John Stones suffers injury blow ahead of England friendly against Uruguay | OneFootball

Manchester City defender John Stones has suffered a calf injury and is a doubt for England ahead of Friday’s friendly with Uruguay at Wembley

The 31-year-old has endured another injury-ravaged campaign at the Etihad Stadium and is firmly expected to leave City when his contract expires in June.

Stones joined Manchester City from Everton as one of Pep Guardiola‘s first signings at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016 and has since led the Blues to a plethora of silverware on the domestic, European and global fronts.

However, a poor fitness record for club and country has underpinned Stones’ struggles throughout his career and explains largely why the Barnsley-born star has never fulfilled his true potential at Manchester City.

Stones’ Manchester City season in numbers

The England international has played 968 minutes of competitive football for Manchester City this season – 353 minutes across seven Premier League appearances, 343 minutes in four UEFA Champions League outings as well as 272 minutes in domestic cup competitions.

He has been very unreliable from a fitness standpoint since the start of the previous campaign – and has hardly reached the levels he maintained in City’s historic 2022-23 treble winning season since a man-of-the-match performance in the Blues’ 2023 UEFA Champions League final win over Inter Milan in Istanbul.

Guardiola is believed to remain a huge fan of Stones’ ability but press conference remarks from the Catalan since the start of the current campaign indicate that Manchester City will take a pragmatic approach to deciding the centre-half’s future at the Etihad Stadium.

With Abdukodir Khusanov in excellent form, Vitor Reis impressing on loan in Spain, Max Alleyne brought back from loan from Watford and Marc Guehi recruited in January, City are well-stocked in defence and are fully prepared for Stones’ inevitable exit this summer.

Calf injury ahead of England vs Uruguay

Craig Hope of Mail Sport has revealed that Stones has picked up a calf injury ahead of England’s friendly with Uruguay on Friday evening that has raised doubt over his availability for the Three Lions.

England boss Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan of Stones from his time managing Chelsea but the German will be taking note of Stones’ persisting injury record that could leave the Three Lions short of cover in defence at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

It remains to be seen whether Stones will prove his fitness in time for England’s subsequent game against Japan on Tuesday, with Manchester City officials and Guardiola expected to have been briefed on the fitness setback.

There is every chance that Guardiola decides to recall Stones to Manchester to recover at the club’s facilities and to ensure that the six-time Premier League winner is fit for the Blues’ league and FA Cup run-in.