In the end, it came in typically understated fashion — perhaps as it was always meant to be.
On Sunday’s final whistle, Leighton Baines looked into the largely deserted Main Stand at Goodison and picked out his children and dad John for one last time as an Everton player. The nonchalant wave that followed as he walked off the pitch seemed as fitting a way as any to call time on an esteemed career.
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Everyone, from Carlo Ancelotti to team-mates and club staff, knows Everton will miss him: the consummate professional with the wand of a left foot. Baines, after all, has loved Everton as much as it has loved him, developing a bond with the supporters that will be painfully hard for his successors to emulate. But even the last-ditch attempts to persuade him to sign on for one last swansong came to no avail.
The writing had been on the wall for some time — even if a final decision was only intimated to the players and staff shortly before kick-off on the final day of the season.
For some, the signs had always been there: comments in private about being “emotionally ready” to hang up his boots and, on Sunday itself, the ominous presence of family members at Goodison.
At one stage this season, a parting of the ways looked considerably less likely. Baines, buoyed by his fine displays during a tough festive schedule, was routinely made aware that he would have a place at Goodison as long as he wanted it. His continuation seemed logical. Yet, as time ticked away, and the offer of a contract was not accepted, it became increasingly clear that he was unlikely to sign after all.
It is understood that the 35-year-old had been telling those close to him for some time that he was mentally ready to call it a day — that things were coming just that bit harder and the passion was not quite there in the same way.
“He’d lost his love for it, even though he’s still a decent player, and was torn between just moving on with his life or doing another year while he can,” says one source.
“The lads were desperate for him to stay because they love him but I think he’s tired of being a pro and ready mentally now.”
The final decision was left right up to the last minute, with Everton still clinging on to the faint hope of a positive outcome. Midway through the final week of the season, nobody at the club was any the wiser as what Baines had decided.
The hug from fellow left-back Lucas Digne, though, on his entrance to the pitch deep into the second half on Sunday, followed by the transferral of the captain’s armband from Gylfi Sigurdsson for one last time, merely confirmed what most supporters and staff had expected.
Few others wanted it to be this way but Leighton Baines does things on his own terms — and rightly so.
For now, The Athletic understands Baines will take a few weeks to clear his head and fully come to terms with his decision before making the next step.
Those close to him suggest the club’s open offer of an unspecified role on Ancelotti’s staff is one that appeals to him at some point. Baines, though, has not always been minded to stay in the game. He has spoken about his desire to walk away from football upon retirement.
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However, over the last 18 months, he has been studying for his coaching badges to give himself as wide a range of post-playing options.
During a 2014 interview with the Daily Mail, the deep-thinking defender said: “I’m aware that when I stop playing, I’m going to have to roll into something else. It wouldn’t be healthy for the alarm to go off and not have something to do.”
Seamus Coleman believes his team-mate’s intelligence and experience would make him an asset at Finch Farm. “If you asked me six years ago, I would have said, ‘Absolutely not’,” said Coleman, addressing the notion of Baines the coach.
“But I sit beside him on the bus and am constantly chatting football and picking his brains. Now it (Baines staying in the game) is a possibility, he would be very good helping younger players.
“He knows the game and players. That is something he could explore. I heard the manager saying they want him involved in the club. That will be important, as a coach or around the club in a different way. You don’t want to lose people with so much experience and who genuinely care about the club.
“He would be capable of quite a few different roles within a club.”
Coleman’s view is shared by Everton’s ex-head of academy recruitment Martin Waldron, who told The Athletic he has long felt Baines could be a good coach.
“Leighton played in my local team in Kirkby. He was a great kid then,” he says. “I always tried to coax him into coaching because I thought he’d be top drawer. I always used to tell him, when he was 12 or 13, to do the half-time team talk as you’d listen to him all day on what was going wrong, why we were losing etc. But we never ever lost — we had too many good players not to.”
Others at the club wonder if a potential new role at Everton may not be a conventional coaching one.
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He is close to the club’s director of medical services Danny Donachie and could, some have speculated, work with players on well-being, mindset and performance.
Baines has always been open-minded and willing to try new things to maintain peak performance amid the pressures of elite football; he once took himself on a silent meditation retreat during post-season.
Unlike many former players, it’s unlikely he will pursue a media career. Baines has never relished interviews, particularly on camera, and was reluctant to do any beyond his contracted duties in his final season.
He is not short of hobbies to keep his attention in between raising his young family with his wife, Rachel. He has spoken of pursuing his passions for photography and music plus, when possible, travel.
🔵 | Leighton Baines has announced his retirement from football.
Thank you for everything, Leighton. 💙 pic.twitter.com/mhYYWiPHHB
— Everton (@Everton) July 26, 2020
One thing is certain — Baines, widely regarded as Everton’s best left-back of the modern era, leaves a significant legacy.
At his peak, he attracted strong interest from Manchester United in 2013 and although he was interested in speaking to them, he did not agitate for a move when it became clear chairman Bill Kenwright was unwilling to listen to any offers.
It was a testament to his profile across Europe that German giants Bayern Munich were interested in signing a player many compared to one of their notable players, Philipp Lahm but this time, Baines preferred to remain close to his family in Merseyside.
Bavaria’s loss was Everton’s gain. Former team-mate Leon Osman recalls the exceptional partnership Baines forged down the left flank with South Africa international Steven Pienaar.
Another ex team-mate, Baines’ one-time left-back understudy Luke Garbutt, emphasised the older man’s immaculate example.
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“I respected him,” said Garbutt. “He was a great guy in the changing room. Everyone loved him and I looked up to him for the way he played because he was a brilliant footballer.”
Coleman agrees that Baines’ cross-generational appeal in the squad set him apart. He was a member of Moyes’ old guard with players such as Osman, Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin, but equally comfortable around youngsters such as Tom Davies and Mason Holgate.
“He has a great way of being able to mix with all members of the squad,” said Coleman. “They all really respect and admire him.
“If that is building a relationship with young players like Tom and Mason, or being there for me in the past six months, which was a busy time as captain with everything going on.
He was a fan playing for the club. He genuinely cares about the club and wants it to do well. We have been so lucky to have him and he is going to be genuinely missed in the changing room.”
In a statement on Monday, Kenwright, who was still trying to convince Baines to stay last week, spoke glowingly of a man he considers “an Everton great. One of us”.
“We knew the day would com and it’s come sooner than we would have liked — we tried to make it different, I promise, Evertonians — but that’s Leighton, his own man. And, of course, we all respect his decision,” said the chairman.
“There is simply no praise high enough for Bainesy — as a player and as a man. He is right up there with the great Ray Wilson as one of the best left-backs we have ever seen. During his time with us, he was often one of the best left-backs in the world.”
Thirteen years in blue, 420 Premier League appearances, 32 goals, 2,331 crosses (someone was counting), 53 assists (the most of any defender in the Premier League) — the record of a modern club icon.
Farewell, Leighton Baines. Thanks for the memories. Everton feels that little bit less like Everton without him.
(Top photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)