Man City ace John Stones: These two players begged me to join Pep Guardiola's revolution

JOHN STONES says he will move his career to the next level under Pep Guardiola after becoming the most expensive English footballer in history.

 

 

And after completing his £47.5m move to Manchester City from Everton he revealed that England team-mates Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling had begged him to make the switch during the Euros.

Stones’ fee beats the £44m City paid for Sterling last summer and if they win the Champions League it will trigger a £2.5m bonus which put him level with Paris St Germain’s David Luiz as the world’s most expensive defender at £50m.

Stones is Guardiola’s eighth signing of the summer and takes his spending to over £150m, but City are hoping to recoup some of their huge outlay by selling Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony and Eliaquim Mangala.

Stones’ first club Barnsley are celebrating a £6.79m jackpot after agreeing a sell-on fee with Everton in 2013. The figure is £2m more than the club’s annual income.

Stones said: “Why City? It was the manager, it was the team. When we played City we got beat and I knew they were a good team.

"I expressed my feelings that I wanted to come and obviously the manager was a big part of that. I’ve always known there’s a lot of improvement to be made in my game. I hope he can bring out everything in me.

"It’s 110 per cent 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.

"He’s a winner and that’s what’s going to rub off on everyone. We need to win games and I’m sure that’s what will happen.

"I’ve spoken to a lot of the boys here, like Joe and Raheem, and they wanted me to come. They said, ‘We need you, we want you here and with all the boys you’ll settle in quick’. They didn’t try and persuade me too much, I was kind of sold already.”

Stones’ arrival continues City’s strategy of building for the future by buying up top young players.

Manchester City have completed the signing of John Stones

On top of buying Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Patrick Roberts last summer, City have now signed Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Marlos Moreno, Aleks Zinchenko plus Stones this summer. All of them are aged 25 or under.

Stones added: “It definitely feels like a new era and that’s one of the things that attracted me to come – the youthfulness of the club and the excitement of it.

"I like watching football as much as any other person does so for me to play with the players that are here and the exciting players that are coming through as well, it’s only going to benefit me and take me to the next level.

"All the boys are top players and if we gel together I’m sure we can do something special.”

Guardiola wanted Stones for his ability to play the ball out from the back. But a more pressing reason is the injuries that will keep Vincent Kompany and possibly Nicolas Otamendi out of the opening Premier League fixture at home to Sunderland on Saturday and the vital Champions League play-off first leg aginast Steaua Bucharest next Tuesday.

He said: “We want to help John show his quality with us and improve on what he has already achieved. I like the way he plays the game and I’m looking forward to welcoming him into the squad.”

City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “John is an excellent young English defender and we are all really pleased he is joining us. We have worked hard to bring him to City and we feel we are signing one of the best central defenders in Europe.”

City confirmed they will listen to offers for Nasri, Bony and Mangala after leaving them out of the squad they supplied to UEFA for their play-off tie.

UEFA caused consternation yesterday morning when they published the squad list before City had formally announced Stones’ signing.

But the deal had actually been completed before Monday’s midnight UEFA deadline.

Source:7mSports