Report: Club willing to sell £100,000-a-week defender to Arsenal, Mikel Arteta a big fan

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Arsenal may have received a boost in their reported pursuit of John Stones as a report from 90Min claims Manchester City are now willing to sell the England defender to the Gunners in the summer.

Stones has fallen out of contention at Man City, having made just 12 Premier League appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side this season, and in the League Cup final he made an error that allowed Mbwana Samatta to give Aston Villa hope of mounting a comeback.

According to 90min, City are willing to let Stones go in the summer, and Arsenal are prepared to give the 25-year-old a fresh start in London, with Gunners head coach Mikel Arteta believing the player has the potential to improve and become an asset to their back line.

Stones joined the Citizens in the summer of 2016 from Everton for £47.5million, which made him the world’s second most expensive defender at the time, and he remains Guardiola’s fourth most expensive signing at the Etihad.

The reigning Premier League champions are reported to be looking for £50million to part ways with the centre-back, who is reported by Spotrac as being on a £100,000-a-week contract.

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While Stones has a great CV laden with trophy wins and plenty of appearances for Man City, he has been somewhat error prone at times – and Arsenal have had their own issues with individual mistakes from defenders of late.

However, it’s worth remembering that Arteta worked with Stones at the Etihad and, given the Spaniard has a knack for ironing out players’ flaws and helping them to the next level, as he did with Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane, then it may just be worth a shot.