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Martinez wants to sign up young stars

James McCarthy is under contract at Everton until 2018 © Getty Images

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Everton manager Roberto Martinez is planning to reward James McCarthy and John Stones with improved contracts this summer - in addition to the new deals planned for Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley.

Martinez has been encouraged by the way midfielder McCarthy, 23, has performed since his £13 million move from Wigan last September.

He has also been impressed with the progress of England Under-21 defender Stones, 19, who was signed for £3 million from Championship side Barnsley in January 2013.

Both players are under contract at Goodison Park until the summer of 2018, but Martinez is keen to give them better deals.

Martinez indicated in December that he planned talks this summer to extend Barkley's contract, with his deal running out 2016. In January, Martinez said similar discussions with full-back Coleman, who still has three years to run on his current contract, were in the pipeline.

Martinez told the Daily Mail: "We are already thinking about Ross, John Stones, and Seamus.

"I call it the young generation coming through. We want to reward them, even James McCarthy. That is something we will look at this summer. They are players with long-term contracts.

"It is not a decision just to keep them at the club. It highlights the next step of their development and rewards them for their performances. Seamus has got a long-term contract. James has got the same. But we want to reward them."

Talk of a new deal for McCarthy may come as a surprise given that he is already on a long-term contract and has yet to complete his first season at Goodison Park.

But Martinez explained: "The way we work, there is a structure in the salaries and everything goes down to your role at the club.

"James has now gone past the role that he was expected to have. I think that he has become an important member of the squad and that needs to be rewarded in his salary.

"We just want to make sure that we grow together and we need players like Seamus and James.

"We hope that he will feel excited about developing with the football club and I think with the young players we have got in the club - Seamus, Ross, James McCarthy - they are footballers I believe to be of the highest, highest level. We need to grow together."

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