Arsenal make move to beat Chelsea to top star after losing out on Morgan Rogers
Arsenal are accelerating a move for free agent John Stones as they look to cover for the long-term absence of William Saliba.
The 32-year-old left Manchester City last month and can also potentially cover at right-back, making for an ideal solution for the Gunners.
Saliba is expected to miss several months of action with a back injury, but Arsenal have confirmed that he has avoided the need for surgery.
But it has opened the door for Arsenal to register their interest in Stones, who is also firmly on the radar of Chelsea, who this week beat their London rivals to the capture of Morgan Rogers.
Stones has struggled with injury issues of his own throughout his Man City career, making just 36 Premier League appearances across the last three seasons.
The defender's appearances at the World Cup have been encouraging, however, after he featured for England in five of their eight games.
Arsenal are also keeping tabs on Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa and Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, although both players' price tags could prove prohibitive.
Mikel Arteta 'really likes' John Stones
When Stones signed for Man City from Everton in 2016, Mikel Arteta had just retired from his playing days.
The Spaniard joined Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium soon after as an assistant coach, and would go on to spend the next three and a half years there until returning to Arsenal.
Several Man City players have credited Arteta with a big impact on their development during their time working with him.
The 44-year-old was Guardiola's assistant coach but took a very personal role with the players, and is said to be partially behind Rodri's sensational development after his first season in the Premier League.
Stones will have been a player Arteta knew well, and it would not be a difficult transition to see the pair reunite.
"John is a player I really like," Arteta said in 2020, when Arsenal were linked with a move for him.
"We followed him before we signed him when I was at City. I worked with him for many years. I know him well and when I look at centre-backs he has many attributes I like, but we are not interested in him.”
Stones signing would be a risk
Signing Stones to cover for an injured player raises one immediately obvious issue.
The England international is prone to injuries himself, and could easily end up missing much of the time before Saliba returns.
Arsenal do have Cristhian Mosquera, who was impressive last season, as well as Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White and Jurrien Timber to potentially cover the position.
Stones would add an experienced option to that group, but the Gunners must weigh up his injury record against the sizable wages he would inevitably demand.