Premier League: Everton bid for Lamine Kone rejected by Sunderland

Sunderland manager David Moyes has decided to turn down an offer from Everton for Lamine Kone, insisting that the player is not for sale. Kone currently suffers from a back injury, which kept him sidelined for last weekend's defeat at home against Middlesbrough. The player has also rejected the offer of a new contract at Sunderland. For manager David Moyes the choice is simple: he can't sell the defender right now because it will be very difficult to find a proper replacement before the transfer window closes. Kone joined the club in January, made 15 league appearances and scored 2 goals. "Kone will stay," David Moyes said. "The offer's been rejected by me, yes. I've had that offer for a while now and I could have invested the money two weeks ago but doing that is very difficult. Given the prices, it would be very difficult to replace Lamine. Unless we could get a suitable replacement, I would never do the deal." Sunderland's most expensive transfer of the summer was the move of Chelsea defender Papy Djilobodji for around 8 million pounds, while Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj joined the Black Cats on loan. David Moyes admits that his club can not compete with the others on the transfer market. "I've got full faith in the owner," the manager said. "But there's no doubt that our budget is not at the level of many other clubs you see buying players at the moment. "I'm confident we'll get a few in before 1 September, but the quality of the players that Sunderland can get at the moment is probably not what I've had in the Premier League. Not even close. You look at our competitors and what they're spending and we're having to deal differently." Sunderland are 4/7 at Bet365 to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.