John Stones is poised to depart Manchester City when his contract concludes in the summer. The 31-year-old has struggled for consistent playing time and fitness this season.
Stones’ Tenure at Man City Nearing End
Stones approaches the end of his 10th season at the Etihad Stadium since joining from Everton in the summer of 2016. He played a starring role in the title-winning 2017-18, 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons.
However, the Barnsley-born player has not met expectations regarding fitness in the last two seasons. Director of football Hugo Viana is not expected to offer him a contract renewal beyond June.
Exit Announcement and Potential Send-Off
According to Sam Lee of The Athletic, Stones will leave Manchester City at the end of the current season when his contract expires. It is now just “a question of how he and the club want to handle the announcement”.
Lee said, “I presume it will happen before the (Aston) Villa game so he can get a proper send-off as well.”
Manchester City saw club captain Bernardo Silva confirm that he will be leaving the club at the expiration of his contract in June, with the Portugal international set to be given a farewell around the Blues’ final Premier League home games of the campaign against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Squad Revamp and Other Potential Departures
Viana and co are expected to progress their revamp of Guardiola’s squad in the summer transfer window, having bolstered the Manchester City first-team ranks with the acquisitions of Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo in January for a combined £84 million.
In addition to Silva and likely Stones, City are also set to bid farewell to on-loan duo Manuel Akanji and Jack Grealish. The futures of a range of fringe players are also expected to be resolved ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
James Trafford is also set for a permanent exit for regular playing time. Omar Marmoush has interest from Barcelona and Savinho could also assess his options, having been heavily linked with Tottenham last summer.
On other potential defensive exits, Lee added: “I’m not quite as certain on (Nathan) Ake’s future but it’s obviously looking likely that he does go as well, but obviously that’s not a case of his contract expiring, like Stones and Bernardo (Silva) – so nobody can be quite as sure.”
Mateo Kovacic has another year on his contract as he looks to get some minutes under his belt in the run-in after an injury-ravaged 2025-26 season. City want to tie down Rodri and Phil Foden to new deals after recently agreeing a one-year extension with third-choice goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
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Stones has been one of Guardiola’s best signings since the Catalan was appointed Manchester City manager a decade ago.