Manchester City and Pep Guardiola make John Stones decision amid contract uncertainty | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is ready to let John Stones leave on a cut-price fee to boost his chances of signing Jarrad Branthwaite this summer, as per a new report.

Stones faces an uncertain future after an injury-riddled campaign that ended with him limping off eight minutes into in the second leg of Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The 31-year-old has 12 months left on his current deal at the Etihad Stadium and with Guardiola heavily stocked at centre-back, incoming director of football Hugo Viana could look to offload Stones as part of what is expected to be a major summer exodus.

Having been unavailable since February, Stones is stepping up his recovery from the muscle pull that effectively ended his season and is spending some time with the England National Team to prove his fitness in time to be called up by Guardiola to the FIFA Club World Cup.

Everton have been strongly linked with a summer swoop for Stones, who is earning around £250,000-per-week at the Etihad Stadium and needs regular first-team football to stake a claim in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Despite a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign that saw him bag crucial injury-time goals against Arsenal and Wolves in the Premier League, recurring fitness issues have once again derailed Stones from playing week-in, week-out and Guardiola wants to get rid of players he can’t trust to be fit ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Manchester City strengthened their prospects in central defence with the January signings of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, which means Stones could well be on his way out as the 2023 treble winners look to trim the wage bill and add four to five new signings to Guardiola’s squad to challenge on all fronts next term.

Sun Sport are reporting that whilst the Catalan manager is happy for the Englishman to stay, Guardiola will happily sanction a cut-price exit for Stones this summer to boost Manchester City’s chances of landing long-standing target Jarrad Branthwaite from Everton.

Branthwaite was heavily linked with a switch to Manchester United last summer and has made his name as one of England’s most exciting defensive prospects after a breakthrough few seasons in Merseyside.

It does remain to be seen however, if Manchester City will look to bolster their options in a position where they have a wide range of options as there are more pressing areas of the squad that need urgent investment.

Manchester City are stepping up their pursuit of Wolves right-back Rayan Ait-Nouri as Kyle Walker finds a new club after being told he is not part of the club’s plans for the new season, having left the Blues for AC Milan on loan in January.

Lyon’s Rayan Cherki and AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders are also nearing the completion of their respective transfers to the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City work out a transfer fee with the midfield duo’s respective clubs ahead of their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the United States.