Everton looking to keep Leighton Baines at Goodison Park with a long-term contract

Baines at an England training session with Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck

Everton are looking to extend the contract of star-man Leighton Baines before the reopening of the transfer window in January, in order to keep the player out of the reach of Manchester United, the Guardian reports.

The Toffees chairman, Bill Kenwright, had turned down a number of bids for the England international during the summer, including an offer of £15m on the last day of the transfer window.

Everton want their star left-back to stay and are keen to tempt the 28-year-old with an improved deal.

The Merseyside club are aware that former manager David Moyes’s failure to land Fábio Coentrão from Real Madrid on Monday will put United back on the lookout for the left-back in January, and are anxious to negotiate a new contract with Baines and his representatives as soon as possible.

The defender currently earns around £50,000-a-week at Everton. Whether they can entice the left-back to stay at Goodison Park remains to be seen.

The Everton chairman confessed in June that sorting out Baines’s future was a top priority, but United’s continued pursuit of the player hindered negotiations with the left-back.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez said, “While the window is open I think it’s the wrong time to speak about those things and so we hadn’t discussed it. But now the window is closed we are going to look into all of the players in the squad and see where their contracts are up to. Then, individually, we will look to address that. It would just have created more instability if we had done that while the window was open.”

The Everton manager hopes that the arrivals of Gareth Barry, Romelu Lukaku and James McCarthy will convince Baines to stay.

Martinez said, “From having interest to a situation where you have to consider a move is very different. Leighton is a very special footballer and a special player for Everton, and we are looking forward to him enjoying the challenge that lies ahead. The window is over, and there is a good opportunity to concentrate on football. That’s the way it should be.”

Everton recently sold star player Maroune Fellani to Manchester United for a fee of £27.5 million.