hazard.

Meanwhile, Toffees chief Moyes’ future at Everton may still be in ­­doubt – but he claims stability is the key at Goodison Park.

Scot Moyes will make a decision to stay or go at the end of this season when his contract ends.

He has been linked with Chelsea and Manchester City and has admitted to an interest in managing in Germany’s Bundesliga – with Schalke touted as a possible destination.

But Moyes, 49, will clearly find it hard to quit Everton, where he enjoys such a strong relationship with ­the chairman Bill Kenwright.

The former Preston boss said: “Everton now has a stability which many clubs would, I am sure, welcome.

“We have a chairman and a board who run the club the best they possibly can.

“They don’t constantly change the manager or have a big turnaround of players, because undoubtedly Everton would find themselves in financial trouble if that was the case.

“I believe the stability we have had is one of the reasons that we have been consistent challengers at the right end of the Premier League table for some time now.”

Moyes doesn’t have a trophy on his Everton CV – but is one of the most respected managers in the business.

And he pointed out: “I believe so much has changed since my first match in charge here 11 years ago.

“The progress that the club has made since then can be shown by Everton’s Premier League standings.

“In the last ten seasons, we have finished outside the top ten only twice.

“In the ten seasons previously, Everton were a club that found themselves regularly fighting in the bottom half of the table, apart from one year.

“I understand this will never satisfy everybody and nothing would give me more pleasure than to bring the success Everton had in the 1980s under Howard Kendall, with the great players he had. We are striving to reach those levels and we are putting every ounce of effort into trying to get back there.”