Everton want to bring John Stones back from Man City nine years after £50m sale

John Stones has struggled with injuries this season and there are concerns that he will be able to win back his place in Pep Guardiola’s team, with his old club interested in bringing him back

Everton are ready to sound out Manchester City about the possibility of taking John Stones back to the Merseyside club.

Stones, who has been a pivotal figure under Pep Guardiola, has been plagued by injuries for the last two seasons and hasn’t played since undergoing an operation to repair a hamstring tear he sustained in February.

City signed young centre-backs Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah in January and are also big admirers of Toffees star Jarrad Branthwaite.

Stones has just a year left on his £250,000-a-week contract and would have to take a pay-cut to link up again with David Moyes.

But City’s asking price is unlikely to be prohibitive and they are aware that the defender needs regular football to push for a place in England’s World Cup squad next summer.

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Stones arrived from Everton in a £50million deal in 2016 and has won six Premier League titles.

Guardiola sees him as the best ball-playing defender at the Etihad but there are serious questions about whether Stones can cope with the schedule of playing every three days.

He has made only 13 starts this season and his campaign was ended when his hamstring flared in the Champions League defeat against Real Madrid.

Moyes was Everton’s manager when they signed Stones from Barnsley in 2013 for £3million.

He played 95 matches for the Toffees over three seasons, and could have left the club for Chelsea in 2015 only to see three bids from the Blues turned down, with the third of those coming in at £30m.

Stones, who turned 31 last Wednesday, has won 83 caps for England, and captained his country for the first time in the 2-1 UEFA Nations League defeat to Greece at Wembley in October last year.

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