John Stones is regarded as one of the best young talents in the game at the moment and one of the better centerbacks in the BPL this season, but has not started for Everton since Everton lost 3-1 to Man City on January 27th. Everton manager, Roberto Martinez, said that Stones has not been in the team due to a minor injury, the success of the team and the good form of Ramino Funes Mori and Phil Jagielka.

During Stones’ absence, Everton have won five of their last six games although they did not face to most quality of opponents with wins against Aston Villa, Carlisle United and Newcastle. Everton have been solid in the back in the past six games without Stones starting, only conceding to West Brom and Aston Villa although Villa did score when Stones was in as a substitute.

Funes and Jagielka are clearly solid in the back and this begs the question of where to insert John Stones. It would be good for Martinez to play Stones in the lineup because if Everton are to sell Stones in the summer, then playing him and having him on good form will increase his price. Everton are currently in 11th on 38 points and it seems unlikely that they will reach top five and qualify for any european spots unless they do win the FA Cup. Given that the possibility for Everton to achieve great things in the league this season are low, it seems logical that they should play Stones so that he can develop more and possibly string together some good performances and make himself more appetizing for the clubs that are interested in buying him.

The ideal future centerback partnership at Everton would be Funes and Stones, but that seems unlikely as both are linked with moves away from the club with Stones having bids up to £40 million by Chelsea and having submitted a transfer request back in the summer transfer window of this year. Stones since then has been linked heavily with Chelsea, Man City and numerous other large clubs willing to pay big money for the youngster. Funes has recently been linked with Barcelona although a deal seems unlikely.

Everton should cash in on Stones this summer while his price tag is so high and look to retain Funes at all costs. Funes and Jagielka would partner in the back for the foreseeable future and when Jagielka retires, Everton can either buy another young centerback or possibly play Brendan Galloway or Tyias Browning at centerback if they have developed to be good players.

Stones, unlike the other young Everton stars linked away from the club, has submitted a transfer request in the past and it appears as if he is not fully loyal to the club, not entirely happy and wanting to leave. A player that wants to leave is never good for the moral in the lockeroom and many big clubs find this so important that they have policies where they sell any player that wants to leave, regardless if they really want to hold onto the player. Juventus, for example, has this policy and sold Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez this summer although they were essential for the success of the team during their Champions League run. All in all, if a player wants to leave, it is usually best to let them go.

Everton should sell Stones in the summer and look for Funes and Jagielka to play centerback for the foreseeable future.