Stones & Laporte

Pep Guardiola revolution could start with two blockbuster moves to sure up defence

MANCHESTER CITY want two men at a combined cost of over £80million to kick-start the Pep Guardiola revolution: Everton's John Stones and Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte.
Laporte has a £40m get-out clause and given Everton rejected a £38m bid from Chelsea last summer, City are looking at a combined total that will exceed £80m.
SunSport understands City chiefs are set on their first two targets as Guardiola’s rebuilding will start from the back.
Stones and Laporte is the central defensive partnership that Guardiola wants to take City into the future with given skipper Vincent Kompany is prone to injuries.
Etihad officials are shifting through the elite of world football and have an initial target of five top-class signings ahead of next season.
They want to give Guardiola the best chance of hitting the ground running as they aim to build an all-conquering side with the celebrated Catalan at the helm.
Everton fought tooth and nail to keep Stones, 21, last summer and managed to stave off Chelsea. But they will be bracing themselves for a huge City bid.
As for Bilbao, they are also desperate to keep Laporte, 21, but given his clause it will be impossible to block a move, if he wants to join City.
The France Under-21 international is one of the most coveted defenders in La Liga and both Barcelona and Real Madrid are hot on his heels.
City are hoping the Guardiola factor will prove decisive in swaying the youngster.

Don't know about Laporte but Stones hasn't exactly had a great season at Everton. Also I'd rather not give the Blue Dippers another £50m. There has to be better options

If I had a quid for every article professing to know what Pep wants, I'd have, ooh, £62 by now 

Stones might still be a decent shout, but I'm deeply concerned by how many games the toffees have chucked away from winning positions and, given Stones is one of those responsible for stopping that happening, I'd question his ability to focus for 90 minutes.

Who would you bet on to learn and improve into the better player with experience, Stones or Mangala?