According to the Metro, Manchester City want to keep John Stones amid interest from Arsenal and plan to block any attempt from suitors to sign him in January.
The 26-year-old looked on his way out of City earlier in the season as he was struggling for consistency and fell behind Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake in the pecking order.
Stones has turned things around, however, and is now regarded as a key player by Pep Guardiola, so City won’t entertain any offers when the winter transfer window opens. Metro say the Sky Blues are planning to hand him a new contract.
Stones has made 141 appearances in all competitions since joining City from Everton for £47.5m in 2016, scoring five goals with two assists.
This season, he’d only managed one Premier League appearance and had no Champions League starts to his name until November. Stones has now started City’s last two league games and kept clean sheets in both while starting in three of the Sky Blues’ last four Champions League outings.
The 26-year-old hasn’t been on the losing team this season and is now one of the first names on the teamsheet, which is bad news for clubs who may have wanted him.
In other news, Arsenal eye Eric Garcia who’s made more tackles than David Luiz and Gabriel Magalhaes