John Stones has now given a verdict about the injury he suffered during England’s 2-2 draw against Belgium.
As confirmed by Gareth Southgate after the pulsating draw on Tuesday night, the 29-year-old had sustained a knock in the adductor area.
The £47.5 million defender continues to be one of the most injury-prone high-profile players in the game, which often curtails his progress for both club and country.
John Stones drops four-word injury verdict after England’s 2-2 draw against Belgium
Pep Guardiola would be far from delighted to witness his key players start in two consecutive friendlies.
After all, even Phil Foden started the contest against Domenico Tedesco’s side and played for the entirety of the 94 minutes.
Against Brazil as well, Foden played the full game.
As John Stones was leaving Wembley Stadium, his brief verdict about his injury was simply, “I’m not sure yet”, as shared by journalist Manuel Sanchez on X.
Sanchez did also mention that Stones was “walking normally”, as one can see in the video.
Reporter Kelly Somers made the same claim about the five-time Premier League winner’s walk.
Not the answer Manchester City fans would have liked to hear from John Stones
Ideally, if John Stones just stated that his injury was not serious and the substitution was made for precautionary reasons, it would have seemed guaranteed that he would have started against Arsenal.
But considering Stones is unsure about his fitness, one wonders whether he will recover in time to face the Gunners on Sunday.
In addition, perhaps Pep Guardiola may choose to rest the Barnsley-born defender against Mikel Arteta’s side to avoid risking his fitness, as the prospect of him missing more games until the end of the season would be a huge blow to Manchester City’s hopes of winning silverware.
It is a shame that John Stones has had to deal with yet another injury-related setback as it is during the business end of the season when elite players such as him well and truly come to life.
