Ross Barkley's agent tried to force John Stones move to Chelsea during contract talks, claims Everton's Farhad Moshiri

Ross Barkley’s agent has been accused by Everton’s majority shareholder of attempting to negotiate a new deal for the midfielder during his time at Goodison Park on the promise that another of his clients, John Stones, would be allowed to leave the club for Chelsea.

Farhad Moshiri made the claims during the Everton annual general meeting on Tuesday night, in which he addressed fans who have grown concerned with the homegrown talent that the Toffees have allowed to leave in recent times as well as their poor form this season that led to Ronald Koeman’s sacking.

Barkley sealed a £15m move to Chelsea last week, having seen a £35m transfer last summer collapse despite undergoing a medical with the Blues, but it is the Londoners’ interest in former Everton defender Stones – who now plays for Manchester City – back in 2015 that Moshiri made reference to when discussing Barkley’s departure.

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Having held contract extension talks with Everton, Barkley and his agent, Paul Martin of the Wasserman Media Group, decided that the 24-year-old should seek a move away from Goodison Park after nearly 10 years with the Merseyside club.

But Moshiri’s remarks about Stones certainly caught attentions as the Iranian –born British businessman claimed that Martin attempted to use Barkley’s future as leverage to seal Stones a move to Chelsea in the summer of 2015, when they had a £40m offer rejected by Everton.

“Ross was the most painful,” Moshiri said. “I said last year we had three stars, Ross, Romelu [Lukaku] and John Stones but they’ve all gone.

“For six months we couldn’t find the agent [of Ross Barkley]. Bill [Kenwright] miraculously got an offer of £35m for a player who was injured but he didn’t want to go when he was injured.

“Sam [Allardyce] spoke to him but he wouldn’t stay.”

Turning specifically to Martin, Moshiri added that one negotiation attempt to tie Barkley down to a new contract was for Everton to allow “his friend” Stones to leave the club, before noting: “We live in a difficult world.”

The claims come after it was revealed that Martin received as much as £7m in agents fees for structuring Barkley’s move to Stamford Bridge – nearly half the total transfer fee. Martin is believed to have privately denied that the fee is as much as that, according to The Times. The Independent has contacted Wasserman for comment.