Lukaku- Stones should stay

Lukaku, 22, left Stamford Bridge permanently last summer after finding regular football hard to come by at Chelsea.

The Belgian, who also had loan spells at West Brom and Goodison Park, feels Stones is at the right club to nurture his development.

"To be fair John is in a good situation at a good club which believes in him," he told several national newspapers.

"He is playing and is learning a lot from Phil Jagielka

He's been here two years now but this is the year where he really needs to confirm he is the top player he can be

"This club has massive potential, with the players we have and the ambition the manager has

He is in a good place

He's on to a good thing."

Stones has been the subject of interest from Chelsea throughout the summer, despite Everton reportedly rejecting three big-money bids and repeatedly saying the defender is not for sale.

Despite the saga, Stones has played both of Everton's games so far, putting in a particularly impressive display as the Merseysiders stunned Southampton 3-0 at St Mary's last week.

It was reported on Friday that Stones is close to putting in a transfer request, but Everton manager Roberto Martinez said he was not aware of that and it would not change the Toffees' stance if he did

Lukaku, who backs himself to go on to be better than Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa, feels the Toffees have collected a strong core of young talent that can only get better if they stick together.

"We are young, but we have a lot of potential," he added

"We had a great first year when I came here

Last year we had a very hard year, a very, very tough year

"But we'll learn from it

He's (Stones) in a good situation

He needs to keep on doing what he's doing

He has the Euros coming up, so why go?"

Source : PA

Source: PA