‘Money cannot buy everything’ Everton tell Chelsea – including John Stones

Everton have – again – told Chelsea to back off in the pursuit of defender John Stones, this time signalling their resilience with an expected rejection of Stones's transfer request.

Everton's John Stones shown on Wednesday during the team's League Cup win against Barnsley. Oli Scarff / AFP / August 26, 2015

Everton

Late on Wednesday night Roberto Martinez confirmed to Sky Sports Everton would reject John Stones's transfer request, with the club continuing to put their foot down in the face of Chelsea's aggressive pursuit of the young defender.

In the back-and-forth saga that has become Stones's immediate footballing future, his transfer request was reportedly submitted on Tuesday night, indicating his desire to leave for the Premier League champions. At that time Martinez said "there is nothing to announce or discuss".

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But after Everton’s League Cup win over Barnsley on Wednesday night the Spanish manager said Stones was a “massive part” of the club and “not at all” for sale.

“Our fans know that all we are doing is trying to become better and John is a massive part of that. Money cannot buy everything in life, there are some things like values.

“He is not for sale.”

Also see: The National's Transfer Talk page

Late Sky reported the official plan to deny the 21-year-old centre-back’s transfer request. He played in the 5-3 victory over League One side Barnsley on Wednesday night, with Martinez calling the performance “incredible under enormous pressure”.

“Once more I’ll say the authorities need to learn the lesson of what’s going on,” he told Sky. “We need to protect players in the transfer window.”

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