Chelsea To Table Improved Defender Bid Next Week But Man Utd Also Keen

With the summer transfer window finally open for business, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Man Utd join Chelsea in the race for John Stones…

Chelsea will table an improved offer for John Stones next week but Manchester United remain keen on the Everton centre-back, according to the Mirror.

Stones has emerged into one of the brightest young talents in English football since breaking into the Everton first team following his move from Barnsley in 2013.

His potential has attracted interest from some of the Premier League big boys and Sky Sports News reported on Friday that Chelsea had seen their opening £20m offer rejected out-of-hand by the Toffees.

The Mirror claim that the Blues are confident they’ll land Stones and will return with a significantly improved offer next week, but they could yet face competition from Manchester United as the paper suggests that the Red Devils also remain keen on the 21-year-old centre-back.

Louis van Gaal is on the look-out for defensive reinforcements this summer and the Daily Mail reported back in June that the Dutchman was showing a keen interest in signing Stones, and it appears United could yet have a say if Everton agree to cash-in this summer.

However, the Merseysiders aren’t going to give-up one of their key assets without a fight and the Mirror claim that they’ll demand a British record fee for a defender meaning Chelsea or United will have to pay more than the £31.9m Man City paid for Eliaquim Mangala.

We’ll have to wait and see whether either club will be prepared to pay that kind of money but we all know English players come at a premium, so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone does agree to pay in excess of £32m for Stones’ signature this summer.

The youngster is certainly one of the best young defenders in the Premier League and I think he’d be the ideal long-term replacement for John Terry at Chelsea, but I just question whether now is the right time for him to make the move.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

If he was to join Chelsea, he’d struggle to get regular game-time ahead of Terry or Gary Cahill so I’d personally rather see him stay at Everton for another season to continue his development before making the step up to a bigger club in 12 months time.

However, the lure of playing for the likes of Chelsea or United in the Champions League won’t be easy for the young defender to turn down so I think we’ll probably end up seeing Stones leave Goodison Park this summer, but at least Roberto Martinez should get a large transfer kitty to reinvest in his squad.