Manchester City fans have dubbed John Stones the ‘Barnsley Beckenbauer’ as the England defender prepares to face Bayern Munich the spiritual home of ‘Der Kaiser’.
With his control in bringing the ball out of defence and his ability to spray passes Stones was picked out as a young Franz Beckenbauer shortly after he joined Everton from Barnsley by Goodison Park legend Howard Kendall.
But after moving onto Manchester City it appeared that comparisons with the stylish Bayern Munich and West Germany icon were misguided as Stones’ Etihad career looked to be imploding with manager Pep Guardiola seemingly three summers ago open to offers.
Chelsea claim they were close to signing the out of favour player who was also struggling to hold down his England place.
But Stones summoned up some of his Yorkshire grit to convince Guardiola that he was capable of matching the early hype and also make a return to the international arena. It’s now seven years since he arrived from Merseyside.
“I’ve always been a fighter ever since my early days when I was told I was too small. There was no way I wanted to miss out on being part of the success at Manchester City,” he stated. “It’s a club that can achieve what ever it wants and I want to remain part of that ambition.”
For Guardiola and his staff it’s finally conquering Europe and on Tuesday night Stones and company can make a statement in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich.
It’s the club that launched Beckenbauer’s mesmeric playing career in the sixties and where he also had success as a manager in the nineties. He later became Bayern president.
At the age of 28 Stones is at the peak of his career now regularly earning plaudits both for club and country and the comparisons with the great Beckenbauer are not at all far fetched.
But he would rather see the praise shared around the squad although there was no denying his delight in having the likes of Erland Haaland and Jack Grealish in the side.
Haaland struck five goals in City’s last European outing, the 7-0 destruction of RB Leipzig. “That just sums him up,” Stones added. “I think he’s got more goals than me in my career in half a season! He’s incredible, also as a person as well. We know how good he is.
“He’s so prolific in front of the net and it’s deserved. He’s clinical when he gets these chances and I’m really happy for him.
“He is also unselfish at times because not even Erland is going to score in every game – that’s impossible – he knows the team always comes first.”
On Grealish now showing why City shelled out a monster fee to sign him Stones added: “He’s amazing. I’m so pleased for him because last season was a bit difficult for him. It was up and down. This season though he has been on fire.”
Good timing as City enter the business end of the season. A Premier League title, the Champions League and the FA Cup are still up for grabs.
“We’ll go for everything and hopefully we can come out on top,” he said. “Everyone is excited in the dressing room, especially with the Champions League. So let’s see where it takes us. It’s not about anyone else, it’s about us and what we can do.”
