Tom Roddy has been speaking on the latest episode of The Times’ The Game Football Podcast and has been talking about John Stones.
Roddy spent a little bit of time on other subjects but was happy to talk about Stones’ decline.
Here is what he said about the Manchester City defender.
“Hearing [Pep] Guardiola talk this week about his future – a player who he said would never leave while he was there, I think that represents John Stones’ time at Man City really quite nicely.
“Suddenly you’ve got 19-year-old Eric Garcia ahead of him now; I think the big problem with him is a lack of confidence – he’s not a Vincent Kompany, he’s not a Virgil van Dijk – and it’s been a difficult year, there have been injuries, but it’s just been a case of drifting, and it’s sad to see, really.”
It seems as if Roddy feels that Stones has had a tough year and now finds himself behind Garcia in Guardiola’s thinking.
Do you think Stones should depart City?
Yes, he has had his time
No, keep him
TIF Thoughts…
Stones has had two injuries this season that have seen him miss 12 games.
However, despite only missing 12 matches due to injury, he has only made 21 appearances for City in all competitions.
The 26-year-old since the Premier League restart has appeared for 90 minutes in the Premier League while Garcia has played 269 minutes.
So, it does indeed appear as if he is behind the Spaniard in the pecking order.
However, if he is going to leave the Etihad this summer, he is valued at £32.4m by Transfermarkt, so City could demand a hefty price tag for a player they spent £50.04m on in 2016.