Manchester City Transfer News: Latest on John Stones, Top Rumours

John Stones has admitted manager Pep Guardiola is the reason he signed for Manchester City instead of Chelsea. The England centre-back has hailed Guardiola's arrival at City as the driving force behind his decision to quit Everton for the Blue half of Manchester.

Stones made that clear during an interview with Soccer AM (h/t Jack Wilson of the Daily Star): "Pep Guardiola was 100 per cent a major factor, if not the main reason for me coming. There's a lot of factors when you're thinking about moving clubs but in my eyes he's the best manager in the world to work with."

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Stones was adamant he couldn't pass up the chance to work with a manager boasting Guardiola's reputation and track record: "It was something I couldn’t turn down. For anyone in my position, when Pep wants you to join the club, it’s a no-brainer. He’s the best manager in the world, and to be given the opportunity to learn from him was massive."

Stones joined City this summer after the Citizens paid Everton £47.5 million for his services. Despite some rocky moments, the 22-year-old central defender has indicated things are going well on Guardiola's watch. Stones told Soccer AM the experience has exceeded his expectations: “I watched Pep when he was at Barcelona and Bayern, but now that I’m here working with him it’s even better than I expected."

Stones' reference to Guardiola's past with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich is significant. Guardiola enjoyed tremendous success at each club, success built on a sophisticated and expansive brand of possession-based football.

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It's a style of play naturally suited to the best parts of Stones' game, specifically his comfort on the ball. The one-time Barnsley prospect has always been willing to play out from the back, sometimes to his detriment.

Stones was guilty of more than one costly error in his final season with Everton during the 2015/16 campaign. Then-Toffees manager Roberto Martinez called on Stones to learn from his mistakes back in April, according to Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo.

Still, Stones' gaffes hadn't stopped Chelsea from pursuing him. The Stamford Bridge club placed three separate bids for the ball-playing centre-back in the summer of 2015, per Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail. Barlow reported in April how the Blues were ready to revisit trying to sign him.

Ironically, Stones would likely thrive at Chelsea now as well. Especially since Blues manager Antonio Conte switched to three at the back, a system demanding one ball-player among the central defenders, a role David Luiz currently occupies.

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Still, Stones is right not to have too many complaints about life at City with Guardiola. After all, he's working for a manager who demands his players show bravery and quality in possession.

City Tipped to Bid for Aubameyang

Links between City and Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang don't fade easily. In fact, Italian source Calciomercato (h/t Dipesh Agarwal of Sport Witness) recently reported City could look to exploit some uncertainty surrounding the attacker Dortmund valued at as much as €70 million.

However, the report from Italy seems to have stemmed from Dortmund dropping Aubameyang for their recent UEFA Champions League game with Sporting Lisbon, per Agarwal.

The club dropped the prolific forward for "internal reasons," according to Dortmund chief Thomas Tuchel, per Mark Ashenden of Sky Sports. German publication Bild (h/t MailOnline's Kit Holden) attributed the disciplinary action to Aubameyang arriving back late from a trip to Milan.

However, Aubameyang was back in the lineup for the 5-2 Bundesliga win over Hamburg, a game in which he scored four times, according to WhoScored.com:

The striker celebrated with Tuchel and told Sky Sports (h/t ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko) he made amends: "I made a mistake, so I had to apologise."

It seems unlikely Dortmund would be open to selling their best striker now that everything is settled again. The German club's attack is one of the most prolific in Europe, and Aubameyang is its focal point.

City have been linked with the Gabon ace before, per James Robson of the Manchester Evening News. Guardiola knows all about Aubameyang from his days in Munich, but his current forward line is loaded with strikers such as Sergio Aguero, Kelechi Iheanacho and Nolito.

Guardiola is still building his ideal City squad, with players like Stones expected to become linchpins at key positions. But it may be too soon to splash the cash on Aubameyang just yet.