The Everton defender John Stones was named by the official Uefa website in the Manchester City Champions League squad for the play-off match with Steaua Bucharest before he was officially announced as their player. Stones was listed as the club’s No24.
“We have checked with the club [Manchester City] and the player is in the squad,” a Uefa spokeswoman told the Guardian on Tuesday morning. “We received all of the squad lists from the clubs before the deadline – so before midnight – and submitted them to our website which is the standard procedure.
“Maybe it was a misunderstanding between us and them. Possibly they were not aware that it would go live on our website so quickly but for us it’s a standard procedure. It’s the first time that something like this has happened.”
Uefa confirmed the inclusion of Stones in Manchester City’s squad had caused lots of confusion. City had been linked with a summer move for the England international but there had been no deal between the two clubs when the Uefa website published their squad.
City were reluctant to match Everton’s £50m valuation, with their preferred price being around £40m, plus add-ons. Stones had told Everton he wished to leave but, given the club’s refusal to budge from the desired price, the 22-year-old was in a similar position to last summer. Then Chelsea wanted to buy him but the central defender was not sold as the London club would not raise their offer to meet Everton’s valuation.
Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City head coach, confirmed his interest in Stones last month and has been intent on adding a high-class central defender given the uncertainty over Vincent Kompany’s long-term fitness and the indifferent form of Eliaquim Mangala last season.
