Pep Guardiola dismissed as disrespectful Tom Pope’s claim he would score “40 a season” if he played against Manchester City’s John Stones every week.
The Port Vale captain and striker is expected to line up against the centre-back in the FA Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Guardiola was asked about Pope’s statement, which he made on Twitter during England’s 2018 World Cup campaign. “It was not nice,” the City manager said.
Pope tweeted: “Just watched the highlights of the England game! I know I’m a league 2 player, I know he plays for England, I know he’s on £150k a week, I know he’s a million times better player than me but I’d love to play against John Stones every week! I’d get 40 a season!”
Stones’s season has again been blighted by injury. The 25-year-old has started only eight out of 30 matches and Guardiola does not know why the defender has been plagued with problems. “The last season and a half he couldn’t do it [stay fit],” he said. “It’s difficult to know the reason why, sometimes you have a tough injury, sometimes it’s unlucky.”
Guardiola mentioned the serious injuries Aymeric Laporte, Ilkay Gündogan and Benjamin Mendy have sustained at City. “It can happen, it’s unlucky,” he said, “but in the case of John I don’t know. I’m not sure why he can’t be regular for a long period.”
He denied the suggestion Stones might never reach his potential because of injuries. “He’s a young man,” Guardiola said. “That [potential problem] happens when you are over 30.”
Guardiola said that, if Stones is to become one of the best English centre-backs, he must stay fit. “He has the conditions [characteristics] to do it but to be there you have to play every three days. He’s still young, his future is still in front of him. It depends on him if he wants to become one of the best.”
Guardiola is confident Fernandinho will be offered a new one-year deal in the summer, although he made it clear it is a matter for Txiki Begiristain, the City sporting director.
“It’s Txiki’s issue,” he said. “Of course I’d like Fernandinho to stay. I’m so confident he will and I’m so delighted with the three and a half years we’ve had together. He does not have to convince me to stay longer. He is one of the greatest players this club has had in its whole history.”
