Barcelona Transfer News: John Stones Offer Rejected Amid Manchester City Rumours

Barcelona have reportedly had an offer for Everton centre-back John Stones turned down, and the Catalan giants believe the Englishman "will join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City." 

According to Pete Jenson in the Daily Mail, Stones rejected an offer from Barca of "£90,000 a week plus bonuses for trophies won" after the Liga champions recently met with his agent, Paul Martin.

Per Jenson, Martin told the Blaugrana their contract offer was "considerably lower than those the 22-year-old has on the table from other Premier League suitors," a result, no doubt, of Barca's "crippling wage bill."

Furthermore, Barca reportedly believe Stones is enamoured by the idea of working with Guardiola, their former coach, and he will thus be staying in the Premier League.

According to John Cross in the Mirror, though, Everton are not planning to let Stones leave Goodison Park this summer, so Barca may have another chance to move for the talented youngster in the future.

Stones is a much sought-after player and was the subject of four bids from Chelsea last summer—the last one totalling £37 million—all of which were rejected by the Toffees, per Tony Banks in the Daily Express.

He subsequently endured a frustratingly poor 2015-16 campaign under former Everton manager Roberto Martinez, during which he was worryingly error-prone, per the Telegraph's Ali Tweedale:

However, Stones remains widely admired as one of the most promising young centre-backs in Europe, and for Barca, his "pace and two-footed ability on the ball had convinced them that he could be a long-term replacement for Javier Mascherano," per Jenson.

The Blaugrana certainly need to plan for the future at the centre-back position.

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Gerard Pique and Mascherano are the club's only two reliable options in the centre of their defence, with Thomas Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu making for inconsistent and uninspiring support.

Furthermore, Mascherano, 32, recently pushed for a transfer to Juventus—Barca blocked the move—per Ed Malyon in the Mirror.

Stones was seemingly one of Barcelona's main targets as they try to rebuild their back line, but they will have to look elsewhere for an alternative young centre-back.