Rio Ferdinand Taps John Stones As World Class

The English Legend believes strongly in John Stones. As evidenced from him telling Goal,

“Stones has the potential to become world class,” Ferdinand added. ”I think he has the platform to get there at Manchester City. It would be great if he can have a fantastic World Cup to set him off on a run on that.

”He has all of the fundamental basic things on the ball to be a great. It is about balancing that out with defensive responsibility, defensive nous, and creating or having that instinct as a defender. If he can get all that jigsaw put together, you have the foundations of a top player.”

Stones endured a tough sophomore season at City losing his starting role and being called upon only 18 times during the Premier League season.

Still, he won the Caraboa Cup and Premier League titles and made headway under Guardiola. That led to him being called for the English Team, for the World Cup and is now the presumed starter alongside Gary Cahill at the International Competition.

While a strong World Cup could go a long way to help his case for more playing time under Guardiola, the defense is pretty strong with Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte all vying for the starting job, the task remains tall for Stones.

With someone like Ferdinand in his corner, it could give him hope/will to play more next season and be an integral part to a City squad with Champions League aspirations.

We’ll have to wait and see. What do you think of Stones? Tell us in the comments.