Manchester City and Everton could be interested in a swap deal for John Stones and Mason Holgate.
Pep Guardiola’s side are keen on Mason Holgate, who has impressed at Everton this term.
And the Mirror suggest that a swap deal for the English centre-backs could be on the cards.
Whether Everton would be interested in the deal to bring back the centre-back they sold for £50 million (BBC Sport) remains to be seen though.
Stones has struggled to really establish himself at City in recent years and hasn’t quite developed at the rate many predicted.
Former Everton boss David Moyes was one of Stones’s big admirers a few years back.
He said to West Ham’s official website in 2018: “John Stones – we brought from Barnsley. We saw someone who was naturally comfortable on the ball.
“What he needed to develop was his defending. He got that at Everton. Since then he’s gone on to show he’s a top quality defender. He could play for any team.”
Stones has not quite kicked on since Moyes said those words though, with City now regularly picking others ahead of him.
Holgate, meanwhile, appears to have a lot of potential – and has certainly enjoyed the better season of the pair this term.
That being said, Stones would offer Everton a lot more experience than Holgate, and he is arguably a more refined player at this current stage.
Everton are almost certain to be looking at a centre-back in the summer, as they are short of options right now.
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