Chelsea have submitted a sensational 45 million bid for John Stones over the winter transfer window as they look to make amends for the disappointing attempts they mustered over the summer and look to prise away the target who had publicly admitted that he wanted to leave the last time Blues came calling.
This comes at a time when Everton are reluctant to lose players and have been emboldened by the much increased revenues garnered by the Premier League. This means that the Merseyside club are now in no need to sell and have enough resources to hold on to him if any such mega deal is mooted by the major clubs.
“It doesn’t matter if a club comes in. We created a squad during the summer to see how far we could go over the season,” Martinez said.
“We’ll never lose anyone in January, unless it’s somebody who hasn’t been playing and we need to find a solution.
If he’s a top performer, it’s not even a consideration.”
This doesn’t change the desires of the player though and should he really want a move to the Blues, who clearly are in need of defensive reinforcement, there is no way Everton would be able to keep hold unless they disillusion him over his situation.
With Chelsea acting much more proactively this time around, it would be an interesting battle between the Blue clubs who both highly covet the player. The fact that Chelsea have begun improving and the lure of Champions League football might make the case for Pensioners while the Evertonians will boast of a better overall form and a higher table position.