John Stones' Future, Summer Transfer Saga Discussed by Former Everton Scout

The scout who brought John Stones to Everton has tipped the young England international to play for Real Madrid one day but is delighted the centre-back did not make a big-money move in the summer transfer window.  

Former Toffees chief scout Tony Henry believes the 21-year-old Stones will benefit from spending a little longer in the Everton setup despite attracting significant interest from Chelsea in the summer.

Henry—who persuaded then-manager David Moyes to sign the youngster from Barnsley in 2013 for around £3 million—acknowledges that Stones still has much to learn, but he is convinced of his potential, per Phil Kirkbride of the Liverpool Echo:

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John will still make mistakes but in two years, I think he could be anywhere. He could be at Real Madrid. I’m glad he stayed at Everton because if he had gone to Chelsea or Man United he would have played, but I feel it may have been too much for him at the moment. But playing at Everton, alongside Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman, will bring him on even more. That he is now a regular in the England squad speaks volumes of the kid. I’m delighted for him.

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A hypothetical future move for Stones to the Bernabeu is a fascinating prospect as it could see him paired up with another of European football's brightest centre-back prospects, Raphael Varane.

Both are ball-playing defenders who like to distribute from the back, and with Stones' penchant for making ambitious dribbles from deep, it would be intriguing to see how the duo would fare in a partnership.

Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

Chelsea, though, seem to be the obvious eventual destination for Stones—and perhaps even for Varane who has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in the past, per Jamie Anderson of the Daily Star.

With John Terry's career winding down, Stones is considered the heir apparent to the former England captain at Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League champions pushed hard to sign Stones right up until the closure of the transfer window but were consistently denied by Everton, per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe:

The Blues came in with numerous bids, the last of which was reported to be a gargantuan £38 million offer, per the MailOnline's Charlie Skillen and Elliott Bretland. 

However, the Merseyside outfit have done well to keep Stones on for the time being, and Everton will hope he can help them to improve on their relatively lowly 11th-placed Premier League finish from last season. 

If he can continue to improve during the term, his transfer value will only increase, and Everton can reap the benefits with his current contract at Goodison running until 2019.

Per Kirkbride, Henry met some resistance at Everton when he first encouraged Moyes to sign the young Stones.

But his instincts are being proven increasingly astute by the day, and he may well be correct in his assertions that Stones is destined for the very top of the game.