John Stones would like to move to Chelsea to further his career and hopes Everton will consider selling him this summer.

Standard Sport revealed yesterday how Chelsea had grown in confidence that Stones is ready to join them now, despite the possibility of not being a regular in the first team and putting his place in the England squad at risk.

But it is understood the 21-year-old is excited at the prospect of playing for last season's title winners, as well as participating in the Champions League next term.

Everton have reacted furiously in public to Chelsea's interest and have already turned down a £20m bid.

They claim it was made clear in a letter sent to the Chelsea hierarchy last week, before news broke of Chelsea's offer in the media on Friday, that the 21-year-old was not for sale.

However, it is believed the message only confirmed the £20m offer had been refused and failed to say Stones was not for sale at any price.

Chelsea are on the verge of returning to Everton with a higher sum of £26m and the latter are facing a struggle to keep their prize asset.

They value Stones in excess of £32m and that would exceed the record transfer paid for an English defender, which was the £30m Manchester United spent to lure Rio Ferdinand from Leeds in 2002.

The champions are prepared to send a player on loan the other way to tempt Everton to compromise.

The 10 biggest transfers between Premier League clubs 9 show all The 10 biggest transfers between Premier League clubs 1/9 10. MAROUANE FELLAINI (Everton to Manchester United, £27.5million, September 2013) David Moyes thought he had secured a key piece of the jigsaw when he managed to prise Belgium international Fellaini from the grasp of former club Everton following his appointment as United boss. However, the towering midfielder only really made an impressive following the end of the Scot's ill-fated and all too brief reign with Van Gaal belatedly seeing the best of him last season. VERDICT: Under David Moyes at United, a MISS. But under Van Gaal, a surprise HIT. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images 2/9 8=. WILFRIED BONY (Swansea to Manchester City, £28million, January 2015) Bony's superb form for Swansea, for whom he scored 25 league goals in 54 appearances, prompted City to hand over £28million to add him to their already impressive armoury. However, it took the Ivory Coast international time to find his feet at the Etihad Stadium following his return from the African Nations Cup, and he managed just two goals in 12 outings. Steve Parkin/AFP/Getty Images 3/9 8=. ROMELU LUKAKU (Chelsea to Everton, £28million, July 2014) Everton spent big on Lukaku after seeing him score 15 goals in 31 appearances on loan after managing 17 for West Brom during the previous campaign. The Belgium international, who figured in only 10 league games for Chelsea, struck 20 times last season including a Europa League hat-trick against Young Boys. VERDICT: MISS Martin Rickett/PA 4/9 6=. LUKE SHAW (Southampton to Manchester United, £30million, June 2014) United backed their belief in Shaw's potential with hard cash when they splashed out on the then 18-year-old last summer. However, he has found the going tough to date with Van Gaal at one point questioning his fitness, and he is yet to fully prove his worth. VERDICT: MISS Alex Livesey/Getty Images 5/9 6=. RIO FERDINAND (Leeds to Manchester United, £30million, July 2002) A little more than 19 months after Leeds had paid West Ham £18million for central defender Ferdinand, United handed over £30million to secure his services, and it proved money well spent. He went on to make more than 450 appearances for the club over 12 years and won six league titles, the Champions League and two League Cups while at the same time representing England with distinction. VERDICT: HIT Alex Livesey/Allsport/Getty Images 6/9 5. DIMITAR BERBATOV (Tottenham to Manchester United, £30.75million, September 2008) Berbatov headed for Old Trafford with a blossoming reputation having proved himself in the Premier League during his two seasons at Spurs. He scored 14 goals during his first season at United, 12 in his second and 22 in his third, but fell out of favour with manager Sir Alex Ferguson and joined Fulham in August 2012. VERDICT: MISS John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images 7/9 4. ANDY CARROLL (Newcastle to Liverpool, £35million, January 2011) There was uproar on Tyneside when the Magpies accepted an offer from Liverpool, who were immediately reinvesting a large chunk of the £50million Torres fee. However, Carroll was hampered by injuries and when new boss Brendan Rodgers decided he was not for him, his stay on Merseyside came to a swift conclusion. VERDICT: MISS John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images 8/9 3. JUAN MATA (Chelsea to Manchester United, £37.1million, January 2014) Mata found himself unable to persuade Jose Mourinho he was worthy of a regular starting berth at Stamford Bridge and was signed by then United boss David Moyes in January 2014. The Spain midfielder had to be patient once again after the arrival of new manager Louis van Gaal as the Dutchman experimented with the players at his disposal, eventually finding a place for a proven match-winner. VERDICT: HIT Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images 9/9 1. FERNANDO TORRES (Liverpool to Chelsea, £50million, January 2011) Torres established himself as one of the most prolific frontmen in world football during his spell at Anfield, prompting Chelsea to invest heavily in his services. However, he was never able to reproduce his best form for the Londoners and after loan spells with AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, eventually sealed a permanent move to the Italian club in January this year. VERDICT: MISS Shaun Botterill/Getty Images 1/9 10. MAROUANE FELLAINI (Everton to Manchester United, £27.5million, September 2013) David Moyes thought he had secured a key piece of the jigsaw when he managed to prise Belgium international Fellaini from the grasp of former club Everton following his appointment as United boss. However, the towering midfielder only really made an impressive following the end of the Scot's ill-fated and all too brief reign with Van Gaal belatedly seeing the best of him last season. VERDICT: Under David Moyes at United, a MISS. But under Van Gaal, a surprise HIT. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images 2/9 8=. WILFRIED BONY (Swansea to Manchester City, £28million, January 2015) Bony's superb form for Swansea, for whom he scored 25 league goals in 54 appearances, prompted City to hand over £28million to add him to their already impressive armoury. However, it took the Ivory Coast international time to find his feet at the Etihad Stadium following his return from the African Nations Cup, and he managed just two goals in 12 outings. Steve Parkin/AFP/Getty Images 3/9 8=. ROMELU LUKAKU (Chelsea to Everton, £28million, July 2014) Everton spent big on Lukaku after seeing him score 15 goals in 31 appearances on loan after managing 17 for West Brom during the previous campaign. The Belgium international, who figured in only 10 league games for Chelsea, struck 20 times last season including a Europa League hat-trick against Young Boys. VERDICT: MISS Martin Rickett/PA 4/9 6=. LUKE SHAW (Southampton to Manchester United, £30million, June 2014) United backed their belief in Shaw's potential with hard cash when they splashed out on the then 18-year-old last summer. However, he has found the going tough to date with Van Gaal at one point questioning his fitness, and he is yet to fully prove his worth. VERDICT: MISS Alex Livesey/Getty Images 5/9 6=. RIO FERDINAND (Leeds to Manchester United, £30million, July 2002) A little more than 19 months after Leeds had paid West Ham £18million for central defender Ferdinand, United handed over £30million to secure his services, and it proved money well spent. He went on to make more than 450 appearances for the club over 12 years and won six league titles, the Champions League and two League Cups while at the same time representing England with distinction. VERDICT: HIT Alex Livesey/Allsport/Getty Images 6/9 5. DIMITAR BERBATOV (Tottenham to Manchester United, £30.75million, September 2008) Berbatov headed for Old Trafford with a blossoming reputation having proved himself in the Premier League during his two seasons at Spurs. He scored 14 goals during his first season at United, 12 in his second and 22 in his third, but fell out of favour with manager Sir Alex Ferguson and joined Fulham in August 2012. VERDICT: MISS John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images 7/9 4. ANDY CARROLL (Newcastle to Liverpool, £35million, January 2011) There was uproar on Tyneside when the Magpies accepted an offer from Liverpool, who were immediately reinvesting a large chunk of the £50million Torres fee. However, Carroll was hampered by injuries and when new boss Brendan Rodgers decided he was not for him, his stay on Merseyside came to a swift conclusion. VERDICT: MISS John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images 8/9 3. JUAN MATA (Chelsea to Manchester United, £37.1million, January 2014) Mata found himself unable to persuade Jose Mourinho he was worthy of a regular starting berth at Stamford Bridge and was signed by then United boss David Moyes in January 2014. The Spain midfielder had to be patient once again after the arrival of new manager Louis van Gaal as the Dutchman experimented with the players at his disposal, eventually finding a place for a proven match-winner. VERDICT: HIT Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images 9/9 1. FERNANDO TORRES (Liverpool to Chelsea, £50million, January 2011) Torres established himself as one of the most prolific frontmen in world football during his spell at Anfield, prompting Chelsea to invest heavily in his services. However, he was never able to reproduce his best form for the Londoners and after loan spells with AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, eventually sealed a permanent move to the Italian club in January this year. VERDICT: MISS Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

While Stones will not try to force a move through to the capital and is unlikely to hand in a transfer request, he is hopeful the two clubs can come to an agreement.

The centre half, who joined Everton for just £3m from Barnsley in 2013, still has four years left on his contract worth £30,000-a-week.

But Chelsea are prepared to treble his wages and give him the opportunity to learn off veteran captain John Terry.

Manager Jose Mourinho explained at the weekend why he wanted to sign Stones and was mystified at the anger emerging from Everton, including their head coach Roberto Martinez, over Chelsea's attempts to do just that.

He said: "The transfer window is open, when it is open every club and every player is open to bids.

"I would advise Roberto to do the same thing as I do. If I get an offer for one of my players and I don’t want to accept any offer I say I don’t accept any offer, so he can make it very, very easy.

"At the moment they say: “We don’t accept this bid”. They don’t say: “We don’t accept bids; any bids”. While they say, “We don’t accept this bid” until September 1, we can improve the bid: £1 more, £10 more, we can improve the bid."

Chelsea currently have Terry, Gary Cahill, Kurt Zouma and right back Branislav Ivanovic who can all play at centre half.

But Terry and Cahill turn 35 and 30 respectively in December, while Ivanovic is 32 in February and yet to agree an extension on his contract which runs out next June.

Only Zouma, 20, has the potential of offer a decade of service, but if Stones joined, then the two of them could form a central partnership to last for several seasons.