Andy Robertson has revealed that Everton tried to sign him for £750,000 when Roberto Martinez was looking for a future successor to Leighton Baines.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football, the Scotland international recalled how Everton made their move in January 2014, during his first season at Dundee United and only months after he had arrived from Queen’s Park.
“In January, I nearly left. Everton put a bid in for me in the January,” Robertson said.
“Roberto Martinez came up and actually watched me for Dundee United.
“They wanted to loan me back for six months and then be back-up to Leighton Baines, and then try and be the guy that kinda [becomes first-choice]. That was their plan.”
Dundee United rejected Everton’s Robertson bid
Robertson had made an immediate impression after stepping up from Queen’s Park, with Martinez travelling to Scotland to watch the then 19-year-old left-back.
Everton’s offer wasn’t enough to persuade Dundee United to sell, with Robertson revealing there was a sizeable difference between the two clubs’ valuations.
“I think they bid £750,000,” he told The Overlap. “Dundee United, at that point, wanted £1.5m. The manager was kinda saying, ‘I’m not losing him.'”
Robertson stayed at Dundee United for the remainder of the season before joining Hull City that summer in a deal worth £2.85m. Three years later he moved to Liverpool, where he went on to win the Premier League and Champions League among a host of major honours.
The story also reveals how Everton were already considering what would eventually come after Baines. The England international was 29 at the time and remained first choice, with Robertson saying the plan was for him to spend another six months at Dundee United before returning to compete as Baines’ understudy.
Robertson instead continued his career elsewhere and eventually spent much of it on the other side of Stanley Park.
There is no knowing how things would have worked out had Dundee United accepted Everton’s offer, but Robertson’s account confirms Martinez was prepared to move early for a player who was still in his first season of top-flight football.
At £750,000, Everton’s bid was only half what Dundee United wanted.
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