Manchester City are close to agreeing a new contract with John Stones but Pep Guardiola will be without the defender for the Community Shield against Leicester, per the Mirror.
Guardiola gave Stones extra time off after reaching the Euro 2020 final with England earlier this summer. The Spanish coach will not risk the centre-half at Wembley on Saturday, as he keeps one eye on facing Tottenham on the opening day of the Premier League season.
The Citizens begin their title defence in north London on August 15 and will hope to have Stones available. He formed a formidable partnership with Ruben Dias following the £64m Portuguese’s arrival from Benfica last September.
Stones played all but 11 of 690 potential minutes at Euro 2020 as a mainstay of Gareth Southgate’s England backline. He helped the Three Lions to keep five clean sheets, as well, including shutting out Germany in the Last 16.
It capped a busy campaign for the 27-year-old, after Stones started 31 of his 35 outings for Manchester City last season. He also offered five goals across all competitions and will now be rewarded with a new contract.
Manchester City are close to reaching an agreement with Stones over a £175,000-per-week deal. He has a year left on the £100k-p/w terms agreed after Everton sold him for £47.5m in 2016.
Reports by The Athletic last month had suggested Stones was in line for a new deal at the Etihad Stadium. The Citizens want to avoid players entering or running down the final year of their contracts as it forced them to sell Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich.
Stones earned his new Manchester City contract
Manchester City are in part making a business decision by awarding Stones a new contract to protect his value. But the defender deserves a secure future as he earned his new deal with Guardiola’s outfit.
Stones appeared to fall down Guardiola’s pecking order after Dias’ arrival, but he turned his season around. It meant Aymeric Laporte was the one out of favour instead, and Duncan Castles claims the Spain international now wants to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Meanwhile, Guardiola lauded Stones in February, via the Manchester City Twitter account: “He is an incredible professional. He was not injured; he is exceptional because he turned the situation around himself. [Stones] decided to become a top player.”
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