The summer transfer window will close after four more days. Meanwhile, Chelsea have been trying hard to land a defender from Everton in the form of John Stones. But it looks like they will be missing out on the 21-year-old central defender as Everton has rejected a £37 million bid from the Blues, reported The Independent.
Previously, Chelsea had tabled three bids for the talented defender worth £20m, £26m and £30m since mid-July, but Everton have rejected them all. Now they have rejected yet another bid from the Blues and insisted that Stones is not leaving the club this summer.
"Everton Football Club has rejected a transfer request from John Stones. Since the start of the transfer window, we have resolutely turned down offers from another Premier League football club for our player. John is not for sale and he will remain a highly valued member of our first team squad," chairman of the Toffees, Bill Kenwright, told reporters on Thursday.
According to reports, Stones had formally handed coach Roberto Martinez a transfer request and wanted to move ahead in his career. Stones also indicated that his first preference is to play at the Stamford Bridge.
However, the Everton boss remained adamant and cleared it in front of the media that Stones is going nowhere and also rubbished the rumours of the latter having submitted a transfer request.
"During this tough period, we are going to be there for him. We have great ambition, desire and great plans for John. We want to be a winning team and we need to keep our best performers and clearly John is a big part of our future. We are a big football club with an incredible tradition and we will carry on giving him everything we can. As a young man you are under massive pressure and you are going to get influences. We are going to look after John. We are going to understand him," Martinez told the media.
