Sunderland manager remains hopeful Lamine Kone will stay at the club, despite a reported £21 million bid from Everton and continued speculation regarding the defender's future.
Moyes confirmed he turned the offer down due to a belief that he would not be able to sign a replacement for the 27-year-old but didn't confirm the move had been rejected outright by the Sunderland board.
"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.