Revealed: Pep Guardiola ‘lost faith’ in John Stones’ fitness in closing months of Man City tenure | OneFootball

A new report has outlined why John Stones was restricted to a bit-part role in his final months as a Manchester City player despite the defender publicly admitting he had been fit to play nearly all season.

Stones, 32, departed Manchester City at the end of last season as a free agent, bringing to a close a ten-year association with the club that at its peak saw the England international widely regarded as one of the most accomplished ball-playing defenders in European football under Guardiola’s demanding system.

The manner of his exit, however, has been clouded by a period of declining involvement that left those around the club puzzled and, in some cases, openly frustrated on the player’s behalf – with fresh details now shedding light on the breakdown in the relationship between Guardiola and a defender he had once counted among the most indispensable members of his squad.

Stones has since joined England’s squad at the FIFA World Cup as a free agent, with Thomas Tuchel evidently maintaining confidence in a player whose club situation has provided some of the more uncomfortable subplots of the summer for supporters reflecting on Guardiola’s final season in charge.

The decision not to renew his contract, and the circumstances that surrounded his diminished role in the final months of the campaign, are now becoming clearer as sources close to the situation speak openly about what transpired behind the scenes at the Etihad Stadium.

Report: Guardiola ‘lost faith’ as Carabao Cup final omission left sources bemused

According to Sam Lee of The Athletic, different sources familiar with the situation have revealed that Guardiola lost faith in Stones’ ability to stay fit, with the dynamic between the two understood to have been shaped by a fundamental difference in approach – the Catalan’s preference for players who push themselves to be available contrasting with Stones’ tendency, at certain points, to take a more cautious approach to his own physical management.

The Athletic’s sources stress, however, that in the final months of the season those around the City training ground had been genuinely impressed with Stones’ recovery and considered him to be in good shape – making what followed all the more difficult for those who observed it closely.

Despite Ruben Dias being injured and fellow centre-back Marc Guehi being cup-tied ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal in late March, Stones was left out of the starting lineup for a fixture that represented one of the most significant occasions of Manchester City’s season – a decision that sources indicate left a lasting mark on his final months at the club.

Stones himself alluded to the difficulty of that period while speaking ahead of the World Cup, with Lee reporting that the England international’s comments before the tournament reflected the frustration of a player who felt his contributions in the closing stages of his City career were not given the recognition they deserved, despite the physical condition he had worked to achieve.

The sense of bewilderment around the training ground extended to a further incident later in the campaign, with sources telling The Athletic they were bemused when Stones was only brought on very late during a home game against Crystal Palace in May – a cameo that many within the squad environment felt did not reflect his standing as a player or the fitness levels he had demonstrated in training.

What do the revelations tell us about Man City’s post-Guardiola rebuild?

The picture that emerges from Lee’s reporting is one of a relationship that had run its course by the end of the season, with Guardiola’s own departure from the Etihad Stadium and Stones’ exit as a free agent representing two significant threads of continuity being cut simultaneously as director of football Hugo Viana began the process of reshaping the squad around incoming manager Enzo Maresca.

The Carabao Cup final omission, in particular, is a detail that will resonate with supporters who watched Stones give so much to the club across a decade that brought six Premier League titles and a Champions League – the decision to leave him out of a major final while the natural alternatives were unavailable sitting awkwardly alongside the club’s subsequent confirmation that his contract would not be renewed.

Viana’s search for a long-term successor to Stones in the centre of Manchester City’s defence has been among the more pressing items on his summer agenda, with the rebuild Maresca is overseeing demanding quality and depth at the back as much as the midfield reinforcement that has already been addressed through the arrival of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

Whether Stones finds a new club in the weeks ahead – at the World Cup or shortly after it – or elects to take his time in assessing his options as a free agent whose qualities remain undimmed by the circumstances of his City departure, the manner in which his ten-year association with the Etihad Stadium ended deserves a more considered epilogue than the training-ground bewilderment described in Lee’s account.