Pep can land his next Stones as City eye move for 19 y/o gem who "never loses control" - opinion

Manchester City have seldom been reluctant when it comes to signing players from fellow Premier League clubs in recent years.

The Citizens have seen players such as Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker among others moving to the Etihad Stadium, all for rather hefty transfer fees.

One other player that the club signed from a top-flight rival is John Stones, who joined in a £47.5m move from Everton in August 2016.

Since then, the England international has gone on to make 195 appearances for the Cityzens across all competitions. In that time, the 28-year-old has scored 12 goals, provided two assists and won numerous domestic trophies along the way.

Last August saw the defender put pen to paper on a bumper new five-year contract worth £250,000 per week to keep him at the Etihad until the summer of 2026, which just goes to show how highly he is valued at the club.

Now that the summer transfer window is just around the corner, it seems as though Pep Guardiola’s side once again have the chance to replicate a similar sort of masterclass to the one they pulled off by signing Stones.

A few days ago, it was reported by the Daily Mail that City “have looked” at Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite with an eye to a potential swoop.

Signed from Carlisle United in 2020, Branthwaite has made just 13 senior appearances for the Toffees after he completed a loan spell with Blackburn Rovers last season.

Having joined Everton from a lower league club, this shows that the teenager is broadly following in the footsteps of Stones, who the Merseyside club signed from Barnsley in 2013.

In 10 matches on loan at Blackburn in the Championship, the 19-year-old left the Lancashire club with the highest average for interceptions (2.3) and