Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has previously been adamant about certain transfer decisions
As he said in front of the Amazon cameras, Pep Guardiola will defend Manchester City players in press conferences and tell them what he really thinks in the dressing room.
His support for some in public has been stronger than others, and few defences can have been as strong as those of John Stones. There was the infamous balls reference, but a year later the manager went further when presented with speculation that the defender could be sold.
“I don’t know how people believe we’re going to sell John Stones,” he said in the back end of the 2017/18 campaign when Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany were proving difficult to dislodge from the starting XI.
“He is a young player, an international English player. He’s a huge part of the reason why we won the title. I don’t know how long I will be here in Manchester, but as long as I’m here, John Stones will be with us.”
Stones has been an important part of two titles wins – the second would surely not have happened without that goalline clearance against Liverpool – and yet, like Sylvain Distin, many are wondering if there is more yet to come from the defender.
The 26-year-old finds himself in a similar position to that Raheem Sterling was in in 2017 when he was reported as part of a swap deal with Arsenal taking Alexis Sanchez to City. It felt bizarre to think that Guardiola would want rid of an England international but Sterling hadn’t scored the goals that were wanted. No move ever happened, he stayed, improved his finishing, and will likely now leave the club on his own terms whenever that is.
But what of Stones? Four years after signing for the club, the defender is yet to enjoy a full season with form or fitness hampering him and there have been signs this season that the manager has less time for it.
Arsenal again have been linked, and depending on price there would surely be other offers if Guardiola did change his mind. There is still time for Stones, as there was for Sterling, to show the improvement that will lead to him becoming a mainstay in the team.
Important 3 points last night 
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But that familiar sense of uncertainty has to be there again after a disappointing year. Where the City manager may have been adamant that Stones will never be sold on his watch back in 2018, ahead of a tournament where the centre-back shone in England’s path to the World Cup semi-final, would the same apply now?
It may not come out in a press conference, but Guardiola may need to have a dressing room chat that he didn’t expect to have to make.
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