Chelsea Fear Man Utd Hijack As Blues Line-Up £30m Defender Bid

With the summer transfer window in full swing, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads for the new season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, more on the future of John Stones…

Chelsea are readying a fresh £30m bid for John Stones but fear Manchester United will try to hijack their move for the Everton centre-back during the closing stages of the transfer window, according to the Daily Mail.

The defending Premier League champions have been strongly linked with Stones this summer with the Guardian reporting earlier this month that the Blues had seen two bids worth £20m and £26m rejected by Everton.

Roberto Martinez has been left angered by Chelsea’s public pursuit of the 21-year-old and despite the Toffees insistence that Stones isn’t for sale this summer, it seems Jose Mourinho isn’t ready to take no for an answer.

The Daily Mail claim that Chelsea will submit a fresh £30m offer before the transfer window closes at the end of the month and are confident they will agree personal terms with the player quickly if they can secure a deal with Everton.

However, the newspaper suggests that officials at the West London club believe Manchester United will look to hijack their proposed deal by tabling an offer of their own over the next fortnight.

It remains to be seen whether that will be the case by the Mail seem to think that it has been indicated to Chelsea chiefs that United are simply waiting to see if Everton agree to do business before making their own move for the defender.

The news comes shortly after ESPN reported that United were prepared to use out-of-favour centre-back Jonny Evans as bait to land Stones in a player-plus-cash swap deal.

That deal would provide Everton with a ready-made replacement as well as a substantial fee to use on strengthening their squad elsewhere, so it appears that while Chelsea may still be in pole position, they could yet face some stiff competition for Stones’ signature.

The England international has developed a reputation as one of the best young talents in Britain since moving to Everton in 2013 and there’s no doubt he’s got a huge future ahead of him.

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

He’d be the ideal long-term replacement for John Terry at Stamford Bridge but he’s also the type of player Louis van Gaal could build his new-look defence around for the next 10-years, so I think he’d be an excellent signing for either club.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but I personally think it’s a question of when, not if, Stones leaves Goodison Park but where he ends up is still anyone’s guess.