Everton wanted Kalidou Koulibaly to replace John Stones.
Farhad Moshiri has told the Jim White Show, which was broadcast on TalkSPORT on 7th November, that he did everything in his power to keep John Stones at Everton.
Manchester City made Stones one of their top targets in the summer, but the Everton owner did not want to sell the centre-back at any price.
However, Stones wanted the move to Pep Guardiola’s side, and Toffees boss Ronald Koeman ended up conceding defeat in the battle to keep the England international at Goodison Park.
Everton then set about looking to sign Stones’ replacement, but it proved to be a tough task.
Moshiri has revealed that Everton quickly went after Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, but they were told that they had to pay £60 million for the centre-back by the Serie A side.
“I didn’t want to sell [Stones],” Moshiri insisted. “I did what I could to keep Romelu, the striker. I just looked at the club and three big stars were Romelu, Ross Barkley and Stones. I liked him.
“But the boy wanted to go and Martinez had promised him he could go the previous year. I still didn’t let him go until the manager said he can go.
“What is £47 million? We tried to buy Koulibaly and they said ‘no’. They wanted £60 million. Every defender across Europe costs that. We were right there.”
Everton ended up signing Ashley Williams from Swansea City to strengthen their defensive department.
Williams has made an impressive start at Everton, with Koeman’s side looking far more secure defensively this term, despite their recent 5-0 defeat against Chelsea.
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