Aymeric Laporte’s knee injury against Brighton, which will sideline the Frenchman until the New Year, left City with just one recognisable centre-back in Nicolas Otamendi. Stones has missed the last month of action with a thigh injury, missing the draw against Tottenham as well as wins against Brighton and Bournemouth. Fernandinho was used as an auxiliary centre-back following Laporte’s removal against the Seagulls and the Brazilian had been considered to start against the Canaries.
However, Stones has trained for the last ten days and has shown little sign of discomfort in his recovery from a thigh strain. The club have been pleased with Stones’ return and the Spaniard is set to pair the defender with Nicolas Otamendi, who featured in Argentina’s 0-0 draw with Chile last Friday. Guardiola remains an admirer of Stones, despite his troubles last season. The defender is under contract until 2022 but City plan to sit down with his representatives towards the end of the year to agree an extension. Stones is keen to stay at the club and can expect an improvement on his £120,000-a-week wages.
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