There have been various accusations levelled at Manuel Fernandes during his two spells with Everton, from backstabbing to laziness to showboating. But I believe that the player we see before us is a rough diamond who could become one of the best in the league. Securing his services permanently in the summer is a must in my opinion, he is exactly what we need to move forward, and we must pay whatever it takes to ensure he remains at Goodison.

For me, Fernandes has something extra that no other player at Everton, indeed few other players in the Premiership, possess. Control, dribbling, passing range, awareness, vision, shooting, crossing, set pieces, movement – he has all of these qualities in an abundance that none of our other players do, not even Arteta, Pienaar, Osman etc who are themselves very gifted players. He also has the guts and the bravery to try something extravagant, something dangerous, rather than “playing it safe”, like so many of our squad seem to do, and consequently, if one of these attempts does not come off he is labelled a showboater and berated for not “keeping it tight”.

The thing that really gets to me, however, is that there seem to be a section of our ‘loyal’ fanbase who are determined not to like him, who jeer him when his name is read out rather than trying to instil some self-confidence in a young lad just settling into life at Everton. I simply do not understand their reasoning, would you rather he was sent back, leaving us with an even lighter and less skilful midfield than we have already?

It is clear that the lad has been lacking in confidence, and understandably so – he has changed club five times in eighteen months, taken to Valencia due to his agent’s say so, only for the manager to be replaced with Ronald Koeman, the very man who he had fallen out with at Benfica. This meant that he was given very little chance to shine at the Mestella, and he then returned to Everton after leaving supposedly under a cloud six months earlier, lacking in fitness and confidence, and finding that some fans choose to boo him! He has been unsure of his future for a very long time now, once he has settled and has a pre-season under his belt he will improve rapidly, of that I am certain.

Despite not quite reaching the heights of his first spell at Everton (leaving Cesc Fabregas clutching at his ankles springs to mind) in recent months, natural ability does not simply vanish, and in the last few games he has shown what he showed last season. Indeed, his stamina is most definitely now better than in was then, suggesting that he is maturing physically, and this can only be good news, because the only complaint you could have of him last season was that his stamina was poor.

With regards to the better form last season, you have to remember that last season he had a fully fit, on fire Mikel Arteta alongside him in midfield. This season Arteta has been injured and / or out of form and has missed several games recently, meaning that the creative burden is almost solely on Fernandes, especially with other injuries to Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar meaning that he has been played out wide where he cannot have as greater influence on the game. Last season Arteta was there to link up with him, and time and time again they displayed a brilliant understanding, Arteta being the only player on the pitch who could really understand Fernandes. He hasn’t had this luxury this season, and with Osman and Pienaar also struggling for fitness he has had little help in creating chances. As was shown with Osman’s goal against Derby, if another player makes an intelligent run, Fernandes will find them, but more often than not the players around him have been stationary.

I would love to see him play with Arteta, Osman and Pienaar, but unfortunately it is unlikely to happen unless Fernandes is converted into a holding midfielder to replace Lee Carsley. However, Fernandes in the centre with Arteta and Pienaar out wide is still an extremely attractive proposition, and not one which Everton have had the opportunity to experiment with much.

Everton do not have the money needed to buy top quality players in the peak of their career, so we must buy the stars of tomorrow, and I firmly believe that Fernandes fits into this category perfectly, it is players like he could become who take you to the next level. If you want to succeed you have to take risks, you have to make big decisions - splash out on him Davey, you won’t regret it.