Mourinho to continue pursuit for Everton defender
Jose Mourinho is ready to outbid Barcelona with a bid of £54million for Everton defender John Stones.
Mourinho’s pursuit of the defender is set to continue after he repeatedly tried to sign the Everton player last summer while he was at Chelsea. It was a saga that lead to a transfer request from Stones being denied by Everton and Roberto Martinez.
Despite his tender years, the 22-year-old has already accumulated 95 appearances for Everton and another 10 for England.
He was handed his debut by Roy Hodgson in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup and is now competing with Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill for a starting berth at Euro 2016.
And now Barca, although they are still keen to sign him, reportedly believe they will be outbid because United are willing to go as high as £54m.
Former Everton boss Roberto Martinez reportedly valued Stones at £50m and Jose Mourinho, who is understood to have a £200m war-chest at his disposal, will stop at almost nothing to sign him.
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
