John Stones is one of Manchester City’s most experienced players.
Signed from Everton for £50m during Pep Guardiola’s first summer transfer window at the club in 2016, the defender has made 263 appearances for City across all competitions.
Chipping in with 17 goals and seven assists for his side, the Englishman has helped the club win the multitude of trophies they’ve lifted under the Catalan’s reign.
In terms of his evolution at the club, Darren Bent said that Guardiola has turned Stones into a better overall player at City.
With the 30-year-old now in his ninth season with the Blues, he has shared some behind-the-scenes details on a younger, but equally experienced player in the City squad.
John Stones says everyone in the City squad loves Phil Foden
In a recent video previewing the club’s documentary on Phil Foden shared on their official YouTube channel, Stones shared this about the midfielder and his early emergence into City’s first team.
He said: “His confidence just shone through on the training pitch. He could spend a year not playing football, come back and it would just click.
“Whereas me, it’d take me weeks to get back into it.
“The realisation of Phil Foden for us all was [the 2017/18] preseason tour in America when he played, he started.
“I think there have been numerous interviews from the manager about or around that time about Phil Foden. We’ve all been huge fans ever since, especially me.”
Kalvin Phillips says Foden is ‘the best’ he’s ever played with
Stones isn’t the only player City signed from a fellow English club to share their praise for the 24-year-old recently as Kalvin Phillips admitted Foden is the standout teammate in his career, saying this on the subject.
He said: “Obviously, I had heard about him before when he played for City. The season he had last year, he is the best player I have ever trained with, I think, and played with, I would say.”
Making his senior debut for his boyhood club in November 2017 after emerging through the City youth academy, Fode has gone on to feature in 277 matches for Guardiola’s side.
After bagging 19 goals and supplying eight assists to help City secure their historic fourth consecutive league title last season, the 24-year-old was named the Premier League’s Player of the Year.
Now that Stones has highlighted how impressed he was by the way Foden emerged into City’s first team and how much he is loved in the squad, this should delight a lot of City supporters who are proud to see a local lad become a star player for his club.
