Is John Stones What City Need?

This is a guest post from Vikki Steel.

From the moment since the announcement regarding the arrival of Pep Guardiola, there had been many questions surrounding City’s squad and its ability to adapt to the new manager’s distinct and demanding style of play. Under previous incumbent Manuel Pellegrini, too many players were coasting and unprepared to deliver their maximum effort week after week, game after game during a touch season.

Yet, for all the talk of needing to add another striker in case of serious injury to Sergio Aguero, or the desire to bring in another central midfielder to replace Yaya Touré, the primary concern related to the vulnerability of City’s backline. Now, a few weeks into the Guardiola reign, those concerns persist.

Putting aside any issues with the ageing fullbacks and concentrating purely on the centre of City’s defence, Vincent Kompany’s injury troubles have flared up with increasing frequency and the captain is battling to be fit in time for the opening game of the season at home to Sunderland. Nicolas Otamendi endured a mixed debut season in England and it remains to be seen whether he will be a good fit for the new boss, while Martin Demichelis has departed after three years at the club. Eliaquim Mangala, as raw, hesitant and error-prone as when he first joined, will surely follow. Jason Denayer has returned from a loan spell in Turkey and has some of the attributes Guardiola looks for in a defender, but he also has a tendency to be absent-minded and may lack the tactical and positional rigour at the highest level.

The one player Guardiola and his colleagues in charge of recruitment at City seem to have identified to step into the breach is John Stones, with newspaper reports now suggesting that following a protracted transfer saga, the arrival of the current Everton defender is not too far away. A fee in the region of £50m has been quoted and while that may seem extortionate for someone so young and clearly not the finished article, it also demonstrates that Stones has the potential to enjoy the best years of his playing life in Manchester and could be a fixture at the heart of the City backline for at least a decade.

By all accounts, Guardiola has kept an eye on Stones for some time now, as you should with this promotion from Sportingbet. Stones may commit a handful of mistakes at the moment, but the City staff will surely hope that intensive coaching, combined with more experience and in partnership with world-class talent, will help the England man to improve drastically. A potential pairing of Kompany and Stones, if both fully fit and firing, is one that should lay the foundations upon which City’s attacking class can express itself.

We should know very shortly whether the transfer goes through or not. If it does, City may just have acquired a diamond who needs polishing, but if given time will surely sparkle.

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