'Stones would strengthen Chelsea' - Willian

John Stones is a reliable defender who would strengthen Jose Mourinho's squad as Chelsea look to get their ailing Premier League title defence back on track, according to Brazil international Willian.

The 21-year-old saw a transfer request rejected by Everton last week and Roberto Martinez remains bullish over his desire to keep his prized asset at Goodison Park for at least another season.

Everton have already rebuffed three formal bids from Chelsea for Stones and while he admits he has no idea whether a deal will be done before Tuesday's deadline, Willian believes the promising Englishman would be an asset at Stamford Bridge.

"He is a good defender," Willian told Goal. "I heard some news - of course there is nothing concrete, but I've heard about it.

"It is obvious that he is a good defender, but we do not know yet whether he will come or not. But we also have good defenders here in our team.

"Last season, our defenders did an excellent season, but he is a reliable defender, so, if he comes, he will surely come to help us and to strengthen us even more."

An underwhelming four points from their first four Premier League matches means Chelsea already trail title rivals Manchester City by eight points this season, but Willian is confident that the Blues have plenty of time to repair the damage.

"Oh, it's just the beginning," he added. "The beginning is always difficult, although we have not started the way we wanted.

"The Premier League is always difficult. I think that lots of things are about to happen. We are still at the beginning of the championship, we have many games ahead and I hope that we can achieve a sequence of victories."