Stones, who has 87 England caps, was a key figure in City’s successful era, winning the Premier League six times, the FA Cup twice and the Champions League in 2023 between 2016 and 2026. In 2025/26, however, injuries limited him to only 17 appearances under Pep Guardiola.
A place in central defence at Bayern Munich would also be highly unlikely. With Dayot Upamecano, whose contract was recently extended until 2030, and Jonathan Tah, the record champions already have a well-established first-choice pairing.
Behind them, however, squad depth is limited: Min-Jae Kim has long been linked with a move away, but no concrete developments have materialised. Hiroki Ito is frequently sidelined due to his injury-prone nature and is therefore not a reliable option. He too is likely to leave Bayern again should a suitable offer come in. The central defence is complemented by the versatile Josip Stanisic, who, although capable of playing in the centre, established himself particularly as a right- and left-back last season.
Recent reports, including one from Sport1 on Tuesday evening, claim that Stones’ teammate Josko Gvardiol wants to leave Man City this summer and would welcome a move to FCB. According to the outlet, Gvardiol is a “big fan” of the German record champions and has long been on their radar. Unlike a move for Stones, signing Gvardiol would be extremely costly. However, Gvardiol can also operate at left-back, a position that is no longer set in stone at Bayern: Alphonso Davies has struggled for form and fitness since his cruciate ligament injury, raising questions about his long-term role.