Manchester City plot John Stones future talks amid season-long fitness concerns | OneFootball

Officials at Manchester City are reportedly plotting talks with John Stones over his future at the Etihad Stadium, and retaining his services for even longer.

The England international has endured a difficult season so far for the club having sustained a number of fitness setbacks, with the latest forcing him to come in and out of the squad without too much in the way of necessary recovery time.

Pep Guardiola recently confirmed that Stones was handling a foot problem that appeared to have been aggravated in the first-half of Manchester City’s 0-4 home defeat to Tottenham last month.

Having not played for the club since, Stones returned to Manchester City matchday action against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, taking a place among the substitutes and appeared ready to come on moments before the visitors scored their equalising goal.

With Manchester City enduring a hugely difficult run of form across competitions, John Stones could be the crucial component that Guardiola is requiring to get his side firing again, and as such the club themselves may deem it necessary to repay that faith contractually.

According to the information of GIVEMESPORT, Manchester City remain keen to extend John Stones’ contract with the club, despite considering a significant squad overhaul over the course of the next two transfer windows.

While Stones is on course to enter the final 18 months of his current deal come January, Manchester City seemingly want to avoid a scenario where a club could look to lure the player away for a cut-price fee through his favourable contract situation.

As such, the report points out City are aiming to open discussions over the terms of a potential new deal and how many appearances he can be expected to make at this stage of his career following a run of injury frustrations since his starring role in the Treble success of 2023.

There remains every chance that Manchester City could look into the possibility of adding further depth into their central defensive ranks during the next two transfer windows, as part of the club’s rebuild of its first-team squad.

Injury problems to all of their mainstay first-team defenders have caused a multitude of problems for Pep Guardiola, and there is a belief in some quarters that City hold an admiration and some level of interest in Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite.

Elsewhere and City are expected to eye fresh faces in the central midfield roles with at least two new players filling into the position from January into next summer, whilst the forward line is likely to take some attention with no back-up to Erling Haaland in the squad.