Speaking to talkSPORT, pundit Adrian Durham has tipped Man City to offload John Stones to Leeds United on a temporary loan spell – with hopes that the Englishman can revive his career under Marcelo Bielsa and become a potential ‘leader’ who can take the Whites up a gear.
Stones, who has found game time difficult to come by this season under Pep Guardiola, especially with our boss consistently rotating the side, is also in the midst of a questionable run of form following repeated injury lay-offs and being less preferred to the likes of Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi at centre-half.
Should Man City loan, keep or sell John Stones?
Loan him out
Offload for a fee
Keep, he still has a future with the Blues
Impressing in flashes over our 2018/2019 domestic quadruple-winning campaign, Stones formed a potentially thriving partnership with Aymeric Laporte before club legend Vincent Kompany stepped in during our last few matches of the season.
The 26-year-old also produced one of our most crucial contributions during the 2019 Premier League title race, managing to get back and clear a goal-bound Mohamed Salah deflection off the line in a nervy 2-1 victory at home to Liverpool.
However, this season, the £100,000-per-week colossus hasn’t had the chance to replicate those heroics despite winning more aerial duels than any City player on average – slipping in the 2020 Carabao Cup final and allowing Aston Villa to pull a goal back at Wembley.
Now, pundit Durham has insisted that Stones could regain his confidence in a loan spell at Elland Road and come out of it a ‘much better player’.
“If they can’t get Ben White, because I think bigger clubs are sniffing round, I think a loan move to take John Stones back to his home county of Yorkshire might be the way forward,” explained Durham on talkSPORT.
“Because look at what Bielsa does with players; improves them. Now, we know John Stones is capable of quality, but he needs that right coaching and the right man management.
“And I am absolutely convinced that after a season with Bielsa at Leeds United, he would come out of it next May a million dollars and a much better player than he is now.”
Whether or not this move will happen remains to be seen, but a loan move could be what Stones needs what to recapture his 2018/2019 prowess.