The method with which John Stones’ signing for Manchester City may be in question but his talent and ability is not. What does the acquisition mean for City going forward?
When it comes to announcing signings this summer, Manchester City have had all the subtlety of Rambo. First with Ilkay Gundogan, so wound up were the fans at the lack of official announcement about his signing, that even the player got in on the act and tweeted the City Twitter account to get on with it. As for Nolito, well, getting spotted by an eagle eyed fan in San Carlo restaurant in Manchester the day before his unveiling did somewhat take away the sense of romantic mystery behind it all.
It seems Manchester City have topped themselves with their latest acquisition. Yes, everyone knows Everton’s John Stones was likely to head to the Etihad this summer, indeed prior to today Skybet had him at 1-7 to make the move, but not even that guy who bet on Leicester City to win the league last year could have put money down on just how it came to light.
The UEFA official website listed City’s squad for their Champions League qualifying game against Steaua Bucharest next week and, under Defenders, had Stones listed and wearing the number 24 shirt. I’d only be more shocked to go on there and see my own name listed.
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Of course, it makes sense. Yesterday was the deadline for submissions for the squad lineup for the game and if Stones was making the move then City would pre-emptively want to have him registered so he could play. What’s more shocking is that UEFA just went ahead and put it on their website regardless, seemingly oblivious to the fact that, for all intents and purposes, Stones plays for Everton.
Then the floodgates opened. Within micro-seconds, ESPN were on it reporting Stones to City was “imminent”. The Sun jumped on the bandwagon and even threw in a fee of £42million, though how they inferred that from the team list on the UEFA website we may never know. Then old reliables BBC and Sky Sports, reluctantly, took a break from gushing about Paul Pogba to report that, yes, John Stones will be announced as a Blue likely today.
And announced he was, within the hour Manchester City media dropped the act and unveiled Stones, number 24 of course, as their latest signing and with a 6 year contract he will be with the club to at least 2022. No official confirmation of the fee has been announced, but it appears to be in the region of £47million, which is different from The Sun’s guesstimate, perhaps unsurprisingly.
So there you have it, another pickup for Manchester City and perhaps their most crucial one so far this summer. Stones comes at a time when City’s defence, particularly in the centre, is in disarray. Let down by over-paid and under-performing superstars last season, such as Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi, and missing the perennially injured Vincent Kompany as usual, Pep Guardiola found himself struggling to fill the gap at the back ahead of the season’s start this weekend.
Stones however, was a defender Pep had wanted from day one. He plays Pep’s game perfectly. Passing, moving, possession-based football par excellence, it could be argued that Stones is far from the finished article in terms of defensive acumen, but his skills on the ball are not in question. The relationship promises to be mutually beneficial, Pep gaining a central defender suited to high lines and offensive playmaking and Stones gets to learn from one of the best coaches in football.
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With the addition of yet another 22-year-old, or younger, the rich get richer and Pep shows he is all about building for the future as much as the present. It remains to be seen whether this will be the final piece on his chess board this summer or if yet more signings lurk in the shadows. One thing is for certain, the announcement won’t be subtle.