Jose Mourinho confirms bid for Everton defender John Stones

Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he has made a bid for Everton defender John Stones this summer after reports emerged that the Toffees have rejected a £20m ($31m) offer for the England international.

Roberto Martinez was up in arms after the Chelsea bid, stating that such bids unsettle the team and that Mourinho should have thought better than to leak the information out to the press and make the issue public. Everton are currently in Singapore playing in the Barclays Asia Trophy and are set to return to England after losing 3-1 to Arsenal in the final.

"We pride ourselves on playing a certain way and educating our young players in a manner that they are going to always get attention from elsewhere and that is always a compliment," Martinez said, quoted by Sky Sports.

"The other side is the disappointment of seeing a football club leaking such statements to the press and making it so open."

Manchester United are also in for the player, according to the Mirror, but are yet to make any decisive move thus far, with Chelsea likely to increase their bid in the upcoming days, especially with Everton seeking a record fee for a defender to allow Stones to leave this summer.

Chelsea view the defender as a long term successor for John Terry, who has entered his mid-30s and is unlikely to carry on for much longer.

Mourinho hit back saying that Martinez should not make a scene out of this and that it is in Everton's hand to reject the bid without any further talk.

"We made a bid, the bid is there and Everton have the power to accept it or refuse it," Mourinho told Sky Sports.

"This is between John Stones and Everton and I don't speak about him because he is an Everton player.

"If we made a bid it is because we like the player, we don't make bids for players we don't like, but we respect Everton and respect every club that has a player and it is up to them - everything is in their hands.

"The transfer window is open, when it is open every club and every player is open to bids.

"Bids come for our players, we make bids for other players and the process can be so simple, so I would advise Roberto to do the same thing as I do," he added.

"If I get an offer for one of my players and I don't want to accept any offer I say I don't accept any offer, so you can make it very, very easy.

"If today I receive a bid for (Cesc) Fabregas in two minutes I will say I don't accept any bid, game over, that's it," the Chelsea manager concluded.