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Paul Merson urges Arsenal to sign Manchester City's John Stones

Paul Merson urges Arsenal to sign John Stones
© Reuters
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes that the Gunners should attempt to sign out-of-favour Manchester City defender John Stones this summer.

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has urged the Gunners to move for Manchester City defender John Stones this summer.

The Englishman has fallen out of favour under Pep Guardiola this term and has been tipped to depart the Etihad ahead of the 2020-21 campaign.

Indeed, Stones has turned out just 15 times in the Premier League this season, and Merson believes that Stones would flourish under Mikel Arteta following their time together at City.

"Mikel Arteta has no chance of getting the money he needs out of Arsenal," Merson wrote in his column for the Daily Star.

"They could spend £200m and still not make the Champions League next season because the gap is so big. They need a centre-back, a central midfielder and another striker. The whole spine of the team really.

"And I think he might go for John Stones at Manchester City. Pep Guardiola doesn't seem to trust him, and Arteta has worked with him before.

"Arsenal need an out and out defender, not another David Luiz who knows how to play the ball out from the back but makes a lot of mistakes.

"But Stones is English, young enough to improve, and Arteta will know all about him and know he fits into the system."

Stones was left on the bench for Man City's FA Cup semi-final clash with Arsenal, where a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace saw Arteta's men knock out the current holders on Saturday evening to reach the final.

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Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring against Manchester City on July 18, 2020
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLiverpool37313382325096
2Manchester CityMan City37253997356278
3Manchester UnitedMan Utd371712864362863
4Chelsea371961267541363
5Leicester CityLeicester371881167392862
6Wolverhampton WanderersWolves371514851381359
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs3716101160461458
8Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd371412113836254
9Burnley37159134248-654
10Arsenal371314105346753
11Everton371310144353-1049
12Southampton37147164859-1149
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle371111153755-1844
14Crystal Palace37119173049-1942
15West Ham UnitedWest Ham37108194861-1338
16Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton37814153753-1638
17Aston Villa3797214066-2634
18Watford37810193461-2734
19Bournemouth3787223764-2731
RNorwich CityNorwich3756262670-4421

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