Chelsea Transfer News: Examining Latest Rumours on Summer Target John Stones

Chelsea have been offered fresh hope regarding any potential bid to eventually sign Everton centre-back John Stones. Despite spending all summer rebuffing a series of offers from Stamford Bridge, including a £30 million offer in late-August, per Mirror reporter Aaron Flanagan, the Toffees are apparently aware they'll eventually have to sell.

Dominic King of the Daily Mail has reported that Everton manager Roberto Martinez will "consider selling John Stones next summer but only if he feels Everton would reap long-term benefits. It's hard to know exactly what is meant by "long-term benefits."

If cash is the issue, that should scare Chelsea fans. King noted how Everton rejected a Chelsea bid for Stones that was in excess of "£37 million," one of four bids.

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In July, David Hytner of the Guardian stated the Toffees dismissed the defending Premier League champions' £26 million bid.

If Martinez is resigned to yet more Chelsea interest and pressure during this summer, he could be laying the groundwork to prompt a record bid.

However, the Toffees gaffer maintains timing played a role in Everton's defiance during the most recent transfer window: "If we'd lost John Stones at that stage it would have been impossible for us to bring a player of the same level."

It's a question of credibility. Did Everton keep Stones out of Chelsea's grasp simply because the moment to sell wasn't ripe? Or is Martinez already angling for more cash?

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For Everton owner Bill Kenwright, the real issue of credibility involves making a statement the Merseyside outfit is not merely a selling club. Kenwright recently made that clear, per Mirror writer David Maddock:

"

John Stones is hugely important to this club, of course. He’s the best centre-back in England, surely, and he was never going to leave, never. There was never a moment...

[...]

We’re not a selling club. Never really have been.

"

Despite the slightly contradictory messages from Everton's manager and owner, Chelsea shouldn't abandon the idea of signing Stones. Jose Mourinho's team has been uncharacteristically shaky in defence this season, conceding 12 goals in the first five Premier League games, including in their recent 3-1 defeat to Stones' Everton, per BBC Sport's Mandeep Sanghera.

Watching things unfold, Match of the Day and BT Sport pundit Gary Lineker couldn't resist poking fun at Chelsea's inability to land Stones:

The only answer from this summer's window was the £2.7 million deal to sign Papy Djilobodji from Nantes. Bizarrely, Mourinho has even claimed he "played no part in that transfer," according to the Mirror's Jacob Murtagh: “It was not my choice. It was the choice of someone I trust completely, which is the same. I don’t know every player."

Not many managers would be as trusting as the self-anointed "special one." But one deal doesn't cure every ill for Chelsea's ageing defence, and Mourinho will know that.

Skipper John Terry is 34, while full-back Branislav Ivanovic is 31. Terry's fellow centre-back Gary Cahill is 29. Like Ivanovic, Cahill has been far from convincing this season.

During the defeat at Everton, Simon Johnson of the London Evening Standard tweeted how Ivanovic continues to struggle:

In the context of so many problems, it's easy to believe Chelsea may be on the hunt for a new defender again next summer. Listening to Martinez, though, if that new defender is Stones, Chelsea had better be prepared to break the bank.