Chelsea preparing astonishing £50m bid for highly-rated England international

Chelsea are reportedly willing to splash out a sensational £50m to sign England international John Stones during the January transfer window.

The defending Premier League champions, who defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 on Sunday, still lie only six points above the bottom three after their opening 20 league fixtures this campaign.

The 21-year-old, who has seven international caps for the Three Lions, has made 22 appearances in all competitions for Roberto Martinez’s Toffees so far this season.

Stones, who joined Everton from League One club Barnsley for a reported fee of £3m back in January 2013, was the subject of four failed approaches from the Blues during the summer transfer window, with the bidding fee rising up to as much as £40m.

Despite now being under interim boss Guus Hiddink; Chelsea are still keen on recruiting the highly-rated England centre-half in January as they look to revive their hopes of finishing in the Premier League’s top four during the second-half of the campaign, with owner Roman Abramovich understood to be willing to part with £50m of his money to approve the high-profile transfer.

The likes of La Liga giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have also expressed an interest in signing Stones in the past.