Roberto Martínez claimed he wanted to avoid "a media war with a manager I respect greatly", yet angrily condemned David Moyes for saying Everton were stalling the careers of Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini by refusing to sell the pair to Manchester United.

Everton have rejected a joint £28m bid for the players from the Premier League champions and were further angered by comments from Moyes on Friday, when he claimed he would not have stood in the way of the deal during his 11 years at Goodison Park.

But Martínez responded: "If managers start talking about players who are registered with other clubs it's the end of the whole thing. People should look after their own things internally. I am sure they have their own issues. I could come out and give my opinions about his players, but I will be a bit more respectful than that. "

The Everton manager admitted "every player has got a price" but insisted he had no valuation in mind for Fellaini and Baines. "We don't want to sell, that's our position," he added. "Everyone can have an opinion on a player's worth but when you offer below what a club paid for a player, after five years of development [Fellaini], then it is a nonsense.It is a bit of a farce really."

Martínez also denied Moyes's suggestion that Everton had leaked details of United's bid, which valued Fellaini at £16m and Baines at £12m. "The bid appeared in the paper before it arrived to us," he said. "And I heard that in the past Everton never sold cheap. The last thing I want is to get into a war with a manager I really respect. But the business should be done more quietly. It's unfortunate when you read it in the papers and people talk about your players. I could give you half an hour about my views about how other clubs are being run and how they have not been able to do any deals despite looking all over the world."