Manchester City had more players take part in the 2024 European Championship than any other Premier League side.
Specifically, 14 members of Pep Guardiola’s squad were selected to represent their countries in this summer’s tournament in Germany.
In fact, it has now emerged that one of those players had previously been mentioned by another figure who played at the Euros and will now be facing off against City in the Premier League next season.
Riccardo Calafiori’s previous comments on John Stones
Earlier this week, Arsenal announced that they had signed Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna in a deal worth a reported fee of up to £42m including add-ons (via BBC Sport).
In a recent article from The Athletic, they relayed these comments from Calafiori in a previous post-match interview during his time with Bologna about his similar style of play to John Stones.
He said: “His style of play is closest to mine. Stones is my reference. It’s not off the cuff when I go into midfield.
“It’s following the guidelines of the coach. He saw me in this role. I’ve learned heaps from him. The gaffer is revolutionary, smart, demanding and clear in what he wants.”
Stones’ midfield role has garnered him some heavy praise
In the middle of City’s Treble-winning season, Guardiola started to deploy Stones in a hybrid role where he would occupy a defensive-midfield role when in possession and drop back into defence when necessary.
Back in August last year, Ruben Dias shared his praise for the way his fellow centre-back was able to use his versatility and adapt to this role to help the team be successful.
In addition to that, Stones’ role further forward in midfield saw Jamie Carragher speak out on Monday Night Football after City beat Manchester United 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium last season about how revolutionary this move was from Guardiola.
Now that these previous comments from the new Arsenal defender have come to light again, it’ll be interesting to see if Mikel Arteta ends up using him in a similar way that Guardiola has been using Stones.
