EVERTON HOLD FIRM

Roberto Martinez put foot down and sent a clear message across that no matter how high an amount gets offered, Everton is not going to sell John Stones this summer.

It’s been a very interesting situation at Everton regarding Stones. Chelsea, the England top tier champions made as many as three bids for the young defender, and Stones himself let his current employers know that he wanted to move to Stamford Bridge, but still the move didn't happen.

But, the Toffees were in no mood to let that happen.
Talking to the reporters after Everton’s game versus Barnsley, Martinez said, “I would say John has been fantastic through all this.”

“Such things can put a player in huge amount of pressure especially when he is this young, but, John has shown his professionalism and has focussed on his game rather than getting distracted.”

When queried about what the club would do with the transfer request that was on the table, the Spanish manager said, “We are not in two minds on that. We know what we have to do. We had a game today. So, we were looking to get it out of the way. Now, the first thing tomorrow will be to deal with that request. That is going to be rejected.”

“We just want John to enjoy himself as much as possible. That is most important for him at this point of time. Money is not the topmost priority for us. We never opt to go for a move which makes the squad weaker.”

This has been an up and down season for Everton thus far. They are not off to an overly impressive start, but, their performances have been good in patches. Had they sold Stones they would have been in a much worse position, albeit with millions of pounds in the bank!?

At one point Stones was odds-on to move - with one internet bookmaker putting it at odds of 1/5!? The blocking of the move represents a new age in Premier League football - where in the past smaller clubs would have to sell their players to balance the books, with so much money coming in, Everton can now afford to keep hold of their best players.

They are 11th in the league table with 9 points in 6 games.

John Stones continues to be linked with a move to a Champions League club, and if you use this William Hill code you can imporve the odds, if it's something you want to bet on. I hope Stones stays at Everton for the forseable future.