Well out of the blue comes a big transfer rumour with Arsenal supposedly targeting Manchester City defender John Stones. With the young Englishman not having a certain future at the Etihad, is he about to have a career shift during the January transfer window and move south to North London?
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Arsenal to make ambitious bid for England defender?
Rumours emerged on Tuesday that the Gunners were lining up a shock move for Stones. Because former Manchester City assistant coach Mikel Arteta recently took over at Arsenal, that strengthens the link and probability that something could happen. The other factor in this is that City may be ready to count their losses with Stones.
Are City in a selling mood?
The Citizens have been depleted at the back this season because of injury. So would they actually be in the mood to sell Stones? The Englishman hasn’t always garnered the greatest of trust from Pep Guardiola.
The playing time of Stones has again been badly limited this season because of injury issues and form. Stones, who has two years left on his City contract, had failed to make a matchday squad for City for ten straight games before playing in their recent league success over Aston Villa last weekend.
City have little chance of defending their Premier League title. But they are active still in both domestic cups and the UEFA Champions League. So they may well need Stones for cover if nothing else. But he’s expensive cover just to have to warm the bench in big games.
Will desperate Arsenal pay up?
Arsenal have had some big defensive issues this season. They are desperate for some quality in the back line. They have little depth behind David Luiz and Sokratis. A desperate buying may have to pay up big to get what they want, so that could play into City’s hands in offloading the expensive defender.
A reason for Stones wanting to move would be to try and get as much playing time for the rest of the season ahead of this summer’s 2020 European Championships.
Arsenal were cut to as short as 5/1 on Tuesday to be the next club for Stones at the close of the January Transfer window* (betting odds taken from Betfair on January 14th, 2020 at 7:01 pm). Former club Everton and Serie A champions Juventus are the other contenders at the head of the market.
