He's better than Ake but not Dias, and I think Pep probably wants a left footed defender at the side of Dias.
I’d say he’s better than Ake. Dias would be amongst the top 5 centre halves in the world IMO. Stonesy is a lot better than Harry Maguire though, no doubt about that!
It was only Stones’ injury that let Laporte in. Him and Dias were the first choice pair for about 20 odd games or more the season before last, without a left footer in sight. Definitely thought John would start today as him and Dias are immense together.
Thought he might move on this summer thinking maybe Newcastle few bob to spend and team you would think are on the up. At is age now needs to play hes a very rich man just been a squad player at city doesn't seem enough at is age.
He's a Barnsley lad and for that reason alone he's better than Diaz an Ake, at minute he's out of favour another 7 Months he'll be back c,o,y,r,
If Stones goes through the season without any serious injuries then he will probably as many games as the other centre backs, Pep does like to rotate , it is only game one of the season & with all the cup games, champions league & domestic league games it takes a big top quality squad to maintain challenges in all competitions which I fully expect City to do.
Totally from memory so could be wrong, but think Pep has done this a few times with Stones, where he leaves him out and when he comes back in he comes back better.
It would if man city paid most of it. Which i am sure happens if they want a player to remain match fit and if not we could always hope. We are used to that