John Stones to Chelsea: Blues expected to make second bid for Everton defender within the next 48 hours

Chelsea are expected to make a second bid for Everton’s John Stones within the next 48 hours. The Premier League champions had an initial £20m bid turned down by Everton last week and reports suggest Jose Mourinho will make a new offer worth £26m for the defender.

But Everton boss Roberto Martinez and owner Bill Kenwright continue to resist Chelsea’s efforts to sign Stones. Chelsea’s bid for the young defender was complicated after Martinez criticised Mourinho for openly discussing the possible transfer.

Mourinho, though, has not been deterred by Everton’s initial rejection and is hopeful a fee can be agreed before the start of the Premier League season.

Everton are still demanding around £34m for the 21-year-old but it remains unclear whether Chelsea would be prepared to meet these demands. If Everton’s asking price is eventually met, the transfer would break the British record fee for a defender set by Rio Ferdinand’s £33.1m move to Manchester United from Leeds in 2002.

Stones is seen by many at Stamford Bridge as a potential long-term replacement for captain John Terry and the young defender is understood to be keen on the transfer to the current league champions. The prospect of Champions League football will be a huge attraction for the England international.

If Everton agree to Mourinho’s second bid, the transfer will mark Chelsea’s first significant signing after bringing in Radamel Falcao on loan from Monaco. The club have remained unusually quiet this summer with regards to transfers. Mourinho even criticised his rivals of trying to buy the title in their attempts to challenge Chelsea.

“In the beginning of Mr Abramovich coming to Chelsea, Chelsea was buying the title,” said Mourinho. “Now, they are buying the title. All of them, they are buying the title. It is up to us to be strong and to fight them and, obviously, to try and win it again, even without the big investments.”