Chelsea have bid £45 million for Everton defender John Stones, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes. This is the fourth offer the reigning Barclays Premier League champions have made for the England international, after seeing three bids knocked back by the Toffees last summer. Their final bid of £37million was point-blank refused by Roberto Martinez, despite Stones filing a formal transfer request. Now, The Blues see the 21-year-old as the man to martial their leaky defence after setting off on one of the worst Premier League title defences of all time. Towards the end of Jose Mourinho's reign, both John Terry and Gary Cahill were hung out to dry. The players paid the price for numerous bad results Chelsea suffered. Who could forget former England skipper Terry being hauled off at half time at The Etihad during a humiliating 3-0 defeat against Manchester City in August? Stones has emerged as arguably Everton's most important player over the past couple of seasons, featuring in 18 of their 20 Premier League matches so far this term. Despite all the talk about one of his most prized possessions, the Merseyside club's manager Roberto Martinez has rubbished claims Stones could be leaving Goodison Park this month. "It doesn't matter if a club comes in. We created a squad during the summer to see how far we could go over the season," he said. "We'll never lose anyone in January, unless it's somebody who hasn't been playing and we need to find a solution. "If he's a top performer, it's not even a consideration."
