Chelsea bid £30m for John Stones but Everton raise the price once again

We have officially entered the realm of the ridiculous as far as the John Stones transfer saga goes.  And that's saying something, considering that Everton manager Roberto Martinez had already accused John Terry of saying illegal things earlier.

EXCLUSIVE! Chelsea bid £30 million for John Stones to fix defence - but Everton want £40m http://t.co/i3LXYqffCb #cfc pic.twitter.com/MyQgWU7hC1

— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) August 17, 2015

Chelsea's third bid, after Everton rejected our earlier offers of £20m and £26m, is not surprising.  Everton's new asking price, however, very much is.  Previous rumors had them looking for something around £30-34m, but it would appear that the young center back has not become unsettled enough for Everton to cave-in at that price point.  In fact, they've raised their valuation to £40m.

So ... yeah.  That's one way to accomplish something that words can't really do, namely, to prevent us from buying young John Stones.  Maybe it's time to go to plan B or C or whatever other options we may have up our sleeves, if we're really that desperate to add another center back to the squad.