John Stones can become one of Europe's best defenders, says England manager Gareth Southgate

The Manchester City centre-back has started the season well and his national team manager believes he has all the attributes required to emulate Europe's best

John Stones has started the season well at club level with Manchester City (Getty)

The brilliance of John Stones is nothing new to Gareth Southgate. The 23-year-old is getting closer to his best football this year, as part of Pep Guardiola’s relentlessly futuristic Manchester City side. But his talent and the potential has been very clear to Southgate since the summer of 2013, back when Stones had just arrived at Everton and Guardiola was still getting his feet under the table at Bayern Munich.

Southgate was England Under-21 manager back then, forging relationships with players who are now the backbone of his side. Stones was initially playing at right-back but that summer Everton played Juventus in a pre-season friendly in San Francisco. “Roberto [Martinez] played in on the right of a back three, he had never put him in a two before,” Southgate recalled at St George’s Park on Thursday afternoon. “I had some conversations with Roberto and Graeme Jones after that and I thought he had everything to be a top, top centre-back. He could do things I hadn’t seen many English centre-backs be able to do.”

So when the 2013-14 season started, Southgate started to use Stones as a centre-back. He did so at Portman Road, when England strode past Lithuania Under-21s 5-0. “I thought Stones was outstanding.”

Southgate always had faith in Stones and told him that he would give him the opportunity and the trust to become the player he has done. Southgate has always had a vision of how he wanted English teams to play, and it has always centred around players like Stones. “As coaches we would talk about what the future might look like,” he said. “Players like Stones, who can really use the ball from the back, I think they are where we have to head, and where the top teams are at. If you want to just kick the ball out, that’s fine, you’ll be the same as the others. But I want you to keep doing the things that make you different. And he is different.”

That difference has earned Stones comparisons with the very best in Europe of the next generation. Reading the game, staying on his feet, playing the ball from the back, Stones does it all with ease. If he can add physical authority, consistency and leadership then he has the potential to be England's best since Rio Ferdinand.

“He has as much composure as any defender I’ve seen in Europe,” Southgate said. “I saw Jerome Boateng at Manchester City when he was a kid and nobody would have predicted him going on to do what he has done. I saw Gerard Pique at Middlesbrough when he was playing at Manchester United and he was at fault for a couple of the goals. You never would have seen him being where he was a couple of years later.”

So why shouldn’t Stones go on to do what those two have? “John has attributes that those guys have,” Southgate said. “He has presence in the opposition penalty box now. He has the mindset that he wants to learn and improve. He’s got a really bright future and he’s the type of defender we want playing for our country.”

It has not all been smooth progression for Stones since Southgate first realised how good he could be. He struggled for consistency at Everton and even in his first year at Manchester City, trying to learn a radically new style of football, it was not always easy. He did not even find himself starting every game at City last season. But he has settled in and improved this year, comfortably playing high up the pitch, starting attacks with his incisive passing, looking just like the player City hoped he would be when they spent £48million on him. Being coached by Guardiola is a learning process, and Stones has come through it.

“You've seen a different me, I suppose,” Stones said. “That's through the hard work of last season, preseason and trying to bring that into this season. We’ve had a great start, it's about maintaining that, and keeping learning every day.”

There were moments last year when Stones was struggling, not looking like a natural defender at all. But he does not look like that now. “It was always me, personally, knowing that I'd let myself down,” he reflected. “It might be a small thing, losing a pass, which any player takes to heart. And trying to keep performing for my team and my manager, and everyone at City at that time. That's where you have to come together and fight for each other really. You learn a lot about yourself in those times.”