Inter Transfer Market: A Major Signing for the Nerazzurri—Who Is John Stones, the Former City Player Who Said Yes to Marotta?

John Stones has agreed to join Inter: the former Manchester City defender will wear the Nerazzurri jersey next season after agreeing to a two-year contract worth 4 million euros per season with the Biscione.

Negotiations between his agents and the Serie A club have progressed in recent hours and have reached a successful conclusion: Stones will join Inter on a free transfer and will bolster the defense of Cristian Chivu’s team. Inter, which has a long-standing tradition of signing free agents, pounced on the free agent defender and beat out competition from Juventus, Arsenal, and Chelsea, all of whom had shown interest in the player.

According to Sky, all that’s left is for him to sign the contract and pass his physical, and the English international will become an Inter player. His arrival at the Italian champions does not necessarily rule out the signing of Tottenham’s Argentine defender Cristian Romero, even though negotiations with the Spurs are decidedly more complicated.

Stones is the ideal reinforcement for Chivu: he can play both as a pure center-back and as a wing-back and is capable of building plays. Born in 1994, he came up through the Barnsley youth system, where he made his first-team debut in 2012. After three years at Everton, he was signed by Manchester City in 2016, where he remained under Guardiola for 10 seasons, winning the Premier League multiple times and claiming the Champions League in 2023—at the expense of Inter Milan.

Although Guardiola used him sparingly last season, Stones enjoys the full confidence of England head coach Thomas Tuchel, who started him in five matches during the most recent World Cup in North America. He has made a total of 94 appearances for the Three Lions and scored 3 goals.