Pep Guardiola has suggested John Stones could feature in a holding-midfield role for Manchester City after a brief cameo in front of the back four during Sunday’s Community Shield win over Chelsea.
Stones started the game centrally in the back four as the Premier League champions City ran out 2-0 winners against FA Cup holders Chelsea.
Later in the game, Vincent Kompany was introduced from the bench and Stones was pushed forward into midfield, a position he looked comfortable in despite his unfamiliarity with it.
And Guardiola, who led City to a record-breaking 100-point haul last season, has tipped Stones to potentially play as a midfielder more regularly in the future.
“John made an excellent World Cup and showed again his personality,” Guardiola said, according to FourFourTwo.
“I was happy to see him in the last 10 or 15 minutes like a holding midfielder. John maybe can play there. We will see what’s going on in the future. In the Premier League there are a huge amount of games and everybody will be involved.”
“John has to know he has to play at a good level because Vincent and Nico [Nicolas Otamendi] are there, and they are going to play. Then, they have to play good.
“In the higher teams in the top tier, when they play in all competitions, you need this kind of competition.”
City had been chasing Italian midfielder Jorginho before new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri managed to lure the former Napoli star to Stamford Bridge.
As a result, Guardiola is theoretically one player short in midfield considering he had hoped to add Jorginho to his squad for the new season.
That might give Stones the opportunity to play more often than last term, after he made just 18 Premier League appearances for the champions.
Manchester City kick off their Premier League season against Arsenal on Sunday.
The post Pep Guardiola ponders possible midfield role for John Stones appeared first on Squawka News.
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