“All season” – John Stones reveals fitness truth around final Manchester City campaign | OneFootball

John Stones has revealed the truth behind fitness and injury concerns during his final season as a Manchester City player.

Throughout a highly scrutinised 2025/26 campaign, the veteran centre-back was restricted to just 18 appearances across all competitions, causing speculation that his physical strength had completely deteriorated.

This lack of visibility prompted Etihad Stadium executives to reshape their defensive depth, finalising a January deal for Marc Guéhi and most recently negotiating a contract extension until 2031 for Josko Gvardiol.

With Sporting Director Hugo Viana also establishing shortlist of options to bolster right-back including Atalanta’s Marco Palestra, the club had clearly begun planning for a post-Stones reality while the legendary figure watched from the substitutes’ bench.

What has John Stones said about last season?

Discussing his fitness coming into the FIFA World Cup in the United States, John Stones was asked whether he felt as though he would have liked more appearances and opportunities in a Manchester City shirt during the last few months.

“Yeah definitely… 100 per cent, and that comes down to a lot of things, a lot of factors, the manager [Pep Guardiola], what was going on, but that’s something that I can’t dwell on now,” he admitted.

Continuing during the discussion with ITV Football, Stones said, “I think it’s always difficult to pick an 11, and I said this to him. And he knew how much I wanted to play, how much I wanted to be there, and you can look at it in so many ways.”

Speaking during a separate interview with BBC Sport, the England international centre-back revealed that he has been “fit, pretty much all season”, raising questions as to why he perhaps was not leaned upon more by Pep Guardiola.

So why was Stones limited to action from the bench?

Rather than a standard medical sidelining, it appears the veteran fell victim to a tactical decision as Pep Guardiola pivoted toward the physical profiles of Guéhi and Abdukodir Khusanov during the final season run-in.

By shifting away from the traditional mechanics offered by Stones, the manager overrode historical sentimentality, possibly accelerating both the club and Stones’ decision to seek a fresh challenge as a free agent this summer.

Having started in the recent 3-0 warm-up victory over Costa Rica, reports from the England camp indicate that Thomas Tuchel may install the fully rested 32-year-old frequently throughout the North American competition.