Stones has gradually fallen down the pecking order at Manchester City since recovering from his niggles. The Englishman was limited to only 16 leagues games in the 2019-2020 season.
Stones’ future at Manchester is currently up in the air, as head coach Pep Guardiola currently prefers the partnership of Eric Garcia and Aymeric Laporte at the heart of defense.
Manchester City have also added Nathan Ake from Bournemouth to their defensive ranks and are still mulling over the possibility of bringing Senegal and Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly to the Premier League.
Many have opined that the England international should make a move away from the Citizens and Richards, who endured a similar situation at the Etihad during his playing days, has added his voice to the ongoing development around Stones and urged his compatriot to join City’s Premier League rivals.
“When a manager loses faith in you, it’s very hard to get that back,” the former Fiorentina and Aston Villa man said, as relayed by the Daily Mirror.
“I remember pulling my hamstring against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“I could just see in Manuel Pellegrini’s face that he’d lost faith in me in terms of ‘I can’t count on you to perform as I want you to perform without getting injured anymore.’
“And for me, when Stones is fit, and he’s playing Eric Garcia, a 19-year-old boy ahead of you in one of the biggest games of the season. It looks like the writing is on the wall.
“It’s very, very hard to come back from that. When Pep’s made his mind up with Yaya or Joe Hart or Sane, it doesn’t look like there’s any coming back from that.
“There’s no point in staying at City at the bench – that’s not going to do anything for him.
“I don’t think Everton is a bad move. People will say that’s going backward, but he’s loved by the fans. He’s got a great manager in Carlo Ancelotti to work under.
“Arsenal, he’s worked with Mikel Arteta at City, and he likes ball players.
“John Stones will have options no matter what because of his quality and age, but if 19-year-olds are playing ahead of you, you have to be looking at leaving.”
