Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Martinez hails Everton chief amid John Stones battle with Chelsea

Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes his chairman Bill Kenwright has answered his vocal collection of critics by refusing to buckle to Chelsea in the battle over defender John Stones.

Kenwright issued a statement on Thursday confirming Everton had rejected a transfer request from Stones and would not consider selling him, amid a succession of reported bids from the Premier League champions.

It was a show of strength from a chairman who has been accused of lacking ambition in the transfer market in recent years, with Tom Cleverley's free transfer, the signing of Gerard Deulofeu and the capture of River Plate of Paraguay youngster Leandro Rodriguez the highest profile arrivals at Everton this summer.

Some of the club's fans paid for a plane carrying a banner calling for the club's long-standing chairman to make his exit earlier this month as protests against the lack of investment in the transfer market escalated, yet Martinez hopes Kenwright's stance on Stones will soften opinion towards the club's hierarchy.

"What it shows you more than anything else is the chairman we have at Everton," Martinez told reporters. "There has been a lot of talk and a lot of debate but this shows you our chairman just cares about Everton.

"Our chairman has been very clear and very strong. He wants to keep the players who are vital to this team, to make us as strong as we can be, and he deserves huge credit for that," he said.

"Any chairman would give his manager a big problem if he sold one of the club's biggest assets at this stage of the window, and that happens. But our chairman has been very clear and very strong."

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