Whilst the red half of Manchester is looking like an episode of Cribs, Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Pimp My Ride, with the over-the-top announcement of Paul Pogba. The blue half are going about things a tad differently.
Manchester City have been just as active this summer, however, there was no collaboration between Oasis and Nike to announce the signing of John Stones from Everton. No, instead the Citizens opted for the more subtle approach.
Pep Guardiola & co. decided to just hope nobody would notice that John Stones had left Merseyside for Manchester, by quietly including the England centre-back in their official registered UEFA squad for their Champions League play-off.
On the official UEFA Champions League website, John Stones appears in #MCFC's squad list ahead of the play-off. #EFC pic.twitter.com/SsZMtSX7J1
— John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) August 9, 2016
The transfer always had an air of inevitability about it, more a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, after Stones made it clear to Ronald Koeman that he wanted out.
It’s rare that a British player – in particular, English ones – is worth the money (although money has no true value in football anymore). However, whatever the fee for Stones is, it will be outstanding business for a player who will lead England, and Man City, for the next decade or so.
Signing of the summer? Perhaps not. But bookmark this article, so you can remember the first person to tell you John Stones will be making Premier League all-time XIs come the end of his time at the Etihad Stadium.
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