{"id":36243,"date":"2026-07-29T00:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T00:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/36243\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T00:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T00:39:11","slug":"john-stones-picks-italy-as-destination-over-chelsea-and-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/36243\/","title":{"rendered":"John Stones picks Italy as destination over Chelsea and Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Probably the most desired player of the market was John Stones<\/a>, not just because of what he can offer as a player but mainly because of his status as a free agent, allowing him to sign without the need for club negotiations. Apparently, the defender has chosen Italy as his next destination over Chelsea<\/a> and Arsenal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The club that Stones preferred to play for is Inter<\/a>, according to Sky Sports in Italy. After leaving Manchester City<\/a> following a year in which he barely played, the defender arrives at another giant club with aspirations. The report suggests that he has verbally agreed to join on a free transfer after receiving interest from Premier League clubs.<\/p>\n

Stones arrives after a solid World Cup with England, where he featured in the lineup in every knockout match and showed that he can compete at a high level despite becoming a free agent. The medical part could be important for the player, with the report saying that the examinations are scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n

Inter continue interest in Cristian Romero<\/p>\n

Inter are also working on a possible move for Cristian Romero<\/a> from Tottenham<\/a>, with the Argentina international emerging as another defensive target for the Serie A club. The Italian side are looking to strengthen their back line and have identified him as a player they would like to bring to Milan.<\/p>\n

Romero\u2019s situation has attracted attention because the player has made clear that he wants to leave the club in this window after some friction with the fans. However, Inter would need to negotiate a transfer with Tottenham to complete the signing.<\/p>\n

\"Inter<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Inter Milan working to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham after 2026 World Cup campaign<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The defender remains an important player with a strong history in Italy, where he played for Genoa and Atalanta and was even named the best defender in Serie A. The price tag is one of the reasons why the move has not been completed yet, with Tottenham reportedly looking for around \u20ac45 million.<\/p>\n

Inter sporting director confirms Romero interest<\/p>\n

Fabrizio Romano reported that Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio confirmed the club\u2019s interest in Romero. The Italian executive explained that they have already spoken with the player\u2019s agent and the club. Ausilio said: \u201cWe are interested for sure, it\u2019s true. We spoke to the agent and Tottenham. We will see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Probably the most desired player of the market was John Stones, not just because of what he can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[699,155,24196,44,5,24197,3525],"class_list":["post-36243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-arsenal","tag-chelsea","tag-cristian-romero","tag-inter","tag-italy","tag-john-stones","tag-tottenham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}