Everton Fans Sing 'Money Can't Buy You Stones', Martinez on Transfer Request

Chelsea's pursuit of Everton defender John Stones has been a long, well-documented one. 

But it seems as though the club have finally given up on the highly touted Englishman and moved on to other targets to fill their defensive needs, as reported by the Daily Mail. 

Everton fans at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane took the opportunity to rub further salt in the Chelsea wounds (earlier, they were beaten by Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge) by replacing a few words of the famous Beatles song, "Money Can't Buy Me Love." 

Update, August 31: Roberto Martinez added another bizarre layer to the Stones saga when he indicated that Stones hadn't actually intended to submit a transfer request.

Per quotes from Sky Sports, Martinez was asked about how Stones can be welcomed back into the Everton fold:

"

"With John, it's very easy because he's a pristine professional. Obviously he's been put under massive, massive pressure. The transfer request was something he didn't mean to do."

Asked if Stones had expressed regret to him over the transfer request, Martinez added: "No, no, no. We haven't spoken about that. All we've been speaking about is the game and what we need to do. He's been a leader in that."

"

So you can, it seems, submit a transfer request by accident.

[Twitter, h/t Metro]