John Stones to Chelsea: £30m move will be blocked by Everton, Roberto Martinez 'not surprised' by transfer request

The England international has been the subject of three bids from Chelsea

Tim Rich
Wednesday 26 August 2015 23:15 BST
Comments
John Stones
John Stones (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Everton will reject John Stones’s transfer request and expect him to be at the club after the transfer window closes.

The Everton manager, Roberto Martinez, said he would speak to the 21-year-old centre-half, who has been the subject of three bids from Chelsea and continue to argue that he should stay at Goodison Park.

Speaking after Everton's dramatic 5-3 win over Barnsley in the Capital One Cup, he said: “His request will be rejected. I have not spoken about it until now because we have been preparing for a match but we need to set an example for other clubs. Money cannot buy everything in football.

“Players are human and they deserve to be able to consider the next move in their careers but we are attempting to build the club and get to a Wembley final.

“I feel very let down by the authorities who have allowed the transfer window to be open while we playing because it has become a complete circus that is affecting one of our players. I am not surprised John has handed in a transfer request because he is a young man under massive pressure.

“He is going to be influenced because he is an impressionable age but we are determined to look after him at Everton and do the very best for him. We have a chairman who is a proper Evertonian and who knows that John is a central part of our club.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in