John Stones has insisted he wants to stay at Manchester City and hopes to “shut down” any suggestions he will leave this summer.
Manager Pep Guardiola said he wants to trim his squad, which he described as “too long”, and now has seven centre-backs after the January signings of Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov. And Stones, 31, is about to enter the last year of his contract, having only started six Premier League games in an injury-hit campaign.
But the England international, who has not played since February, is adamant he has no intention of leaving the Etihad Stadium.
“I want to stay here,” Stones said. “I love it. I’m here to help the team. I don’t know if there’s been any speculation [about going], but I hope that this kind of shuts it down.”
Stones is in City’s squad for the Club World Cup but has not featured for four months since suffering a thigh injury in the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid. He also struggled to stay fit in the 2023-24 campaign, when he only began 12 Premier League matches, and said he had endured some “dark days” during his time out injured but was determined to fight his way through them.
He added: “There’s been points where you think, you’ve been giving all this effort, you dedicate all your life, especially how I approach or go about my life, and football, I give everything, on and off the pitch to be here or be ready to play games and [there] are the dark days. Everyone’s been through them and [you] think: ‘Why is this happening?’
“You wish it would have gone a different path. All of us have been through different upbringings and challenges through life and what did we do within those situations, was it fight or was it give up? I was a fighter from a young age, in difficult moments, you have to look at the bigger picture and realise what are your morals, what you believe in, and fight to make it worthwhile.”
