With Manchester City bolstering their centre-back options with the signings of Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias during the recent summer transfer window, it seems as if John Stones' time at the Etihad may well be coming to an end.

The England international joined the Citizens from Everton in a deal worth £50.04 million back in 2016 but now seems to be surplus to requirements in Pep Guardiola's side, following their summer acquisitions of Ake and Dias.

The 26-year-old has made just one appearance in the Premier League this season, which came in their opening fixture against Wolves (per WhoScored), in which he earned a disappointing 6.57 rating.

The centre-back has also made three appearances in the Champions League, where he has averaged a less than impressive 6.42 rating, although in the one start he made he did impress against Olympiacos, earning a 7.08 rating.

Guardiola suggested during the summer that Stones could be put up for sale after what was a frustrating campaign for the former Barnsley man, with injury issues regularly keeping him out of the City first-team.

The likes of Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for Stones in recent times and when we consider the plethora of options Guardiola now has available to him at centre-back, perhaps it would be best if the Citizens cut their losses on Stones and sold him on.

The centre-back was praised by teammate Kyle Walker back in 2017, with the right-back suggesting that:

"John is an unbelievable player. You don't quite appreciate him until you are playing alongside him. He rarely gets beat, he is great on the ball and he is very calm and level-headed." (per Sky Sports).

Unfortunately for the defender, his performances since 2017 clearly been on the decline, and the fact that he has never played in more than 27 Premier League games in a season for City, suggests that injuries have been a problem for the 26-year-old and that he has never really been able to establish himself as a mainstay in Guardiola's side.

Although he is now valued at just £22.5 million, which is less than half of what City paid for him, they may be better served axing the defender now while he still retains value, especially if they need to recuperate some of the significant funds they spent on Dias and Ake during the summer.