Should Chelsea make a transfer move for Raphael Varane instead of Everton’s John Stones?

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side look well set to defend their Premier League crown but the Portuguese evidently still wants to strengthen in certain areas.

With John Terry coming to the business end of his career, replacing ‘Mr Chelsea’ himself is no easy task, but to that end the Portuguese has already been window shopping. High on his list appears to be the acquisition of Everton’s John Stones.

Just 21 years of age, Stones possesses all of the qualities to walk straight into the Blues line up, with no evident drop off in quality.

For a player of such talent comes a high price, and being English that price tag is higher than most.

Having already seen two bids of £20million and £26m turned down flat by the Toffees, Roman Abramovich is going to have to dig deep if he wants to accede to Mourinho’s wishes. Conservative estimates put his value at somewhere in the region of £30m-£35m.

Not bad for a player who was bought by David Moyes for just £3m from Barnsley.

If the going rate for world-class centre halves – and Stones falls into that bracket – is a benchmark of €50m for David Luiz from Chelsea to PSG, then even at the figures quoted, Chelsea would be getting themselves a bargain.

However, there is another young centre-back who can more than match Stones in every department.

And the advantage Raphael Varane has over his English contemporary is that Mourinho knows his game inside and out, will have already noted exactly how the Frenchman fits into his system, and he will come much cheaper than Stones.

Not only that, but a lack of game time at Real Madrid because of the Sergio Ramos-Pepe partnership, will ensure that Varane would welcome an approach with open arms and want to get the deal done quickly.

The Daily Telegraph note that the 22-year-old could be available for as little as £19m, some £11m-£16m less than Everton’s golden boy, and at that price you have to ask the question as to why Mourinho continues to pursue Stones in any event.

Marca via Tim Collins of Bleacher Report also noted recently that Varane: ‘Still always had the sneaking suspicion that he was behind the two [Ramos and Pepe] in the pecking order’ and ‘has been unsettled over his status at the club for some time now.’

Varane is as good, if not better than Stones in almost all areas, and the only thing that he lacks is that regular match experience.

Despite being one of only a handful of current Real Madrid players to have won it all domestically, Varane remains on the periphery at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Mourinho is known for his nous in the transfer market and it’s time he snapped up another ‘special one.’