Sterling, Rodwell, Sinclair, Richards, Johnson (prison). The list of English players signed for big money by Manchester City in recent years goes on and on and on and yet their only real success stories are the great James Milner and Gareth Barry. So its hard to be surprised by the announcement that Everton substitute John Stones will be joining them for just shy of £50m.
At 22, Stones undoubtedly has some 'potential' but he's hardly a teenager anymore so at some point very soon he needs to start realising it. Stones lost his place in the Everton team last term for the simple reason that he wasn't good enough at defending. More worrying still perhaps, is the fact that he's not even good enough for England. Has the world gone mad when a defender who can't defend and isn't considered good enough for either Everton or England goes for this kind of money? Are so called 'feeder' clubs currently re registering their average young centre midfielders as centre halfs in the hope that they will go for big money simple because they look reasonably comfortable on the ball?
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