Oleksandr Zinchenko has likened Manchester City defender John Stones to Javier Mascherano.
The 27-year-old spent six years at City before making a move to Arsenal during the 2022 summer transfer window for £32m.
Having featured alongside numerous players during his time at the Etihad Stadium, the 27-year-old has now shared his thoughts on one of his former City teammates, likening them to another player who had previously played in a Pep Guardiola side.
Zinchenko compares Stones to Mascherano
In a recent one-word challenge video published on The Athletic’s Tik Tok channel, Zinchenko labelled Stones as being like Mascherano.
City signed the Englishman back in the 2016 summer transfer window from Everton in a deal worth £47m.
Since then, the 29-year-old has made 242 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions prior Friday’s FA Cup clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Across those appearances, the defender has chipped in with 15 goals and five assists along the way, winning numerous titles including five Premier League titles.
During their time together at the Manchester club, Stones and Zinchenko featured in 66 games together, racking up a points per game average of 2.53.
Focusing on Mascherano, who made played in 97 games under Guardiola at Barcelona, the Argentine made 275 appearances as a defensive-midfielder and 268 as a centre-back throughout his playing career, showing how versatile he was.
With Stones being deployed in a midfield role throughout the second half of last season, this makes it easy to see why Zinchenko has made this particular comparison.
Bearing in mind how the Ukraine international went from being a midfielder to a left-back during his tenure at City under the coaching of Guardiola, he is another player who has had to change his game to fit into the Spaniard’s plans.
