Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Everton defender John Stones.
They may have been beaten to the punch by Uefa (though it was perhaps their own fault), but the deal was made official on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile in the City dressing room… pic.twitter.com/EyTMJdbEkH
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 9, 2016
Stones has reportedly set City back £47.5,m, which would make him the world’s second most expensive defender (David Luiz cost Paris Saint-Germain £50m when he joined from Chelsea in 2014).
But some are suspicious of the timing of the deal, announced less than 12 hours after Manchester United confirmed their record-breaking move for Paul Pogba.
https://twitter.com/realsport101/status/762946573785567233
https://twitter.com/Cams_01/status/762937277676974080
Imagine the time and effort that went into the Pogba announcement and now no one's actually arsed because of the Stones/City shambles.
— Maxwell (@MaxwellwithaK) August 9, 2016
Man city perfectly time the announcement of stones to take some of the limelight from Man U #stoned #pogwho
— Smithy (@smithyd78) August 9, 2016
Though maybe it was United’s other club who conspired to screw over their neighbours.
7pm in Tokyo and 6am in New York. City have the timing of this Stones announcement all wrong
— Aidan O'Hara (@oharaa) August 9, 2016
City forced into an official announcement 😂 #Stones
— Rico (@Riico_W) August 9, 2016
Or, as JOE’s new chief football writer Tony Barrett explains, perhaps it was to do with a different transfer deal (albeit one which still hasn’t been confirmed at the time of writing) and nothing at all related to Pogba.
I don't believe it was a cock up by City & Everton. More likely is public announcement was delayed while Everton got Ashley Williams done.
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarrett) August 9, 2016
There was some praise for City’s more understated approach, even if it was almost certainly not what the club planned.
https://twitter.com/Priya8Ramesh/status/762938652821295105
It's good to see City taking the moral high ground by announcing John Stones on the sly unlike United with Pogba
— Keir (@Kingkeir) August 9, 2016
But they could have gone one step further if they’d really wanted to.
What if City just don't announce Stones at all? He's just there, first game of the season. "Oh, yeah, did we not tell you about that?"
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) August 9, 2016
Stones has signed a six-year deal with City, and joins fellow new arrivals İlkay GündoÄŸan, Nolito and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the club’s squad for Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge.
Two more new arrivals – Marlos Moreno and Aaron Mooy – have been instantly loaned out, while Gabriel Jesus will join officially in January after the completion of the Brazilian domestic season.
There’s plenty of optimism about the 22-year-old, an unused member of England’s Euro 2016 squad, as he looks to get over a mixed final season at Goodison Park.
https://twitter.com/PeteSharland/status/762953484098560005
Sane and Stones. Pep building a team for the future. Only problem: He will only stay for 3 years
— Jan Aage Fjørtoft 🇳🇴 (@JanAageFjortoft) August 9, 2016
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