Everton are prepared to offer Kenwyne Jones a Premier League lifeline, providing Stoke City accept a fee of £1million for his signature.
The Trinidad & Tobago international has been in England since 2004, when Southampton took a chance on him following an impressive trial. This soon proved to be a sound investment, and three years later, the Saints sold the striker to Sunderland for £6million, after he submitted a transfer request to engineer the move.
Jones spent three years at the Stadium of Light before joining Stoke for a then club record fee of £8million, having taken a pay cut to secure a move to the Britannia Stadium, where he had enjoyed a previous loan spell. He has largely disappointed during his time at the Potters, scoring just three times last season, and is out of favour under Mark Hughes.
The 29-year-old was due to start on the bench for the visit of Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, but he sent a text to the Stoke manager to advise he was unavailable for personal reasons the evening before. It has now been suggested that he will refuse to play for the club again, and wants to move on during the January transfer window.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez is believed to be interested in signing the Trinidadian as a backup for Romelu Lukaku, who will in any case return to Chelsea when his loan period ends at the end of the season. Jones is out of contract in the summer and the Toffees hope to land him for £1million, but Stoke are said to value him at £3million.
Hughes may be more receptive to letting him go now he has secured the loan signing of Sweden international John Guidetti from Manchester City. The highly-rated striker will spend the rest of the season at the Britannia Stadium club, who have now made Stephen Ireland’s loan move from Aston Villa permanent.
