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Manchester City could reportedly lose one of their longest-serving players to Bayern Munich for free this summer.
Although they sit second in the Premier League, it has been another strange season for the Sky Blues, who look nowhere near their dominant best.
It follows speculation around Pep Guardiola’s future, with journalist David Ornstein reporting to Sky Sports News that there’s “an extremely strong chance” of the Catalan coach leaving at the end of the season.
Manchester City to lose key defender for nothing
A key area of concern this term has been in defence, with City being forced to recall Max Alleyne from Watford, and going into the January market to buy Marc Guehi.
Despite their struggles, it seems they could lose another crucial body in this department.
John Stones, who has been at City for almost 10 years, looks “increasingly” unlikely to be offered a new contract before his terms expire this summer, according to a report from CaughtOffside.
Bayern Munich are said to be one of the parties interested in bringing Stones to the club, as they look for cheap options to strengthen their defensive unit.
Sources reportedly told CaughtOffside that manager Vincent Kompany, Stones’ former teammate at City, and England colleague Harry Kane are key to the decision, but that a final decision is not yet forthcoming.
Conversations are also believed to have happened with Atletico Madrid and AC Milan, with the 31-year-old free to talk to foreign clubs as he’s in the final months of his contract.
Primarily through injury issues, Stones has never made more than 30 Premier League appearances for City in a single season.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, now is the right time for City to part ways with Stones.
There is no doubting the Barnsley-born defender’s abilities, and his tactical flexibility favoured by Guardiola, but the club simply don’t get to see enough of him on the pitch.
As one of the highest earners at City, it’s money that could be better spent elsewhere based solely on his availability.
Whereas for a club like Bayern, they could factor that into any move for him, and set expectations and wages accordingly, which could make it a shrewd move for the German outfit.
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