Although still not ready for a starting berth, John Stones feels reborn just months after contemplating whether this was all worth it amid injury mysteries which left the best specialists in the land dumbfounded.
Stones missed a staggering 33 matches for Manchester City last season with four separate injuries – including in his foot and thigh – and hasn’t featured since February.
The central defender has made only 18 Premier League starts in two campaigns but is determined to make up for lost time during the final year of his contract.
In-depth discussions with the medical and sport science departments over recent weeks have led to the 31-year-old vowing to alter his habits away from matches to prolong his career.
‘I have had some very low points,’ Stones said. ‘You can’t really see the end of the tunnel when they keep happening. We all have self-doubt. Sometimes I think, “why has it happened to me?”
‘There have been points where you think, you’ve been giving all this effort, you dedicate all your life to be here and those are the dark days. We all have challenges and what did you do in those situations, fight or give in?
John Stones has revealed he contemplated retirement amid his injury nightmare in 2024-25
Stones missed a whopping 33 games with four separate issues during a difficult campaign
The defender opened up on the ‘dark days’ and how specialists were not sure what was wrong
‘I wish I had the answer. It is frustrating for me, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I find it very challenging mentally. But I feel great now, raring to go.’
Incredibly, Stones admitted that the brightest minds in the business could not figure out why injuries kept piling up.
His struggles have impacted other squad members, who have had to put their bodies on the line more often to cover the gap. He wants game time at the Club World Cup to act as a springboard for the new season.
‘I don’t know what the reason is, and we’ve sat with the medical staff, sports science, to try and figure out why,’ he added. ‘Some things can’t be explained. Which is even more testing mentally when there’s not really an answer.
‘It’s frustrating for everyone that you’re not available to help them, and you’ve got to find another way to be around the team.
‘I’ve been unlucky with some of the injuries that I’ve had, they were very rare last season, after speaking to specialists.
‘I think this season I’ve got to look more detailed into training, things that I can do off the pitch that I can sustain playing a lot more games.’
Pressed on what the extra detail looks like, Stones replied: ‘In training, a lot of training loads, so what you’re doing throughout the week in training, running-wise, stat-wise, from that sort of aspect.
But Stones admitted he feels reborn after returning to training and is excited to get back playing
Stones, who is desperate to make England’s World Cup squad next summer, revealed he will start to focus on ‘extra details’ in training to ensure he stays fit for the foreseeable future
‘We’ve been monitoring that quite closely with this process coming back. I’ve been back in training a few weeks now, and that’s been going great, trying to do extra running if I need to, if I need to try and get those levels up.
‘Just those little details have made such a big difference. I’m super excited and hopefully can implement these little things that we’ve tweaked, that are going to better me for the future.’
Stones was a crucial cog in City’s run to the Treble in 2023 and his performance in the Champions League final, dancing in midfield, will go down as one of his finest across a decade at the club. Pep Guardiola’s style of play has relied upon the former Barnsley academy graduate.
‘There is no player who wants it more,’ Guardiola said. ‘Not egotistically for the fact of how much he can help us, but for the fact that it makes him happy, makes him part of his life.
‘He’s a sensitive person. He’s an incredible human being. Incredible. I see him suffer because he cannot be working for ages and ages and ages. We want to involve him.’
Guardiola has opened the door to several first-team stars being sold this summer given their squad in the United States has hit 27 but Stones himself wants to remain at the club. ‘I’m here, I want to stay here, I love it,’ he said. ‘I’m here to help the team, and I don’t know if what’s been said or speculated, but I hope that kind of shuts it down.’
