Here we go again. It’s been a couple of years, but now we have another transfer saga that threatens to overshadow Everton’s pre-season preparations. Chelsea’s £20m bid for John Stones has reportedly been rejected, but it’s unlikely to be the last we’ll hear on the matter.
We all knew it was inevitable; Stones has made only 54 senior appearances for Everton but we only needed a handful of them to see the potential he has. He’s the complete defender, and it was only a matter of time before the richest clubs in the land came sniffing.
The question is now; can Everton resist the subsequent, inevitable £20m+ bids that will come our way within the next few weeks? Should they, even? After all, a lot can be done to a squad when £25m upwards suddenly becomes available.
But we’re not playing Football Manager here; the players you bring in can go either way. The funds raised from the sale of Joleon Lescott in 2009, for example, were spent on John Heitinga, Sylvain Distin and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who all enjoyed varying degrees of success.
As far as I’m concerned, Everton should do all they can to keep Stones at the football club. The riches brought by the new TV deal means that financial pressure shouldn’t be an issue.
As long as Stones doesn’t kick up a fuss, and he doesn’t come across as the type to, I see no reason why we should part with one of the most promising youngsters in football.
Only yesterday Stones said, “I am very happy at Everton. My aim right now is to try to nail down a regular spot in this Everton team and hopefully that will take care of playing for England.”
“I have to keep learning from the likes of Phil Jagielka and keep progressing at this club.”
Obviously, anything said by anyone in the world of football has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Fabien Delph is now a Manchester City player despite pledging his loyalty to Aston Villa just a few days ago.
But as I said, Stones doesn’t seem like the type to march into the manager’s office and demand a move.
From Stones’ point of view, surely he’d be better served for his own development staying at Goodison for now anyway, wouldn’t he? This coming season will be the first in which he’ll go into as an undisputed first-choice centre-half alongside Phil Jagielka, with the skipper himself providing the ideal mentor to aid his progress further.
He’s only 21, and has his whole career ahead of him. So many young players have jumped at the chance to join ‘bigger’ clubs and it’s not worked out for them. I don’t see the need to rush on his part.
There’s also a question as to whether Jose Mourinho would be willing to break up his title-winning defensive duo? Although John Terry and Gary Cahill are into their 30’s, they showed no signs of decline last season.
Mourinho himself has shown in the past that he: a) puts a lot of faith in his more experienced players, and b) feels under no obligation to play new signings, even those that command large fees.
Chelsea also have a promising centre-back of their own, in the shape of Kurt Zouma. With all that in mind, you’d have to assume playing opportunities would be at a premium for the former-Barnsley man.
Stones will undoubtedly become one of the top centre-halves around. I’d love him to fulfil that immense potential with Everton, but it seems inevitable that one day he will move on if we continually fail to break into that elite group of sides, both on and off the pitch.
It doesn’t have to be now though, and I firmly believe that it’s in the best interests of the player and the club that Stones remains in the royal blue of Everton, for now at least.
