Sunderland have rejected Everton's transfer bid for Lamine Kone

Sunderland boss David Moyes has rejected a transfer bid from Everton for Lamine Kone and insists the defender is going nowhere.

Kone, who was forced to miss Sunday's home defeat to Middlesbrough due to a back injury, has turned down an offer of a new contract at the Stadium of Light.

However, Moyes insists he has no intention of selling the defender due to the difficulty of finding a replacement before the transfer window closes on August 31.

"Kone will stay," 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."

The former Manchester United boss is also concerned about Sunderland's inability to compete with their Premier League rivals in the transfer market.

"I've got full faith in the owner [Ellis Short]," Moyes 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.

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"You look at our competitors and what they're spending and we're having to deal differently."

Sunderland have also been linked with a move to sign James McCarthy from Everton, but Moyes played down the chances of that happening.

"I don't know if we'd have that kind of cash to spend on just one player," he said. "I hope it won't be the case in a couple of years' time."