The Manchester City official website, in the build up to the last European Championships, ran a piece about John Stones, using a phrase that feels even more prescient four years on.
The England international, they wrote, is ‘one of a kind‘.
Flash forward to April 2024, and with John Stones pushing the limits of even Pep Guardiola’s tactical innovations in his novel centre-half-turned-attacking midfielder role, there is an even greater case to be made that the former Everton man is one of the most unique talents in the game today.
If Guardiola wanted to repeat the trick with another defensive talent, he would have to possess not only Stones’ supreme technical ability but also his remarkable reading of the game, both in and out of possession.
Fabrizio Ravenelli, however, is convinced that one Riccardo Calafiori possesses many of the attributes that have made Stones one of the most important players in one of the most impressive teams of the 21st century.
Manchester City tipped to sign ‘the new John Stones’
Bologna coach Thiago Motta, like the Man City boss, admires highly-technical, multi-faceted players capable of performing a wide variety of roles. And the £17 million-rated Calafiori, splitting his duties between the centre of defence and wide on the left, is just as integral to Bologna’s unexpected Champions League charge as their free-scoring winger Ricardo Orsolini, captain Lewis Ferguson, and their much-admired centre-forward Joshua Zirkzee.
“I like him a lot and (any club who sings him would be pulling off) a great coup,” Ravanelli, the former Juventus, Middlesbrough and Marseille star, tells Tuttomercatoweb.
“Calafiori, if he played for Manchester City, would be the new Stones. He is a perfect player for Guardiola, because he knows how to play many roles in the defensive phase.
“Calafiori is good at restarting the play, as well having quality in marking and passing. Plus, it seems to me that he also has a strong personality.”
According to Tuttomercatoweb, there is interest from AC Milan, Juve and a Tottenham Hotspur side who’s own head coach – the purist Ange Postecoglou – shares Guardiola and Motta’s idealist view of how the ‘beautiful game’ should be played.
Bologna have no interest, however, in making this stellar campaign a one-off. For CEO Claudio Fenucci, this is not the end of the Rossoblu’s journey but the beginning.
“We are fighting with teams that every year set out to reach the Champions League. (They) have revenues that allow us to plan these objectives. For us, it is a new situation,” Fenucci tells Radio Serie A.
“It is not difficult to plan (for next season). We have a squad of players who are demonstrating their strength, we have a coach who we hope will continue with us. When we have more clarity, we will take stock.
“But isn’t this the time to keep Zirkzee, Ferguson, Calafiori in red and blue?”
Summer plans underway for Pep Guardiola’s side
HITC understands that Man City are looking at a number of talented young players to boost their already star-studded squad. A goalkeeper to replace Stefan Ortega is on the agenda, with Roma’s Mile Svilar and Villarreal’s Filip Jorgensen of interest.
City are also one of the clubs keen on Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfielder Georgiy Sudakov.
“(Shakhtar director) Sergei Palkin informed me about offers from Juventus and Napoli,” says Sudakov, who likens his style to that of Tottenham’s James Maddison and City’s own Phil Foden.
“Shakhtar rejected Napoli’s 40 million euro bid (last summer). The club want to get as much money as possible from my sale. Palkin has said I can go to Europe in six months or a year. I trust him and the President.”