Manchester City won the race of signing John Stones after offloading around €47 million in order to secure the services of the 22 year old English defender who was being tracked down by Chelsea for the past few transfer windows but despite launching offers of €25 million, it wasn’t enough for Chelsea to lure the highly rated player to Stamford Bridge.
Pep Guardiola is a manager that enjoys seeing his squad having control of the ball and feeling comfortable with it no matter what situation they might be in and this is one of the traits that John Stones is known for as he is a centre-back capable and willing to go upfront which is what the Spanish manager wants to have in his team.
Following his completion as a new signing of Manchester City, John Stones said during an interview: “I hope Guardiola can bring out everything in me. I always know that there’s a lot of improvement for my game personally. It’s 110 percent the right decision to play under him and I’m so thankful that I’m getting the opportunity to come here and play with the best and improve day in, day out.”
Even though John Stones is only 22 years old, he has already received praise from numerous defensive figures such as: Gerard Pique, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen are just a few of the more renowned players in the world of football that have recently complimented the young defender and this is one of the reasons of why Manchester City dished out €47 million for such a young player who still has not performed in a truly big European club up until now.
John Stones has joined the summer transfer window army that Pep Guardiola has created which includes having signed players such as: Leroy Sane, IIkayGundogan, Nolito, Gabriel Jesus and OleksandrZinchenko just to name a few of the latest signing that have been completed by the Spanish manager as he initiates his journey of coaching Manchester City for the first time.