Roberto Martínez has again attempted to draw a line under the speculation regarding John Stones’ future.
The 21-year-old has been aggressively pursued by Premier League champions Chelsea throughout the summer, but Martinez is adamant that his star man won’t be sold.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Everton’s trip to Southampton, Martinez said:
“I have said before the player is not for sale and that is the end of it.”
“Our situation has been very clear from the beginning. We are not a selling club who will lose our best performers.
Everton have already rejected bids of £20million and £26million from Chelsea for the Barnsley youth graduate and are braced for a third bid.
If Stones stays he will be joined by a fellow Barnsley boy in Mason Holgate, who has signed today for an undisclosed fee.
And Martinez spoke in glowing terms about the imminent new arrival.
“Mason, at 18, has already played 20 games in League One and that shows the potential he has,”
“He will be a phenomenal young prospect coming into that golden generation we feel we have at the club and he will be a good one for the future.
“Mason is a completely different type of player to John but in terms of personality and character they are very similar.”
Everton travel to face Southampton on Saturday and will be hoping for a better result than their 2-2 draw against Watford.
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