Sporting Director at Manchester City finds the player who could be the next John Stones

Txiki Begiristain – Manchester City’s sporting director – has reportedly identified the ‘next John Stones’ for the club, in an interest that has been somewhat stepped up.

It is the latest in a flurry of transfer reports concerning the Premier League champions over the past few weeks, with club officials looking to strengthen Pep Guardiola’s side in what could be the Catalan’s final season at the club.

Guardiola will be entering his final year of contract at the end of this season, however it is understood that Manchester City are not concerned about the possibility of addressing the matter deeper into the 53-year-old’s 2024/25 campaign.

City officials will continue with business as normal, and will look to strengthen their options across the field to ensure that Guardiola has the necessary tools to continue competing on all fronts, or to prepare the club for life after the legendary coach.

That search for the next best-suited talents from across the game has taken them to Merseyside, with a new report revealing the admiration from within the Etihad Stadium over one player who is viewed as the next John Stones.

That is according to the information of Manchester City insider ‘Tolmie’s Hairdoo’ on X, who reports that the Premier League champions have now ‘asked to be kept informed’ if Everton are ‘forced to consider a sale’ of highly-rated centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite.

It is explained that the 21-year-old defender would command a ‘big’ transfer fee although Manchester City ‘will be there’ in the race for the player, regardless of their current defensive options.

Such is the admiration for Branthwaite at the Etihad Stadium that it is claimed that Manchester City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain views the player as the ‘next John Stones’.

While it remains unknown just how much Branthwaite could command in terms of a transfer fee, the feeling in various quarters is that Everton would ideally not sell for anything less than £75 million.

Such an outlay is unlikely to be a preventative to the large majority of the clubs interested in his signature, and certainly not Manchester City or Manchester United, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to invest heavily in his new Old Trafford project.

Central defence is likely to be one of many positions to be addressed and reviewed by Manchester City this summer, with central midfield also of interest to recruitment teams, as well as goalkeeper and the wide full-back roles.