Martinez hints that Stones would have been sold if the right bid received earlier
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has hinted in his press conference that star defender John Stones would have been sold if they had received the right bid earlier.
Chelsea chased the England international all summer, but bidding only got close to the amount Everton would have sold for near the end of the transfer window, leaving no time to bring in a replacement.
‘We have very young players ready to kick on and it was about keeping that core,’ said Martinez.
‘But you go from window to window and you say “OK, will we finish as a stronger squad?”. You assess. Players have moments of form, you look at ages. If we’d lost John Stones at that stage it would have been impossible for us to bring in a player of the same level.
‘I’ve said before that every football club is bigger than any player but there is always a right moment and a wrong moment and for us to have our season we needed to have John — the same way that we needed Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas and James McCarthy.’
Will John Stones leave next summer?
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Stones’ value will increase month-by-month, Bobby Moore with pace; a good Euros will see the top Europeans after him for a record mega fee
£40 million? Yea, right…which leg?