Chelsea
Man Utd Ready To Blow Chelsea Out The Water With £54m Defender Bid
Manchester United are ready to blow Chelsea and Barcelona out of the water with a mammoth £54m bid for Everton defender John Stones, according to reports
The opening of the summer transfer window is fast approaching so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Manchester United are ready to pay big money to land John Stones…
Image: Liverpool Echo
Manchester United are ready to blow Chelsea and Barcelona out of the water with a mammoth £54m bid for Everton defender John Stones, according to the Express.
Stones has developed in to one of the best young centre-backs in European football since joining Everton from Barnsley in 2013 and has already racked up 95 appearances for the Merseyside club over the past three years.
The 22-year-old’s potential has attracted interest from several top clubs with the Express citing reports coming out of Spain that claim Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona are all desperate to lure the defender away from Goodison Park this summer.
Chelsea were strongly linked with a move for Stones last summer when they saw three very public offers rejected by Everton and new boss Antonio Conte is expected to go back in for the youngster as he looks to bring in a long-term replacement for John Terry.
Barcelona are also on the look-out for another centre-back with Javier Mascherano tipped to leave the Nou Camp, however, the Express claim that United are determined to land Stones and are willing to pay a staggering £54m to win the race for his signature.
The newspaper says that new United boss Jose Mourinho has a £200m warchest at his disposal and is ready to sanction a big-money move to try and lure Stones to Old Trafford this summer.
Mourinho is expected to be extremely busy rebuilding the squad he’s inherited from Louis van Gaal and a new partner for Chris Smalling is likely to be a priority as Daley Blind was forced to fill-in at the back last season.
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Stones would be the ideal choice as he’s tipped to line-up alongside Smalling for England at Euro 2016 this month and the pair could end up starting together for both club and country next year.
Everton would find it almost impossible to turn down a £54m bid if it’s put on the table from United but it will be interesting to see if the likes of Chelsea or Barcelona will be willing to match that sort of money or move on to other targets.
