Chelsea re-open John Stones saga with new £44.2m offer

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Chelsea have made another pass at signing Everton defender John Stones by lodging a new £44.2million offer for the England international, according to reports in Spain.

The Blues chased the 21-year-old heavily over the summer, but saw their three official offers rejected by the Goodison Park side, but despite that, Chelsea are desperate to pick up where they left off by lodging a new offer now that the January transfer window has reopened.

Since the summer, though, the centre-back has garnered interest from the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona, but Chelsea are hoping to beat them all to the punch by making an opening offer of £44.2m deal, which will likely have add ons to tempt the Toffees to sell.

Owner Roman Abramovic is believed to be the driving force behind the chase, as he looks to bring in more quality ahead of a final push to salvage something of their underwhelming season.