Everton boss Roberto Martinez embraces the transfer speculation that surrounds his players and is not concerned about what might happen in the January transfer window, according to ESPN.
Romelu Lukaku has been recently linked with moves to Juventus and PSG, while John Stones was the subject of an aggressive pursuit from Premier League Champions Chelsea, who are expected to follow up their interest.
What I don’t like is teams looking at our squad and nobody is interested, and nobody feels we have got good players. We worked really hard in the last six transfer windows to assemble a very strong squad with a real determination to bring in young players with world-class talent, and that’s what we’ve done.
Brendan Galloway and Kevin Mirallas have also been linked with moves away from Goodison Park, but Martinez sees the interest in his squad as a footballing compliment.
When you look at players like Gerard Deulofeu, Romelu Lukaku, John Stones, Ross Barkley, they are very young players and they work to develop, to become important, to enjoy their football, and then we are going to benefit as a football club. So I have no worries about attracting attention, because that’s what you want. If you sign players and no one thinks they are doing well then you have a big, big problem.
Star striker Lukaku has been in impressive form for the Toffeemen this season and has already scored nine goals in all competitions.
Everton’s record signing has faced criticism in his time on Merseyside, but with 45 goals and around 20 assists in 96 appearances, at just 22 years of age, his ability can’t be questioned.
John Stones has also had a decent start to the season, and put in a classy display at Upton Park on Saturday.
The 21-year-old centre-half submitted a transfer request in the summer after having his head turned by Chelsea’s interest, but he hasn’t let his summer troubles affect his game, which is a testament to his temperament.
Martinez lavished praise on his prized asset:
It was a really interesting challenge for John — it wasn’t just about defending and doing his job well, it was about leading the back four with five defenders injured,
I thought John set the tone and he was immense, in the manner that you have to defend a striker like Andy Carroll and then take the responsibility in the way he started the play, I thought it was a magnificent performance.
Martinez is confident in is ability to keep his stars, and in by keeping John Stones and Leighton Baines previously, Evertonians should be too.
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