Everton close to signing Ramiro Funes Mori, says Roberto Martinez

Everton manager Roberto Martinez says the club are close to finalising a deal for River Plate defender Ramiro Funes Mori.

The 24-year-old was watching from the stands at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon as Manchester City won 2-0 in the Premier League thanks to goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri.

Sky sources revealed on Friday that a deal was close, and Martinez confirmed he hopes Mori will be an Everton player soon.

"No (deal yet)," he said.

"Obviously he's here, and we're going to meet over the next 24 hours and see if we can conclude a deal with his club River Plate.

"But there's nothing to announce yet."

Martinez has been looking to strengthen his back line following the departures of Sylvain Distin and Antolin Alcaraz this summer.

Mason Holgate has arrived from Barnsley, but a move for Mori is likely to further fuel speculation John Stones is set to leave the club.

Martinez said on Friday Stones has not handed in a transfer request - as The Sun newspaper had suggested he was ready to do.

The club have rejected several bids from Chelsea but the Everton boss remained defiant when questioned about the 21-year-old's future.

"It's never a different story than the one that's been," he said. "He's an Everton player."

He added: "That (transfer request rumour) is nothing for me to comment on.

"I'm just concentrating on the game and making sure we've got as strong a squad as we can from now until the end of the window."

Everton 0-2 Man City

Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri scored as Man City beat Everton at Goodison Park.

The Toffees manager was disappointed his side lost for the first time this season, but he tried to remain positive about the manner of their performance.

"You go into games to try to win them, and that's the only thing that matters," he said.

"If we could have scored the first goal the game would have changed immensely. I think the first goal changed it a bit too much.

"We had very good moments - I think we played a very good side, but I don't think they carried too much threat until the goal.

"It shows you that we are getting very close to a very good level, but we still want to carry on getting better and developing, and I think we've still got that room to do it."

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