Why Patience Will Be Key If Manchester City Sign Everton's John Stones

Jerome Boateng was only a Manchester City player for 12 months before he was sold to Bayern Munich. He joined City in 2010 for just £10.4 million, and anyone who saw him star for Germany at the World Cup that summer could see City had landed themselves a bargain. Quick, strong and young, he appeared to have everything he needed to excel at the very top of the game.

He struggled at City, though. Played predominantly at right-back, he never once looked settled. He made only 24 appearances, and in none of them did he impress. Boateng agitated for a move, and City, arguably too willing to let go, allowed him to leave and return to Germany with Bayern Munich.

Boateng’s unhappiness meant it was always going to be difficult to keep him, but it represents another example of an English club being too quick to cast off young talent after one bad season. It’s a results business, and the money involved in the Premier League means the pressure to achieve is now huge.

Time isn’t on anyone’s side, and if a player is underperforming, the likelihood is they will be sacrificed and an alternative will be put in their place.

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But it’s a culture that has cost City and other clubs. Boateng has since gone on to fulfil the obvious potential he had when he was at City. In a time when top-quality European centre-backs are at a premium, Boateng is bucking the trend and proving to be one of the best.

He’s a mainstay in the Bayern Munich side and one of the stars of Euro 2016. There are currently very few defenders who can match his performance level.

City fans were quick to judge Boateng—and they should be careful not to be so rash again. The club is now being linked with John Stones, Everton’s 22-year-old centre-back who has obvious potential. He is a true ball-playing centre-half, the kind new City boss Pep Guardiola loves to have in his side to help build from the back and set the tone for the pass-and-move possession-based football he favours.

He exudes confidence, always looks to play the ball and is impressive in his dedication to his style. Not since Rio Ferdinand’s emergence at West Ham United in the late 1990s has a young English centre-back looked so comfortable with the ball at his feet. 

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There are concerns, though. Stones has been directly responsible for a number of goals Everton have conceded over the past 12 months. His ball-playing style is impressive for the most part, but he sometimes holds onto the ball too long, unwilling, it seems, to get rid of it at the right times. He’s been caught out overplaying and must learn when to take risks and when doing so puts his side in danger.

He also appears to struggle with pressure. When Everton have been in a good moment, in control of matches and dominating the ball, Stones has looked superb. But when the tide has turned and they've been under the cosh, exactly the time when you need your centre-back to be stoic and strong, he has wilted.

It’s understandably set alarm bells ringing, particularly among the City fans worried their club are about to spend big money on another centre-back who flatters to deceive.

But those are problems that can be ironed out, particularly under the guidance of arguably the finest tactician in the game. Guardiola prides himself on finding solutions, whether it be solving issues among his own players or figuring out ways to defeat the opposition. He stops at nothing to gain an advantage. No stone is left unturned, and he will relish working with a young talent like Stones.

Take the improvements made by Javi Martinez when he worked under Guardiola. Martinez was a midfielder before his time with the Catalan. He is now one of the most assured and composed central defenders in Europe.

He told the Daily Mail back in May that it was Guardiola's attention to detail that allowed him to flourish. He said:

"

Pep is amazing. He has taught me so much. He makes you watch videos, he has tactics, exercises. He's always studying. He and his team [Domenec Torrent and Carles Planchart] are always watching videos.

They watch everything: how you train, how you play against your rivals. We always have that (specific) detail on what you can improve. For a player, what Pep can do for you is amazing. ...

We watched more than 200 videos together.

From the start, Pep told me he could see me as a defender and I had to be ready. So we started to exercise every day. A lot of repetitive movements on the training pitch. It could be boring at times – but you need it.

"

Stones has genuine potential—and if City do sign him, patience will be needed. He will make mistakes, and his form is likely to be turbulent. Clearly, though, he is a player who, under the right conditions and with the right mentor, can flourish.

In January, with Stones receiving some criticism for his perceived weaknesses, then-Everton manager Roberto Martinez said, as reported by Paul Joyce at the Express:

"

What I would say is John Stones has got an incredible potential. He is still a young man and he is in the right environment to develop that potential into becoming a very, very experienced footballer.

Whatever the judgement from the outside and the criticism, we accept it that is part of the role. But John Stones is in the perfect environment to fulfil that potential and become one of the greatest players England has ever seen.

"

Martinez ultimately proved flawed and paid a heavy price for his mismanagement of the Everton squad, but he recognised Stones' talent and showed the kind of patience a player of his potential deserves.

City will need to take a similar approach, should he make the move from Liverpool to Manchester.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and follows the club from a Manchester base. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.