Manchester United's £30m deal for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera left in tatters But after missing out on Porto midfielder Fernando, Everton sealed a £13 million deal for Wigan Athletic's James McCarthy and a loan for Manchester City's Gareth Barry, prompting Kenwright to sanction Fellaini's sale. Meanwhile, despite Herrera agreeing to sacrifice £4.5 million in wages to drive through his transfer, United abandoned their move for the player after being unable to agree a reduction in the buy-out clause with Bilbao. While negotiations between the two clubs continued yesterday afternoon, the arrival of three suited officials at LFP headquarters, purporting to be working on United's behalf, led to confusion between representatives of the two clubs and the player. It is understood that while United remain keen on the player and were attempting to get a deal done, time ran out and efforts were instead focused on Fellaini, despite a squad number having been assigned to Herrera. Fellaini completed his move having submitted a transfer request to Everton manager Roberto Martínez yesterday evening. But having initially offered a combined £28 million for Fellaini and Baines last month, United were forced to pay £27 million alone for Fellaini due to their desperation to get the deal done for a player who had been available for £23.5 million until his escape clause expired at the end of July. United began deadline day with inquiries to Real Madrid about their German midfielders Sami Khedira and Mesut Özil but approached the final hour of the window battling to keep alive the deals for Herrera and Fellaini. After targeting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara this summer, United's inability to close a deal left Everton chairman Kenwright in a position of strength as the two clubs haggled over Baines and Fellaini. It required Everton's £13 million capture of Wigan's McCarthy in the closing stages of the window for Kenwright to sanction Fellaini's exit. While efforts to sign Fellaini and Baines proved frustrating, with Everton refusing to sanction the sale of the players until replacements had been secured, United appeared to have made a breakthrough in their pursuit of Herrera. But attempts to drive through the deal yesterday were held up by the complex tax system which offers favourable rates to Basque clubs and their players. Due to the terms of Herrera's escape clause, United would be forced to pay VAT on top of the £30.5 million trigger fee, which could inflate the transfer fee to £45 million, if they were to deal directly with Bilbao. By paying the release fee himself with money from United, Herrera would be liable to a tax bill in the region of £4.5 million in order to repay the tax relief which is granted to players representing clubs in the Basque region. With Herrera being offered a five-year contract worth £3.4 million a year by United, the player is understood to have agreed to a reduced annual salary of £2.5 million, with the yearly £900,000 shortfall covering the tax liability generated by paying his own escape clause. But after failing to negotiate a reduction in Herrera's buy-out clause, United called the deal off just before 10pm. United's only business entering the final hour was sanctioning loan deals for Bebe, Nick Powell and Marnick Vermijl to Pacos de Ferreira, Wigan and Nijmegen respectively. Meanwhile, United are still waiting on confirmation of their season-long loan deal for Real Madrid full-back Fabio Coentrao, with the Portuguese defender not completing his move prior to last night's deadline. The transfer could yet fall through due to Real's failure to complete the signing of Granada defender Guilherme Siqueira as Coentrao's replacement.