John Stones reportedly turned down the opportunity to seal a loan transfer to Tottenham despite his lack of playing time at Manchester City.
Apparently, this was because the England international was not keen on uprooting his whole family to London, according to the Daily Star.
MORE: Man City defender Eric Garcia remains at the club as Barcelona fail to find transfer agreement
Stones could surely have played more often at Spurs and been given a decent opportunity to revive his career, which has majorly stalled at the Etihad Stadium in recent times.
Despite looking an outstanding young talent during his time at previous club Everton, it’s not worked out for Stones at City and it’s somewhat surprising he didn’t relish the chance to show what he can do at Tottenham.
That said, we have to respect that footballers are people too and a late move across the country might have been complicated and unsettling for him on a personal level.
City spent big on signing both Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias in central defence this summer, so Stones would do very well now to get back into Pep Guardiola’s starting line up any time soon.
The 26-year-old played just 16 Premier League games last season when the team was struggling at the back, so one imagines he’s only going to find it even harder to play regularly now.
Spurs may well be disappointed by Stones’ decision as they could have done with another proven and experienced option at centre-back this season.
STONES would rather get paid thousands per week doing nothing than play football.