John Stones

[BlueToffee]

Hi @BlueToffee, no-one is advocating Stones doing any such thing, so I don't know where @@BluePhil8 got that from. I get you want the best for your club as do we for City and I suppose the 15% sell on fee to Barnsley is complicating matters at Everton's end. As it stands though, as far as I'm aware Stones hasn't actually submitted an official written transfer request and has only told the club he wants to leave, can you shed any light of this from a Toffees fan's perspective?

Understand it may only be 1 or 2 fans - all clubs have them fans when its their team signing a player, us included but they are the first to fume when the shoe is on the other foot.

Yes the Barnsley cut is complicating matters as I think we want around £38-40mill after paying Barnsley. As it stands we would be left with £34mill which for a player of his calibre and potential is way too low and a qiality replacement in todays market would see that swallowed up. Our bid for Koulibaly is around £40 mill which is outrageous but Napoli know that they can put that price on his head as we (along with Chelsea) want him and PL clubs are awash with money, so your not the only club being forced to overpay.

He submitted a request last year and it got refused. He hasn't resubmitted one yet. I think he knows the move will eventually go through do he's just biding his time but im dure he's fully aware of what you need to cough up as I cant see us budging.

 

[andyhinch]

I thought he didn't want to go to London.

I believe the phase I don't want to go to Chelsea was used

 

[mosssideblue]

That all sounds very reasonable. It is a lot of money with the English premium added but we should bite the bullet on this one, this being a pivotal position in Pep's system. Hope it gets done soon.

Surely if Stones was seen as that pivotal, we would have "bit the bullet ". I think the club are doing this correctly. Time will tell whether we reach agreement or not

 

[BringBackSwales]

Personal view is that £40M is a sensible limit and I hope we stick to it. Nobody else queueing round the Block at £40M. I think Everton would be left with a really passed off player; turning down Chelsea is one thing, missing the chance of playing for a coach who could turn him into a world class player would really hurt the lad

 

[BlueToffee]

Not having a go but don't get the getting a player in first bit ,wouldn't that also strengthen city's hand knowing you had to sell stones to recoup your money back ?and actually reduce stones asking price
It could play out you are then left with a new centre half you didn't need and stones

I think Moshiri and Koeman would be delighted if he stayed, it would mean we have spent £40mill extra on a defender, but then Jags is 34 this month and has had an injury for a couple of weeks which only leaves Funes Mori. If Stones were to stay then he would partner Koulibaly (assuming he's the Stones replacement) and Funes Mori would be backup.

If we sell Stones first and Napoli then demand £50mill or refuse to sell altogether then we have put ourselves in a bad position. I honestly wouldn't be suprised if the Stones deal was agreed but we wont let him actually leave until we get a replacement.

 

[bluesince76]

Maureen really wanted him last summer but didn't pay what Everton wanted. This year he's somewhere where they're clearly going to spend whatever to try and get back to the CL and he knows Everton's price, yet he's not even bid. Appears to be us or no one.

If I was trying to sell my house and only getting one offer and no one else even looking, I may have to accept the price is too high. Wonder if Everton will see sense in August, or will they just claim he was confused over summer again

 

[The slaughtered lamb]

Surely if Stones was seen as that pivotal, we would have "bit the bullet ". I think the club are doing this correctly. Time will tell whether we reach agreement or not

Oh, I'm sure we will do it correctly. I'm not suggesting we should pay ANY amount to get it done but I can see why this signing would get preference over, for example, a full back, given what we already have and the way Pep's teams set up. I can understand Everton wanting to get Koulibaly tied up before parting with Stones given who they're dealing with, Di Laurentiis, who by all accounts is a ball breaker. Remember when Cavani was up for sale? And Higuain wasn't exactly complementary about him this week. Not our problem of course but factors like that affect the dynamics of these transfers.

 

[BlueToffee]

Personal view is that £40M is a sensible limit and I hope we stick to it. Nobody else queueing round the Block at £40M. I think Everton would be left with a really passed off player; turning down Chelsea is one thing, missing the chance of playing for a coach who could turn him into a world class player would really hurt the lad

Its not that simple though, last year he was very professional through it all. His form dipped but it wasn't due to him sulking, it was due to Martinez's management and Style. He wasn't the only one, Barry, McCarthy, Barkley and even Lukaku looked bereft of confidence and looked poor.

He still has 3 years left on a £30k a week deal. If he doesn't get the move (which I fully believe he will) then I can see him signing a new deal on £100k a week with an actual release clause.

 

[BlueToffee]

Maureen really wanted him last summer but didn't pay what Everton wanted. This year he's somewhere where they're clearly going to spend whatever to try and get back to the CL and he knows Everton's price, yet he's not even bid. Appears to be us or no one.

If I was trying to sell my house and only getting one offer and no one else even looking, I may have to accept the price is too high. Wonder if Everton will see sense in August, or will they just claim he was confused over summer again

But we are not trying to sell our house, we'd rather keep it as we love it. However if a very good offer come along we would reluctantly accept.

That's why I don't get the 'take it or leave it' stance. I think Everton will happily leave it as we would love Stones to stay and learn from one of the best ball playing CB's there was. However, anyone could see why he would want the chance to work with Guardiola, but only if a deal suits us, not City or Stones.

 

[mosssideblue]

But we are not trying to sell our house, we'd rather keep it as we love it. However if a very good offer come along we would reluctantly accept.

That's why I don't get the 'take it or leave it' stance. I think Everton will happily leave it as we would love Stones to stay and learn from one of the best ball playing CB's there was. However, anyone could see why he would want the chance to work with Guardiola, but only if a deal suits us, not City or Stones.

This sums it up for me. Everton hold the aces