According to a recent report by Sam Lee for The Athletic, Manchester City centre-back John Stones has until the end of the season to prove his worth to Pep Guardiola.
Last summer, it was reported that Guardiola wanted to see a big improvement in Stones to convince the Spaniard that the defender deserved a place in the Manchester City side, and, it is fair to say that, this season, the 26-year-old has been anything but convincing.
Featuring just 13 times for City in the Premier League – averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.72 – Guardiola has often preferred to play midfielder Fernandinho ahead of Stones at centre-back this term, as well as stating that he would like to bring two new central defenders to the club this summer.
The latter point is important, as Guardiola had previously claimed that Stones would not be sold as long as he was at the club.
However, the Spaniard could well have changed his mind on the matter, stating recently: “What I want is the best for him. We’ll speak at the end of the season about what is going to happen.”
In a recent article by Sam Lee for The Athletic, the journalist stated that if Stones isn’t already ‘in the last chance saloon’ at City, then he ‘can’t be far off’.
Lee goes on to write that the remaining fixtures of the season are ‘crucial’ for Stones to prove himself, and, although the defender did impress during the club’s 5-0 victory over Newcastle on Wednesday evening, ‘there are plenty of questions still to answer’.
TIF Thoughts…
With just four Premier League games of the season remaining, Stones, who is valued at £32.4 million (as per Transfermarkt), certainly doesn’t have long to prove his worth to Guardiola, and, considering the way the rest of his season has gone, we think the writing could be on the wall for the 26-year-old.
Would you like to see City sell Stones this summer?
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