Chelsea Tabled Improved £26m Offer After Mourinho Confirms Interest

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, Chelsea increase their offer for John Stones…

Chelsea have submitted an improved offer worth £26m for John Stones after Jose Mourinho confirmed his interest in signing the Everton centre-back this summer, according to the Express.

The Blues angered Everton after tabling an opening £20m bid last week but the Toffees rejected the cheeky offer out-of-hand and insisted they had no interest in selling the defender this summer [via Sky Sports News].

Jose Mourinho confirmed the news on Saturday and hinted that he’d continue to test Everton’s resolve with an improved bids until the Goodison Park outfit made it clear they weren’t prepared to listen to offers.

“If tomorrow Everton comes and says ‘At the moment they say we don’t accept this bid’; they don’t say: ‘We don’t accept bids; any bids.’ While they say we don’t accept THIS bid, until 31 August we can improve the bid – one pound more, 10 pounds more, we can improve the bid,”

“If one day Roberto or the chairman come and say he’s not for sale, we don’t accept any bid, game over. So during this process, it’s clear, we don’t deny we made a bid for Stones. It means we are trying to buy. But he’s an Everton player and I don’t like to speak.

“I don’t have to say why I like him and I don’t like to speak about players from other clubs. He is an Everton player and I don’t like to speak about players.

“We made a bid, we can make it – it’s an open market until 1 September. We didn’t make an offer on 2 September or in March, or two days before we play against Everton. We are making the bid in the period we have to make it, which is the open market.”

Mourinho is quoted as saying by the Guardian

It seems the Chelsea boss has now followed-up his comments with an improved offer as the Express are citing the Daily Mail as claiming this afternoon that a new £26m bid has been put on the table.

We’ll have to wait and see what Everton’s response will be this time but the newspaper suggests that while they’ll probably hold out for closer to £30m, they have started to make contingency plans to replace Stones, so a move appears to be on the cards.

The 21-year-old has developed into one of the best young defenders in the English game since joining Everton from Barnsley in 2013 and I think he’d be the ideal long-term replacement for John Terry.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news

Stones may initially struggle to get regular game-time at Stamford Bridge if he does make the move this summer but at least he’d be able to learn from the likes of Terry and Gary Cahill over the next 12 months before making a real push for the first team next season.

I’m sure Everton will be desperate to keep hold of him but it does appear like it’s only a matter of time before Stones joins Chelsea and I think he’ll prove to be a superb signing for the Premier League champions.