Stones facing a big decision over future

IT was no surprise when the first England squad in ten months was announced this week that John Stones wasn’t included.

After a poor season, the 26-year-old ended the campaign as fifth-choice centre-back at the Etihad, and there are more deserving English players ahead of him that were rightly included in Gareth Southgate’s squad.

Stones has missed four of the last six England squads, with Joe Gomez, Tyrone Mings and Michael Keane seemingly moving ahead of him, plus James Tarkowski and Lewis Dunk impressing for their clubs.

So it will be a wake-up call, not that it is needed, for Stones that he must resurrect his club career in order to earn back a spot at international level.

He could start next season as one of six recognised central defenders, plus Fernandinho, in City’s squad after the arrival of Nathan Ake and possible addition of another defender.

Eric Garcia’s future is in doubt, and Nicolas Otamendi has been linked with an exit, but there are still better players ahead of Stones at the moment fighting for just two starting spots.

He came back from lockdown having worked hard on his fitness determined to make up for lost time in the first three quarters of the season. But an untimely injury saw him start just two of City’s 14 games behind closed doors, with no minutes in the important FA Cup or Champions League fixtures. Naturally, after slipping down the pecking order, Stones has been linked with moves away to Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton. However, after his public declaration before the restart that he wanted to win his place back at City, it would be a u-turn for him to now look to leave - even if it means more playing time and the chance of winning back his England spot.

So he now faces a tricky decision. Does he stay to persuade Guardiola he was wrong to be dropped in place of Garcia and Fernandinho?

It’s a high-risk strategy, with the rewards great but a very real chance of a second successive season of stagnation, with fellow players overtaking him for club and country. Or does he look to move clubs and resurrect his career elsewhere with more guarantee of playing his way back into form - and the Euro 2021 squad?

It still feels like Stones is at a point where he can win back his place at the Etihad, despite the focus on defence in the transfer market. If anything, adding some accomplished players as competition could allow him to simply focus on playing without making mistakes. But Stones knows whatever he chooses to do this summer, he must commit to it. Because it’s not just his international career that is riding on how he performs this coming season.