John Stones

[bugsyblue]

Agree also on Barkley, he was always going to go up another level.

We are hyper critical of central defenders, it's a dying art and a generational shift in how the game wants to be all about offense.

I don't rate Boateng, I don't rate Ramos and I even think Thiago is overrated, albeit, a leader of men.

Terry has been the outstanding central defender of this generation but I see something in Stones which is very special indeed. He's learning his craft and we have to absolutely make sure that is done with us, warts and all.

We've rightly taken that leap of faith with Sterling.

It costs us a helluva lot more than other clubs because we are at a level where some of these kids won't even chance their arm on us before they are coming to prominence.

We tried for Sterling and Delph years back, and the going rate for Stones is out of our hands.

Just get Godin, he's the best defender on the planet and still only 29. He's got at least 3-4 years at the op left in him. I agree though Stones is a great prospect and I too don't rate Boateng or Ramos

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Needs to be coached but has some skills that just cannot be taught, is he worth 50m+? No but neither is Sterling. You are paying for 10+ years of potentially world class service. Has a lot going for him and would like to see him at City.

Just a note on what you get for your money. Signing young players for their potential is a good thing but you need to factor in they can walk away for nothing once the 5 year contract is up and for the majority of young players who burst on to the scene that means they can walk right when they hit their prime.

I remember some rag going on about DeGea when they signed him and that they had the best keeper for the next 10 years, I pointed out that they had him until he was about 25 and then if he was anywhere near as good as he claimed he would go to Real Madrid on a free. It is probably easier to keep a player than sign a player but you have to factor it all in. You can guarantee that DeGea will be playing in Spain before his 28th Birthday!

 

[BigOscar]

Honestly haven't seen anything to suggest he's a better prospect than Denayer personally....

I don't mind Stones joining as long as two of the current four go though.

I'm with you on that. All the praise for Stones is down to how comfortable he is on the ball, but Denayer is far, far better on the ball than him. As an actual defender, Stones is average at best at the moment. To pay £50m for someone when there is even a debate over whether he's better than a kid you already have and haven't given a go is madness imo.

I really don't get what people see in Stones at the moment, everyone seems to have just decided he's brilliant and are ignoring how he plays in order to keep believing it.

 

[Hesh]

Ball playing centre backs have always been a rare species in England hence the ludicrous hype when one emerges. Stones doesn't seem to enjoy defending, to worship the God of the clean sheet. He seems more keen to show off his silky skills on the ball which let's face it aren't really that good - if they were he'd be a midfielder or a fullback.

At £15m or £20m he'd be an interesting acquisition, one for the future, use him as a first reserve, try to coach the silly self indulgent errors out of him.

At £40m or £50m let Chelsea and the Rags fight over him.

Smalling is a much better defender. A cheeky £25m bid for him would be amusing !!!

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

hes not the finished article, but he's such a good prospect. we should be trying to buy him

 

[Thaksinssoldier]

This lad doesn't have the mettle to play at our level yet. A performance like last night for us and he'd be Stefan Savic'd by our fans.

 

[borassic]

Class but being played out of position at Everton, never a right back.

 

[g180aj]

Not a right-back. Worth easily over £30m for his potential. Chelsea had £40m rejected, so that's the benchmark.

Can possibly go on to become the best in the world. He's under the microscope and making errors that young players make, just like Sterling.

Under a proper manager and our players, he will be unbelievable.

I urge people, if they can, to watch footage of his performance against Chelsea at Goodison this season.

I agree we justo on players backs a little too easy at times under pep both Stones and Raheem would become World beaters and England would reap the benefits massively.

 

[g180aj]

Agree also on Barkley, he was always going to go up another level.

We are hyper critical of central defenders, it's a dying art and a generational shift in how the game wants to be all about offense.

I don't rate Boateng, I don't rate Ramos and I even think Thiago is overrated, albeit, a leader of men.

Terry has been the outstanding central defender of this generation but I see something in Stones which is very special indeed. He's learning his craft and we have to absolutely make sure that is done with us, warts and all.

We've rightly taken that leap of faith with Sterling.

It costs us a helluva lot more than other clubs because we are at a level where some of these kids won't even chance their arm on us before they are coming to prominence.

We tried for Sterling and Delph years back, and the going rate for Stones is out of our hands.

Do you know of any genuine interest in either for the summer Tolm or just your footballing view?

 

[g180aj]

No I mean they don't seem to rate him regardless of interest from other clubs...maybe that's just Everton fans being Everton fans though

I live and work in Liverpool mate and they think he's worth £60 million but at the same time think he should be dropped at present because he is over confident and costing them because of it.

 

[itisrising]

How is he worth anywhere near that? I honestly am completely not seeing the hype. He's good on the ball and he's a young English kid, that's about all I see

 

[Lomas has a lob on]

We can argue about the fee and how over inflated it appears to be, but if we want him that bad we'll pay it, just like Sterling.
As has been mentioned, this signing again like Sterling should really be classed as an investment. We should be looking at 10yrs top service from the lad.

Personally I'd love to see him here, ok he has made a few mistakes of late, but all youngsters do and its better he is getting them out of the way now.
It might annoy some but even though he is having a run of poor games, he is still sticking to his principles, it would be very easy for him to just start hitting row Z but he knows he is better than that and still wants to play a certain way.

Stones playing under Guardiola could be very very special!!

Imagine a CB pool of....

Kompany
Otamendi
Stones
Denayer

 

[The Wizard]

I'd sign him for 50m I honestly believe he will be the world's best centre back. Let's do it City.

 

[Saddleworth2]

We can argue about the fee and how over inflated it appears to be, but if we want him that bad we'll pay it, just like Sterling.
As has been mentioned, this signing again like Sterling should really be classed as an investment. We should be looking at 10yrs top service from the lad.

Personally I'd love to see him here, ok he has made a few mistakes of late, but all youngsters do and its better he is getting them out of the way now.
It might annoy some but even though he is having a run of poor games, he is still sticking to his principles, it would be very easy for him to just start hitting row Z but he knows he is better than that and still wants to play a certain way.

Stones playing under Guardiola could be very very special!!

Imagine a CB pool of....

Kompany
Otamendi
Stones
Denayer

Otamendi will need to radically change his game if he is to succeed under Pep. He will need to hold his position far better, not go to ground as much and generally display 100% more intelligence than he has shown so far. He has a lot of attributes but at the moment I cant see him as a Guardiola defender (unlike the other three).

 

[richards30]

We should offer Everton £80m for Barkley and stones

 

[IWasHere]

Not a right-back. Worth easily over £30m for his potential. Chelsea had £40m rejected, so that's the benchmark.

Can possibly go on to become the best in the world. He's under the microscope and making errors that young players make, just like Sterling.

Under a proper manager and our players, he will be unbelievable.

I urge people, if they can, to watch footage of his performance against Chelsea at Goodison this season.

Ahead of varane? Zouma has more potential than him.

I used to rate him but now I think he's overrated. Good on the ball. Shit at defending.

No better than Mangala at the minute

 

[City_Sean]

Has to stop thinking he's this great ball playing CB, and focus on his actual defending because at the moment he's shocking, his positional play is woeful.

 

[TonyM]

English players are never ever world class so develop decent English players in the academy and never buy English players for the going rate. Delph for example was a great buy because it wasn't at the going rate. Sterling was ridiculous - even if he turns out great.

The quota system has gone crazy and we should fight against it. The benefit would not only be in terms of money saved but a better all round squad with more self developed English players.

Or if they scrapped FFP we could continue to pay crazy sums just to have the best English players.

Of course my opinion isn't shared by the club which is a pity as I'm always right.

 

[Lomas has a lob on]

Otamendi will need to radically change his game if he is to succeed under Pep. He will need to hold his position far better, not go to ground as much and generally display 100% more intelligence than he has shown so far. He has a lot of attributes but at the moment I cant see him as a Guardiola defender (unlike the other three).

I think Otamendi is very much a Pep type defender.
Look at any Pep team and his defenders are on the front foot, trying to win the ball as quickly as possible. Thats not to say Otamendi doesn't need to improve because clearly he does. We need to remember this is Otamendis first season over here and some of his decisions remind me very much of Zabaleta, in his first year with us. Much like Zabaleta, Otamendi I believe will iron out some of his rashness. Otamendi reminds me very much of Puyol and he was crucial for Pep at Barca.

 

[itisrising]

I'd sign him for 50m I honestly believe he will be the world's best centre back. Let's do it City.

Why might he be the best centre back in the world? Apart from being good on the ball, I don't see much else.