Tuchel is quietly confirming the John Stones call City hated making

There was genuine sadness at Manchester City about John Stones leaving. A defender whose best was as high as anyone's in a squad full of internationals, who connected with the fanbase from his first day in 2016 and who spoke about wanting to retire at the Etihad, was not offered a contract beyond this summer.

That decision was about availability, not ability. Two years of injuries frustrated everybody, the player most of all. What made it sting for supporters was the split screen: Stones had a near-immaculate record with England, his body repeatedly rising to tournament football in a way it could not for City's biggest nights.

Thomas Tuchel took him to the World Cup regardless, and on arrival Stones suggested he had been more available over the previous 12 months than Guardiola's team selection implied. “I was fit enough, 100 per cent,” he told BBC Sport. “It comes down to various things, the manager Guardiola, and that's something I can't control… I feel as good as I've ever been before a tournament.”

A few weeks on, Tuchel appears to have reached the same conclusion City did. England's defence has not convinced in any configuration, yet since the opening win over Croatia the only match Stones started was Panama, with qualification already secured.

For the first knockout round, Tuchel picked Marc Guehi — the player who effectively took Stones' place at City in the second half of last season — alongside Ezri Konsa. Repeat that against Mexico on Sunday and Stones will be recalibrating his international role too.

Where he plays next season is still unclear, and there is no schadenfreude at the Etihad about it: everyone there would like him to land somewhere he can play weekly and remind people what he was. But when an international manager with fewer alternatives makes the same call as your own, it is hard to argue the call was wrong.