Manchester City could reportedly sell John Stones with Arsenal, Everton and Jose Mourinho’s Spurs eyeing the England international.
Tottenham Hotspur and Everton are eyeing a summer deal for £50 million-rated John Stones but, according to TEAMtalk, Mikel Arteta is confident of luring the England international to Arsenal instead.
Four years after a ball-playing centre-half became the second-most expensive defender of all time, Stones is facing an uncertain future under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
The Catalan coach has been a fierce defender of the Barnsley-born ace during his trophy-laden time at the Etihad but it seems now that even Guardiola has lost his faith in a 25-year-old who looks no closer to fulfilling his undoubted potential.
Stones has started just ten Premier League games all season, even in the post-Vincent Kompany era and amid Aymeric Laporte’s ongoing injury problems. He was left out of the matchday squad too for blockbuster clashes at Old Trafford and the Santiago Bernabau.
TEAMtalk reports that Stones could be on his way out of City with Spurs and former club Everton interested in offering him a fresh start even if his £50 million price-tag looks a little on the exorbitant side.
But Arteta could hold the key to Stones’ future. He has a good relationship with the 39-cap Englishman after all, having worked with him during a successful spell as Guardiola’s assistant at the Etihad.
Stones could potentially be a long-term replacement for the ageing David Luiz or Sokratis Papastathopoulos with his superb technical ability likely to appeal to a coach determined to get Arsenal playing a dominant and dazzling style of football reminiscent of the early days of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
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