John Stones
John Stones has had a disappointing couple of years at City
John Stones has spent most of his life playing as a centre-back, but search for highlights of the biggest game of his career and you find videos with titles such as "John Stones midfield masterclass in Champions League final".
This was the apex of Stones' career, and that night in Istanbul his Mona Lisa. We had become used to seeing Stones step into midfield, often from centre-back, sometimes from right-back, but this was something else. "I played as more of a No 8 today," he beamed afterwards, "which I loved."
In a City performance full of nerves, rose above it all. He glided around the pitch, skipped past Inter defenders, and basically just ran the show. He was easily the best player on the pitch.
Stones was often stationed defensively as the right-sided defender in City's system that night in June 2023, but rather than stepping in alongside Rodri in midfield, he went past him, as he had explained. It was a superb performance.
But since then, things have been a little more difficult for the 31-year-old to the point that this summer, there are genuine questions about his future at the club.
Since the Champions League final, he has started only 18 of 76 Premier League games, and last year, he missed 33 matches with four separate injuries. He has become something of a forgotten man and has seen his place in Pep Guardiola's strongest team disappear.
This season, it seems fair to assume that Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol will be the first-choice centre-back partnership. Vitor Reis (19) and Abdukodir Khusanov (21) are the next generation, and Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake are still options. There are clearly too many central defenders, and during the Club World Cup, Guardiola signalled his intent to trim his squad.
Stones has no desire to wave the white flag on his City career, however, even if his place in Guardiola's plans has changed. And that versatility might help him stay around for at least one more season.
He can certainly play in midfield and would have been a more than useful option at times last season with Rodri injured. Now, there is little need for that, and the additions of Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders, as well as Rodri's return from a cruciate knee injury, have strengthened the options in the centre of the pitch.
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That isn't the case at right-back, however. Kyle Walker is set to leave this summer, and City have struggled to find a replacement. As it stands, Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes are the only options there.
But Stones has shown he can do that role. He might not provide the kind of width that Walker did, but with Rayan Ait-Nouri now in place as an attacking left-back, Guardiola could revert to a more solid right-back, someone like Stones who can invert into midfield.
If he can stay fit, it is certainly an option worth considering. At his best, he has been an outstanding servant for City, and his performance in Istanbul remains the stuff of legend. He still provides a quality option in this squad, both at right-back and at centre-back.
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