Gossip: John Stones 'could leave' in Man City's summer changes, Arsenal's transfer plans for new boss

Remember how much of a hassle it was to sign John Stones from Everton?

First Chelsea tried – about six times – and failed. Roberto Martinez wasn’t having it. Toffees fans sang songs about it. Then a year later Manchester City had a go, and they spent an entire summer lodging bids until one of £47.5m was finally accepted – making Stones the second most expensive defender in the history of mankind.

And now they’re going to sell him. After all that.

The Sun says the 23-year-old will be “allowed to leave” the Etihad this summer, with the arrival of Aymeric Laporte reducing him to fourth choice at centre-back.

Guardiola apparently feels Stones “has not improved sufficiently” to become a first-team regular, whereas the younger Laporte has been bossing things at the back since his January arrival from Athletic Bilbao. (Well, Laporte is actually just one day younger – but he’ll always have that over his English rival.)

City will be looking to recoup “most” of that £47.5m that paid Everton. Maybe Chelsea could end getting their man at last. Sadly for Stones’ former club Barnsley, they won’t get a 20% cut this time.

City lead race for Jorginho

These days, City buy £47.5m players willy-nilly, and the next one on their list is reportedly Napoli’s Jorginho. The Mail says Guardiola has moved into “pole position” to sign the Brazil-born Italian, who is also wanted by Manchester United and Liverpool.

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Etihad chiefs have held two “constructive” meetings in recent weeks with the 26-year-old’s representative – a fella named Joao Santos – and believe they have “convinced” the £50m-rated player to choose City ahead of their north-west rivals. Showing him pictures of the Premier League table probably helped.

Arsenal to restrict transfer budget

By contrast, there will be no willy-nilly £50m purchases happening at Arsenal this summer. The Telegraph claims the successor to departing manager Arsene Wenger, whoever he or she is, will have to work with a “restricted” budget of £50m total.

This is mainly because Wenger already spent most of the Gunners’ money on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette – along with mega contracts for Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Luis Enrique, Max Allegri, Mikel Arteta, Leonardo Jardim, Julian Nagelsmann and Joachim Löw are said to be among the “leading options” for Wenger’s job, although that list could shorten once they see the paucity of their transfer kitty.

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Meanwhile, Burnley are plotting to flex their muscle as a new Premier League superpower by re-signing former Turf Moor hero Jay Rodriguez from soon-to-be-relegated West Brom. The Mail says the Baggies will be “looking for a profit” on the £12m they paid Southampton for the forward last summer.

Elsewhere, Saints winger Sofiane Boufal has been “banished” to train on his own after a “massive dressing-room bust-up” with manager Mark Hughes (Sun), Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente could quit the north Londoners after one season and return to Athletic Bilbao (Mirror) and Swansea have joined Celtic and Rangers in the chase for Dundee midfielder Glen Kamara (Sun). No relation to Chris, sadly. Or Diomansy. Or Aboubakar.

@darlingkevin