Jack Grealish teammate making the same Man City point to Pep Guardiola as contract decision looms

Anyone following Jack Grealish on social media this summer cannot fail to have noticed the messaging.

A player whose disappointing levels for Manchester City last season ended in a surprise omission from the England squad for the European Championship has rarely wasted an opportunity to show that he is hard at work. From warm-weather runs on holiday to an early return to the City Football Academy, Grealish is making it known that he is doing what it takes to be better next season.

Grealish will be an obvious talking point when the new campaign begins, but while it has attracted less attention John Stones is also under a bit of pressure to prove himself. Nobody doubts the talent that he has, yet the talent wasn’t available for long enough last season.

Stones has been a mostly assured presence at the back for England at the Euros, retaining his status as the best defender in the team through his performances but also his reliability. The centre-back, along with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, now holds the record for consecutive England appearances at major tournaments with 25 in a row.

Assuming he keeps his place for the final against Spain, Stones will have played in all seven matches that Gareth Southgate’s team have played over the last four weeks. For comparison, that is as many as he managed in the last five months of the Premier League with City.

The longest run in the team for the Blues last season for Stones was just four games, which extended into five starts in six games. Not all of the absences were injury-related, but injuries played a large part in Pep Guardiola never really seeing the best of a player who bossed the Champions League final from midfield to help them to the Treble in the year before.

City will welcome the run of games that Stones has enjoyed for England, but there will also be a sense that he needs to maintain that when he returns to Manchester after the Euros. Guardiola needs players that are cut out for the slog of a long campaign as well as the ones that can turn up in the glamour games.

Stones has shown before he can do both, although as with everyone else at the Etihad that counts for little when the next challenge arises. With just two years left on his deal, the 30-year-old needs to prove again what he is capable of just as Grealish does.

City know they will have at least one winner from the Euros in their squad given England take on Rodri’s Spain, but being able to enjoy John Stones without nagging injuries would be an even bigger victory.