There’s a bit of talk around Sergio Aguero joining Arsenal at the moment.
Paul Merson suggested that the exit-bound Manchester City hitman should seriously consider joining the Gunners, who are managed by the man who used to coach Aguero and his Sky Blues team-mates – Mikel Arteta.
But for a while earlier this year it looked like if Arsenal were going to sign any Manchester City player, it’d be John Stones.
The North Londoners were linked with a move for Stones during the January transfer window [Eurosport] and with City reportedly delaying contract talks, there was a real chance of speculation emerging again this summer.
The Emirates Stadium side might well need additional central defenders soon, having cut loose Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos in January, with David Luiz out of contract in June.
And honestly, signing Stones would be one hell of a move, given his form under Pep Guardiola this season.
But it was something of an off-day for the former Everton stalwart on Wednesday as Stones was partially culpable for the goal England conceded against Poland.
But the 26-year-old, who joined the Etihad Stadium club for £47.5 million in 2016, performed well overall and here’s what international colleague Harry Maguire said about him after the game:
He said to ITV Sport, as quoted by BBC: “John has been brilliant this year. Defenders make mistakes and when we do we get scrutinised. He made up for it with a great header at the back post. I said to him to just keep going.
“We don’t like making mistakes but sometimes we are at fault for goals. We are not perfect. He is in great form and he will come back strong.”
It’ll be fascinating to see if Arsenal do genuinely want the former Toffee.
One thing is for sure: if Arteta – who’s reportedly a huge fan, by the way [Mirror, page 73, 14/2] – does want him then his slip-up on international duty won’t affect that too much.
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