Chelsea are believed to be weighing up a £40m offer to meet Everton’s valuation, and The Sun has reported that Stones is now considering a transfer request to try and force through the move.

Chelsea have been in hot pursuit of the England global, who is a regular starter for the Merseyside outfit.

“He’s a very talented player“, Cleverely told Sky Sports News headquarters. It’s natural and positive that we have interest in our players from other clubs. He is on to a good thing.

Since Chelsea’s first bid of £20million turned public in mid-July, Martinez has said repeatedly that he won’t promote Stones, who’s underneath contract at Everton till 2019. He’s so calm and composed. But we’ll learn from it. “He has the Euros (Euro 2016) coming up, so why go?”

Despite the uncertainty, Stones remains an Everton player and will feature against Manchester City on Monday (AEST).

The move for Ghana defender Baba Rahman was already a done deal by then, with Mourinho as good as confirming it in his post-match press conference.

“They adore him, the Evertonians”. “My only concern is preparing for the game“.

“Obviously he’s here, and we’re going to meet over the next 24 hours and see if we can conclude a deal with his club River Plate”. But I don’t think it’s healthy for anyone when you have the window open after the season starts, because the discussion we are having now is wrong.

“But our player didn’t demand leaving and also our club has no thought of selling him“.

Pellegrini acknowledges the task ahead of his side could also be a tricky one. “The opportunity window, in these last two weeks, it depends on the opportunities”.

Pellegrini added: “It is a hard challenge”. It’s a test of his character and if he plays well in the next few games it can only put him in a better light. “He was very important in the whole game, especially in the first goal”.