After Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund on Thursday, a match City then went on to win via of penalties, head coach Pep Guardiola was asked of the club’s interest in centre-back John Stones. “Everyone knows we are going to try,” the Spaniard said when quizzed on whether the club will sign the young England international. For the best part of 12 months now, Stones has been strongly linked with a move away from Goodison Park. Chelsea were leading the race to secure his services last summer, but were rebuffed in their attempts to snare the defender.
Since then, it’s City who are primed to bring in Stones this summer. While Everton are keen to hold onto the 22-year-old, they may be powerless to turn down offers around the £50m mark. The player himself, meanwhile, is allegedly keen to ply his trade under Guardiola this coming campaign and once a player makes their intention to depart known, especially given Stones has done so in the past, it’s sometimes better to cash in rather than hold onto said performer against their will.
Of course there are reservations over City spending so big to sign Stones. It goes without saying that he endured an underwhelming campaign for Everton, with his WhoScored rating last season (6.85) dropping from a notable 7.17 the previous term. That in part was down to the poor defensive organisation under Roberto Martinez, whose tactical naivety eventually cost him his job, but then Stones is certainly culpable for such a negative impact on his own form.
Indeed, Everton conceded fewer goals per game (1) in the seven Premier League matches Stones didn’t start last season than the 31 he did (1.55). Furthermore, no outfield player committed more errors that led to an opposition goal in England’s top tier last term (3). At such a young age, there is ample time to eradicate these errors in his game, but it left many to wonder why City would splash the cash for a defender who appeared to have regressed, if anything.
Well, Guardiola has a knack for developing young players. City’s move for Stones has parallels with that of Jerome Boateng’s arrival at the club back in 2010. Then 21, the Germany international spent only a solitary season at the Etihad Stadium before returning to his homeland with Bayern Munich. Indeed Boateng somewhat struggled and it seemed as though he would fail to realise his potential until Guardiola took the centre-back under his wing upon his appointment in 2013.
Very much still a diamond in the rough, Guardiola worked tirelessly to smooth out the edges and, upon his leaving the Allianz Arena, has developed Boateng into one of the finest centre-backs in Europe. City fans will now be hoping Guardiola can have a similar impact on Stones should they secure the services of the Everton defender. It’s well documented that Guardiola favours his defenders to play the ball out from the back, which is why he has targeted Stones.
For all of his faults, Stones’ greatest strength is his ball playing ability having garnered a statistically calculated WhoScored.com strength of ‘passing’. It’s both a blessing and a curse, however, with the centre-back chastised for attempting to play his way out of danger rather than taking the easy approach of thumping the ball upfield or out of play. Guardiola, though, will encourage the more cultured side of Stones’ game and rightly so.
Only John Terry (89.7%) and Per Mertesacker (89.3%) have a better pass success rate than Stones (89%) of defenders to make 50 or more Premier League appearances over the last two seasons. It’s all the more impressive when considering Chelsea (54.3%) and Arsenal (56.3%) had more possession than Everton (52.6%) over the same time period, with the former pairing having more time on the ball with which to pick out a teammate compared to the latter.
Guardiola will do all he can to ensure his City side dominates in a way similar to his Bayern outfit during his three-year tenure. The Bundesliga champions had more possession (66.4%) than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues last season and averaged the most passes (729) in the top five divisions of European football. While his City side is not expected to overawe opponents in the way Bayern did, initially at least, Guardiola’s team is likely to adopt a similar approach in their quest for domestic glory this coming campaign.
Any move for Stones, though, does represent a risk. English outfielders in recent years have struggled to leave a lasting mark at the Etihad Stadium, with Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair, Fabian Delph and Raheem Sterling all struggling to handle the pressure that comes with playing for the big spending Manchester giants. The hope is that Stones would be an exception to the rule and under Guardiola, it’s incredibly likely that this would be the case.
Stones has the capability to succeed at City, even if his performances for Everton last season left a lot to be desired. Under Guardiola’s tutelage there’s every possibility the England international can fulfill his immense potential with the right coaching from the Spaniard.
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