Everton recently received an offer from Chelsea for defender John Stones, but they were also surprised to see that the offer had been made public partly due to the opposition manager Jose Mourinho.
It is understood that the bid is valued at around £ 20 million, which has been turned down immediately by Everton. Manager Roberto Martinez has criticised the way the Premier League champions have gone about their business. However, this appears to have been a calculated move from Mourinho and Chelsea, as Stones is keen on talking with Chelsea to learn about their offer.
The 21-year-old is enough of the bright young English prospects. After impressing sufficiently with Everton over the last 12 months, he has earned a call up to the national team. It is thought that Chelsea see him as the ideal replacement for John Terry at the back. The Chelsea captain is soon to be 35 and coming to the end of his career. This coupled with the lack of sufficient number of homegrown players is threatening to deplete the squad. Chelsea are understood to value Stones at around £ 30 million and will not think twice about paying this figure for the youngster.
Martinez was speaking on the occasion of the club’s pre-season tour in Asia.”There is the disappointment of a club making a statement to the press and making it openly.I don’t think we’d do it and speak about a player. John Stones is an Everton player, full stop.We are not a selling club. We are not a club that needs to be worried about what other clubs put through the press,” said Martinez.”When the transfer window is open, every club and player is open to bids.Bids come for our players and we make bids for other players,” responded Mourinho.
