Arsenal Manager Wants Out Of Favour Manchester City Defensive Ace

Manchester City centre-back John Stones has emerged as a shock target for Premier League giants Arsenal as the Gunners look to shore up their leaky defence.  

If reports in England are to be believed, the 25-year-old wants to play on a regular basis to boost his hopes for the upcoming European Championship in the summer and the newly-appointed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is keen on capitalizing on that. 

Stones is managed by the same agency that represents Mikel Arteta and a deal could be on the cards even if it means on a short-term loan. Stones has been irregular for the Cityzens due to injuries and lack of form and his future looks pretty much up in the air. 

The English international has just two years left in his contract and he is yet to be offered a new deal as it is believed that Pep Guardiola has lost his faith in the former Everton defender. 

Gareth Southgate, the manager of the English national side, looks to have faith in the defender but wants his players to play on a regular basis and Stones is missing out on that.  

And, it could certainly work against him in the summer in the Euros as there are a lot of options like Joe Gomez, Harry Maguire, James Tarkowski and a few more in Stones' position. 

Stones was a key figure at Manchester City before this season as the Cityzens won two back to back Premier League titles and he also was England's first-choice in the World Cup in 2018. 

But, this season, Stones' form has been on the dip as he has started just 10 games for the Cityzens who are long way behind runaway league leaders Liverpool. 

Arteta, who has worked closely with Stones at Manchester City when he was their assistant manager, rates the Englishman highly and wants him at Arsenal to improve the Gunners' leaky defence. 

Stones did play in Sunday’s 6-1 win at Aston Villa on Sunday but is unlikely to remain first choice when Aymeric Laporte returns from injury and Arteta wants to use that to his advantage. 

Arteta is believed to be set to make a move for Stones after allowing the Greek centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos, 22, to join German side Nurnberg on loan.

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