Tottenham must bid with Manchester City willing to sell John Stones

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Tottenham Hotspur may need a new centre-back this summer, so perhaps they should have a look at John Stones.

With the Daily Mirror reporting at the start of the month that Tottenham are expected to sell Toby Alderweireld during the summer, Mauricio Pochettino must surely feel that strengthening his centre-back options has to be a priority for the upcoming window.

Spurs have a couple of incredibly talented young centre-backs, but it is surely not ideal for Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth to shoulder more of the burden at this stage of their careers with Pochettino’s men set to battle on four fronts once again next year – and under even more pressure to win that elusive first trophy under the Argentinian.

Replacing a player of Alderweireld’s calibre is much easier said than done of course, but perhaps Spurs should sit up and take notice of a somewhat surprising report coming from The Sun which suggested that Manchester City could be willing to sell John Stones at the end of the season.

Stones has fallen down the pecking order this term, but he would arguably be the perfect replacement for Alderweireld if the Belgian goes and Spurs are willing to break the bank a little.

The Sun reports that City want to recoup the £47.5 million that they spent on the 23-year-old, while Stones currently earns £100,000-a-week. In both situations, Spurs would have to spend a significant amount of money – but he would arguably be worth the outlay based on the quality he has already shown and the potential he has to get better.

Stones may not quite be the finished article just yet, but you would surely struggle to find a Premier League club whose strongest lineup would not improve by adding him to the ranks, and targeting him as a replacement for Alderweireld would surely see Spurs emerge from a difficult situation in a fantastic position.

It is not clear what Daniel Levy’s plans are regarding Spurs’ transfer budget, but the chance to land a player of Stones’ ability and potential does not come around too often, especially ahead of a summer where Pochettino is supposedly bracing himself to lose one of his best players.