Chelsea are preparing a second bid for Everton defender John Stones, and the London club are even willing to break British record fee for a defender to sign him.
Love him, or hate him, Jose Mourinho is the king of playing mind games. Dear Roberto Martinez, you should have known him better by now.
There’s no use of complaining about what Jose says, because, it will only give fodder to the media who will make a meal out of it, and it will also make life more difficult for you. Unlike other managers, Mourinho will not stop making comments on opposition players he likes.
Mourinho was asked once again to comment on Chelsea’s pursuit of Everton’s highly rated young defender John Stones. The Portuguese replied as quoted by The Times:
“It’s a good market. That is why smaller clubs, if they have interesting young English players, they use that in the right way for them. I don’t even criticise them. They play the market for themselves. And if the big clubs don’t want to go over certain limits they have to make a decision. And that is maybe why none of the top clubs are full of young English players. But that is the market.
“In that market, you only pay it if you want. If you don’t want to pay it, don’t pay. It’s as simple as that. The market has no rules or limits from season to season.
“And the only surprise comes that the limits change — and not even the introduction of a few rules such as Financial Fair Play is able to control the market. The market is where it is and it’s up to the clubs to decide yes or no. I speak just for ourselves. For ourselves there are certain rules.”
So, what’s the latest on Stones? The Times report that Chelsea are prepared to pay a British record fee for his signature. Chelsea are preparing a £26m bid for Stones, after an opening £20m bid was rejected by the Toffees. If the second bid is also rejected, Chelsea would still be willing to go past £30m in order to sign the England defender.
To be honest, £30m is too much for a young defender (a British record fee for a defender if the deal goes through), but Chelsea would hardly mind, as long as they secure his services. Stones could be a long term replacement for club skipper John Terry. Everton have little choices here but to accept the fee and let the youngster leave to play at a bigger club.
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