At his best, John Stones has been one of the Premier League’s greatest centre-backs. He may no longer be at that peak, but would he still bring enough to the table for a top-level team after leaving Manchester City?
After nine seasons at Manchester City, Rúben Dias (0.55).
His tackling numbers may not have been outstanding, but he compared favourably to his teammates in other defensive metrics. Only Dias made more clearances per 90 than Stones (4.31) in the Premier League, and the Englishman made more blocks per 90 than any other City player (1.23) in the top flight last season.
But while it’s all well and good highlighting more defensive metrics like the above, this perhaps overlooks what has truly set him apart from many other centre-backs across his career.
You could not discuss Stones at his best without mentioning his ability in possession.
He joined City the same summer as Pep Guardiola and played an important part in the club’s shift to becoming the standard bearers of possession football. Stones’ composure and quality on the ball ensured they could pass out from the back effectively, and this was a fundamental facet of their makeup as a team.
His reliability in possession is probably best summarised by the fact that, among players to play 10,000+ passes in the Premier League since Stones joined City in 2016, his pass completion rate (93.37%) is second only to Dias (93.40%).
Stones hasn’t only been reliable in possession, but he also brought direction to City’s build-up. For instance, during the 2022-23 campaign when City won the treble, he averaged 3.9 involvements in open-play shot-ending sequences per 90, the second most of any centre-back in the Premier League.
And, to be fair, Stones can still claim to possess considerable quality on the ball.
His passing accuracy in the Premier League was 93.4% last season, ranking him third among players to play at least 400 minutes in 2025-26. Granted, that’s not a great deal of football, and the the ‘Barnsley Beckenbauer’ can’t claim to be at his peak anymore, especially when it comes to making moves up the pitch, but he is still an effective box defender with significant ability on the ball.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup showed he can still compete at the highest level. He was thrown into Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI for knockout games against Norway and Argentina, and acquitted himself well in both contests.
Against Norway, only
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