Manchester City have delayed a decision on John Stones’ future amid ongoing fitness concerns, manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed. The 31-year-old defender’s contract expires this summer, and the club must weigh up whether to offer an extension given his injury-plagued spell at the Etihad Stadium.
Stones recently admitted he considered retirement last season due to persistent fitness problems, which limited him to just 11 Premier League appearances. He missed the final three months of the campaign with a hamstring injury and has been an unused substitute in City’s last two league matches. However, he featured twice for England during the international break and could return to the starting lineup against former club Everton on Saturday.
“The club will decide what is best for John, we will see how he performs,” Guardiola said. “When John is fit, he is part of the group, the starting XI and the year of the treble he was unbelievable but since then he has not had the consistency in games. He’s been injured many times so that is why we have to wait and see.”
Guardiola has previously stressed the need for players who can feature three times a week, a factor in Kevin De Bruyne’s departure last summer. Asked if Stones’ injury woes are behind him, Guardiola replied: “I hope so. I’m happy that he’s back with England and the confidence from Thomas Tuchel to him. There’s no doubts about his potential and his quality.”
City will be without Rodri on Saturday after the midfielder sustained an injury at Brentford, but Rayan Aït-Nouri and Omar Marmoush could be available. Stones will not face former City teammate Jack Grealish, who is on loan at Everton and ineligible against his parent club. Guardiola also joked about stopping in-form striker Erling Haaland, saying he would deploy “four central defenders” against him.
