It was claimed on Monday that Arsenal had started to explore a move for 32-year-old England centre-back John Stones as a short-term replacement for the injured William Saliba. According to The Athletic, Arsenal are interested in the former Man City player, who became a free agent at the start of July 2026, and Chelsea have now also become interested in signing him. Stones has 94 caps and 3 goals for England and a current Transfermarkt market value of €12.00m.