BlueToff

The reporters have been making a lot of this up as they go along, mate. Being one myself, I understand, they need to sell papers/click-bait. When EFC rejected the first bid, the papers said £25mil would do it. Low and behold, when that was rejected, they said £30mil-34mil. Nope, that won't do it either. I think if Chelsea come in with bid of £35mil by Friday, then it may not be rejected out of hand, though I hope it will be. But, if you leave it late, which wouldn't give us chance to get better replacements in - which even with money we wouldn't definitely be able to attract because of a lack of European football - then i think he'll stay or you'll have to pay a huge sum (talking 40-50mil).

I agree on the premium and Sterling, but it's there, so obvioulsy any club will exploit it, just like how you exploited PSG's mental policy. What has annoyed a lot of Evertonians is the constant media speculation - even now we've got Andy Gray on the radio saying Stones will go. Why? He's not indicated he wants to go, we don't want to sell and they all seem to forget that it's not a risk for us to keep him. it's not like he's in his prime and will go downhill quickly, as you've said he's only played for us consistently for 1 and a half years. It's not ridiculous at all to think that, next summer, when he'll likely be in the Euro squad, that we could demand a starting bid of £40mil, especially with the added TV Money as well. As for the Kenwright debate, most sensible supporters know he's not a bad guy, but the current board are allowing the club to stagnate - taking a lot of money out with no investment. That's a debate for another forum, obviously, but the best thing to come form it in the short term, for me, is that it makes it very difficult for the board to justify selling Stones. The EFC fanbase is very split on it, but i think Stones' sale for anything under a 'Sterling-style' fee, would make a lot turn on mass. Even though Stones is by no means the finished article, he's one of the most complete defenders around at the moment for his age. I can guarantee to the fans of whatever club he eventually leaves us for, whenever that may be, they will not regret paying the big-bucks for him.

Alright, here to put an Evertonian's view-point on this, without 'blue-tinted specs'. John Stones is one of the brightest English talents, think we can all agree on this. Also, as many of your posters have pointed out, the opening bid of £20mil was never going to get him - and the general consensus from anyone with half a brain cell is that the bid was to attempt to get Stones to indicate he wanted to leave. This didn't happen, and so the bigger bids have come in. Stones IS already good enough to command a record fee for an English defender, especially when you take into consideration that Ferdinand's transfer was in 2002, and with how mad the transfer market has gone over the last few seasons. Most Evertonians are realistic to know that Stones' true market value is probably around £30-35mil. However, he's one of our best players and we are in no need to sell. Factor in the English premium, Stones himself being happy to stay at a club where he is going to be a key player this season and, finally, the fact that we have said HE IS NOT FOR SALE, then surely it is not hard to understand why we are rejecting these bids, and why most fans would not be happy with anything under the £50million mark. Added to this is also the fact that you set your own benchmark when selling Luiz to PSG. Stones is a better defender than Luiz ever will be - but yet you still managed to milk PSG for all they were worth as Luiz is a global name and a marquee signing. While Stones is by no means the most prominent player in the Prem, he would be a marquee signing - as he is being touted as a future England skipper and your long-term Terry replacement. I, along with a lot of our fanbase, have no issue with rich clubs bidding for our better players. It happens. However, I think what's really ticked the club and fanbase off with this is the total disregard/lack of respect shown by Chelsea in this instance. It's nothing that needs to be taken to heart, but it's all being very public, while the London-centric media refuse to let the issue be dropped. I'm sure you'll put in another bid of £35mil soon enough. I hope, and think, that it will be rejected. I repeat, we have no need to sell. We've got a bit of money to spend ourselves (not much, but enough to get the two players we need to improve the squad for our aims this season). Stones will be worth more next year, and don't kid yourselves, he's worth every penny.