Everton's Stones affected by Chelsea link

Everton's England centre-back John Stones has been unsettled by the interest shown in him by Premier League champions Chelsea, his manager Roberto Martinez admitted on Thursday.

Everton are reported to have rejected bids of £20 million ($31.2 million, 28.6 million euros) and £26 million for Stones from Chelsea and Martinez is adamant that the 21-year-old will not be sold.

Asked if the situation had affected Stones, Martinez told a press conference: "Yes, and it is something where you hope you learn from it and you get more mature and those experiences are good experiences.

"Clearly John is one of the outstanding young talents that we have in the squad and you are going to get that sort of interest from the outside.

"But all we are focused on is (Saturday's Premier League home match against) Watford. John is an Everton player and there is nothing else to comment on that."

On the prospect of Chelsea returning with a third bid, Martinez said: "You shouldn't worry about situations you cannot affect or control.

"I said from the beginning -- when you are not a club that is trying actively to sell players, the focus is just to try to be as good as we can at the weekend and see how ready we are individually and as a team.

"Everything else is stuff that does not bother me now at all."
Source: AFP