Inter Reach an Agreement to Sign Free Agent Stones | OneFootball

After testing the waters a couple of weeks ago, Inter decided to pursue John Stones and quickly came to terms on a two-year contract with the defender. He’ll make €4/4.5M annually, La Gazzetta dello Sport relays.

The veteran dealt with a number of injuries in recent years, but the Nerazzurri were encouraged with what they saw from him in the World Cup. Juventus and a few English sides were also attached to him too, but the Scudetto holders faced little resistance when they sprinted to snag him.

Stones heads to Inter after spending a decade with Manchester City, racking up nearly 300 appearances and numerous trophies. He began his career at Barnsley before flourishing at Everton. He has 94 caps with England under his belt, including 5 in the recent international competition. The 32-year-old made 18 appearances in the last campaign. He’ll reunite with Manuel Akanji in Milan.

The Nerazzurri elected to sign a different defender while the negotiation for Cristian Romero was ongoing. They haven’t completely abandoned it, but it’ll take some time. The requests from him and Tottenham are large. According to Fabrizio Romano (via SOSFanta), they haven’t relayed to his camp that they have moved on. However, they need to offload Benjamin Pavard and his €5M salary before adding another piece.

Our Take on Inter and Stones

They might end up onboarding both if the Argentine’s price decreases, but their newcomer fits more what they need, a rotational piece, at a much cheaper cost. Diverting their resources toward a great wing-back now, even if Andy Diouf has been popping off during the summer, and a prospect to fill out their rearguard would be a sound plan.