Agree with all you said except this. No other player in history would be given this much time to sort himself out as we have given Stones. He’s out of excuses for me.
I’d rather take my chances with Fernandinho one more year (and as 4th choice) than playing Stones again. That’s how I rate him.
Also, looking at how much money Pep spend on defenders since joining us, it would just look better to sell whatever we get for Stones and invest in his replacement; Koulibaly. Paying £50m for a CB ending up as 4th choice just doesn’t look good for Pep or for the club. For the money he spent, we should have a much better defence.
Selling Stones would be admitting a mistake was made or the signing didn’t turn out the way we hoped, which is the truth. But leaving such an expensive player as Stones is on the bench as 4th choice would just be giving ammunition to the muppets out there saying this club is just throwing money around, and I think appearances is important.