John Stones made it clear on Sunday that he has no intention of leaving Manchester City at the moment.

Since the opening of the summer transfer window this year, Stones, 31, is widely considered to be one of the Manchester City players most likely to leave the team. In response, Stones said in an interview: "I belong to Manchester City, I want to stay, I love this team very much."

"I'm here to help the team," he added. "I'm not too sure about all the talk and speculation out there, but I hope this will put an end to it."

Stones mainly plays as a central defender and moved from Everton to Manchester City for £47.5 million in August 2016. To date, he has made 277 appearances for Manchester City, scoring 19 goals and providing 9 assists, winning 1 Champions League, 1 Club World Cup, 6 Premier League titles, 1 European Super Cup, 2 FA Cups, 4 English League Cups and 2 Community Shield titles.

Due to repeated foot, hamstring and hip injuries, Stones has missed a total of 276 days and 58 games in the past three years. His last appearance for Manchester City was in the Champions League play-off against Real Madrid in February this year, but he only played for 8 minutes due to thigh discomfort.

However, Stones has now recovered from the injury. When talking about the recovery process, he said frankly: "The days of injury are really painful. You almost have to invest more time and energy in recovery than usual. From this perspective, I understand the physical and mental pressure my teammates are under in a long season. Psychologically, dealing with injuries and the entire recovery process is indeed a big challenge for me."

"I don't know why I keep getting injured. We've talked to the doctors and specialists to find out. Some things can't be explained. I think every player has doubts and emotions and wants to get back on the pitch as soon as possible. That's the problem - injuries can be caused by rushing back."

"Now everything is over. I will also use this opportunity (Club World Cup) as a small warm-up before the new season. I hope to win the championship again with the team and get more playing opportunities."

"I've been back in training for a few weeks now and everything is going well. If necessary, I'll do more running and try to get as much fitness as possible. Sometimes, seemingly small details can make a big difference."

“I’m very excited and hope to put into practice the details we have adjusted during this period and strive to further improve performance in the future.”

Due to his long absence, Stones will have to compete with other central defenders such as Ruben Dias, Yoshko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Abdulkadir Husanov, Vitor Reis, etc. for the position after his return. It is still unclear whether he is still in Guardiola's tactical conception, and the latter has made it clear that he will streamline the squad in the new season.