John Stones
#5 · Defender · age 31
Third World Cup
94
WC26 rating
- Recent form
- 49
- Career peak
- 100
- League level
- 100
- Competition pedigree
- 98
- International pedigree
- 96
- Longevity
- 66
Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.
Career by season
Source: transfermarkt · fetched 2026-05-29
Stones is the structural lynchpin of Tuchel’s possession game. The plan that emerged in the May friendlies has him starting as the right-side centre-back and stepping into midfield alongside Rice when England have the ball, freeing Reece James to push high on the right and Bellingham to roam centrally. It is the same idea Guardiola has built City around for half a decade, and Tuchel knows it intimately from his own coaching career. The structural risk is well-known — if England lose possession with Stones in midfield, the back line is exposed — but at this stage of his career Stones is the player most trusted in the squad to read those moments correctly.
Strengths
- ball-carrying out of defence
- press-resistance and short passing under pressure
- inverted-centre-back positioning in build-up
- experience in pressure tournament moments
Recent form
Played 31 Premier League matches for Manchester City in 2025-26; managed minutes after injury issues in 2024-25 but full sharpness restored by May.
Was a Barnsley season-ticket holder as a child and chose the club's academy over a Manchester United approach because his dad worked night shifts at the local Tarmac plant and couldn't drive him to Carrington.