England stars pleaded with John Stones to join Man City

Manchester City's contingent of England internationals pleaded with John Stones to join them at the Etihad stadium, according to reports.

The Mirror reports that England coleagues Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling did their utmost to convince defender John Stones to leave Everton and join them at City.

Stones has been a long-term target for City, with new manager Pep Guardiola identifying the former Barnsley player as the ideal man to build his new look defence around.

And yesterday, Stones became the second most expensive English player in history behind only team mate Sterling, and the second most expensive defender ever behind Paris Saint Germain's David Luiz, when he completed his £47.5 million move to City.

Stones became City's seventh summer signings since Guardiola took over at the Etihad, following the arrivals playmaker Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund, veteran winger Nolito from Celta de Vigo, teenage midfielder Alexandr Zinchenko from FC Ufa, Brazilian wonderkid Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras, 20-year-old winger Leroy Sané from Schalke 04 and teenage winger Marlos Moreno from Atlético Nacional (who will be loaned to Deportivo la Coruna next season).

City may now be set to turn their attention to selling some of their players in an effort to trim their squad. French midfielder Samir Nasri has been made available for transfer after Guardiola deemed the former Arsenal player surplus to requirements.