According to recent reports, Manchester City defender John Stones will start against Newcastle United on Wednesday evening – despite uncertainty surrounding his future at the club.
A report in The Times claims that the centre-back is in line to make his 11th start of the season on Wednesday, however, Pep Guardiola has also said that he will ‘sit down’ with Stones at the end of the season to discuss the player’s future.
Stones – who joined the club from Everton in a £50.04 million deal back in 2016 – had previously been defended by Guardiola, who stated in 2018 that as long as he was at the club, Stones would not be sold.
However, the Spaniard has since claimed that he would like to bring in two new central defenders over the summer transfer window, and has often opted to play midfielder Fernandinho in the centre of the Manchester City backline ahead of the England international this season.
In addition to this, with City reportedly targeting Napoli’s £70 million-rated Kalidou Koulibaly this summer, it would seem as if the 26-year-old’s place at City is indeed under considerable threat.
TIF Thoughts…
Despite enjoying a trophy-laden spell with City – the defender has won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three League Cups in his four-year spell with the club – everything points to the £32.4 million-rated man making an exit from City this summer.
Would you like to see City sell Stones this summer?
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And with City currently being 23 points behind champions Liverpool having conceded 34 goals this season – already 11 more than they did in the entirety of their 2018/19 Premier League campaign – it would certainly seem, unfortunately for Stones, as if improvements are required should City wish to claim back their title as champions of England next term.