I've already made these points before but again:
1) I think the record fee paid for an English player was £45m for Sterling. The world record fee for a defender is £50m for Luiz. £40m is a massive fee. It's hardly a case of getting him on the cheap. And a few months ago, Everton fans came on here telling us about Moshiri's Billions and how it was a new start for EFC etc. What is the point of holding out for even more money when you are wealthy? False economy leaving it to the end when you have to replace the player.
2) Kenwright has managed to ratchet the fee up to £40 million. Well done. The rest of football would think it ridiculous if City paid that let alone £50m. To say you're not going to discuss anything less than £50m is seriously disrespectful to the player and would put the relationship between club and player at risk.
I don't think Everton had any intention of finding the best deal for Stones which really they have an obligation to do when the player says they want to leave.