Chelsea look set to face a huge battle to sign Everton defender John Stones, after the Merseyside club rejected yet another bid from the Blues. Chelsea made a bid of around £20m for the Englishman 2 weeks ago, and have since seen another bid of £26m rejected.

But it doesn’t end there for Chelsea.

First of all, Everton have no reason to sell Stones – with chairman Bill Kenwright having no financial need to sell the player. At the same time, Everton have let two defenders leave already this summer, and wouldn’t be too interested in allowing another to leave. Not to mention the Toffees see Stones as a future club captain.

Stones was brought to Goodison Park by former Everton boss David Moyes. The centre back cost £3m from Barnsley on deadline day in 2013 (January). The club are supposedly insisting on £30m for the defender, meaning they’d make 10x what they paid for him – shrewd business.

Not only are Chelsea keen on Stones, it has recently emerged that Premier League rivals Manchester United and Manchester City are in for the Englishman. Whether either of the sides are willing to stump up the £30m quoted remains to be seen, but as of now it seems as if Mourinho is the only manager seriously interested in the centre back.

John Stones is one of the brightest defenders in world football, it’s fairly obvious he would prefer a move to Chelsea rather than stay at Everton – but perhaps the Toffees stubbornness will be too much for Mourinho to handle.