John Stones's Manchester Metropolis future will probably be reliant on the defender's health, in line with Pep Guardiola. The England worldwide's contract expires in the summertime and the membership should determine if he deserves an extension after an injury-hit spell on the Etihad Stadium.
The 31-year-old not too long ago stated he contemplated retirement final season because of health issues, which resulted in him making solely 11 Premier League appearances and lacking the ultimate three months of the marketing campaign with a hamstring damage. Stones was an unused substitute for Metropolis's previous two league matches however will hope to return to the beginning lineup in opposition to former membership Everton on Saturday, having featured twice for England in the course of the worldwide break.
“The membership will determine what's finest for John, we are going to see how he performs,” Guardiola stated. “When John is match, he's a part of the group, the beginning XI and the yr of the treble [he] was unbelievable however since then he has not had the consistency in [number of] video games. He's been injured many occasions so that's the reason we have now to attend and see.”
Guardiola has beforehand stated he wants gamers who're able to that includes thrice per week, which was one cause behind Kevin De Bruyne being allowed to depart in the summertime. Requested if Stones' damage issues are behind him, Guardiola stated: “I hope so. I'm completely happy that he's again [with England] and the boldness from Thomas [Tuchel] to him. There's no doubts about his potential and his high quality. I'm completely happy he performed together with his nation.”
Guardiola will probably be with out Rodri on Saturday, the midfielder is sidelined after sustaining an damage at Brentford, however might have Rayan Aït-Nouri and Omar Marmoush out there once more. Stones is not going to face his former Metropolis teammate Jack Grealish, who's on mortgage at Everton and is unable to play in opposition to his dad or mum membership.
Metropolis possess the in-form Erling Haaland, who has scored 12 targets in 9 video games for his membership this season. Would Guardiola be assured of discovering a approach to cease him? “Yeah, after all. 4 central defenders,” he joked. “I had the pleasure to face him when he was in Dortmund and hopefully I'm not going to face him once more the remainder of my life.
“He's a top-class participant; in world soccer, there are 4, 5, six, 10 gamers which might be unbelievable. They make a distinction. Erling is one in all them. I'll have him, hopefully, for a few years and I'm actually happy for that.”
