Chelsea Transfer News: Rio Ferdinand Urges John Stones to Pick Manchester United

Former Manchester United and England centre-back Rio Ferdinand has urged Everton's John Stones to choose a move to Old Trafford over a potential switch to Chelsea.

Stones has emerged as one of the most sought-after players in the transfer market, with Chelsea recently having had a second bid worth £26 million rejected by the Toffees, while United have lodged their interest in the 21-year-old centre-back, per the Guardian's David Hytner.

Ferdinand has now urged Stones to make a switch to United, suggesting only a "lunatic" would recommend a move to Chelsea, where he would likely be only a back-up to Gary Cahill and John Terry. Speaking at a BT Sport launch event, he said, per Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail.:

"

Will Stones play every week? 

It depends where he goes. If he goes to Manchester United, he plays every week so that’s the right club for him I think. 

If he goes to Chelsea, he’s not playing every week. He’s at that stage of his development where he wants to play every week. 

If you say to any young footballer to leave a club to sit on the bench, you’ve got to be a lunatic. You have to be. 

I think he is the real deal. He’s very good on the ball. I took a real interest in him and watched him at Loftus Road against Bobby Zamora, who gave most centre-halves problems last season physically, and he handled Bobby well. 

That was one of the areas that I hadn’t really seen him under pressure with and he looked up for that battle. With all the other stuff he’s got, he’s got a real good chance.

"

Ferdinand spent 12 years at United between 2002 and 2014 during which time he formed one of the world's best central-defensive partnerships with Nemanja Vidic.

However, since the departure of both Ferdinand and Vidic, United have looked weak in defence, a particular problem for Louis van Gaal.

According to Ferdinand, Stones could be the long-term solution to that problem, and he has urged Van Gaal to sign up the England international, per the Sunday World's Kevin Palmer:

Despite the interest in Stones, Everton boss Roberto Martinez recently insisted his future lies at Goodison Park, per David Wright in the Express: 

"Clearly he is a player that we admire, clearly that is going to be the same in other clubs," he said. "They are going to be admiring his ability and what he is as a footballer but he is an Everton player and as you can imagine he is a big part of what we are trying to achieve in the future."

That may be true in the short term—Everton may well keep hold of Stones for one more season—but his departure from Merseyside to a bigger club seems inevitable.

Given the premium put on English players, Everton are right to demand a big fee for such a talented player, and Stones may well break the British transfer record for a defender when he moves on, per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe:

Chelsea are apparently "desperate" to sign Stones as a long-term successor for Terry, and the Blues will go back in for him before the summer transfer window closes, per the Mirror's Darren Lewis (h/t talkSPORT's Adam Jones).

Jones' report suggests a bid of over £30 million could tempt Everton to move Stones on, but it remains to be seen whether Chelsea or United are prepared to spend that much money to bag the youngster.