Blues officially confirm defender deal.
Chelsea have announced a deal to loan promising young defender Tomas Kalas to Championship side Middlesbrough for the duration of the 2015/16 season via their official website.
This news comes shortly after rumours circulated that the Premier League champions have made a £20m bid to sign Everton centre-back John Stones, with Sky Sports claiming that the Toffees have rejected this offer.
The England international could be being lined up as the club’s next big signing this summer, with deals for Radamel Falcao and Asmir Begovic already confirmed in recent weeks, and it may be that Kalas’ exit will be to partly make way for Stones’ arrival.
With competition for places already high at Stamford Bridge due to the presence of John Terry, Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma in central defence, it would be even harder for a relatively unproven young player like Kalas to make it into the side if Stones also joined the first-team fold.
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The 22-year-old, who has one cap for the senior Czech Republic national team, also spent part of last season on loan at Boro, though he has only four appearances to his name in a Chelsea shirt, which suggests now that manager Jose Mourinho may not see him as a long-term option for his side.
Stones, however, has been in superb form for Everton in recent times, and could be the ideal candidate to come in as a long-term replacement for club captain Terry, who is now 34 years old and surely not able to play as often next season as he did last.