Anybody in any doubt as to just how good a footballer John Stones is only needs to listen to the way Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel talk about him. Two of the greatest coaches of their generation wax lyrical about the quality of the boy from Barnsley.

"I'm a big fan of John, his personality and his quality,” is Tuchel's view. There are countless Guardiola comments about his centre-back, a man he describes as a "top class player" and "massively important" in City's most successful seasons.

But Guardiola and Tuchel agree elsewhere on Stones as well, and that is the 31-year-old needs to stay fit, because his quality is irrelevant if he isn't available on a regular basis.

Things were going well for Stones on that front this season. He played all but eight minutes of City's first three P

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