After a decade of redefining what it means to be a modern defender, the \u201cBarnsley Beckenbauer\u201d is set to bid a final farewell to the Etihad. John Stones\u2019 departure at the end of the 2025\/26 season marks the end of an era for a player who didn\u2019t just defend titles, he revolutionized the way the position is played under Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n
Since arriving in 2016, Stones has been a cornerstone of the most successful period in the club\u2019s history. His trophy cabinet at City is staggering:<\/p>\n
\u2013 6 Premier League Titles<\/p>\n
\u2013 1 UEFA Champions League<\/p>\n
\u2013 2 FA Cups<\/p>\n
\u2013 5 EFL Cups (including the most recent 2026 victory)<\/p>\n
\u2013 1 FIFA Club World Cup & 1 UEFA Super Cup<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stones will forever be remembered for the \u201cGoal-line Clearance\u201d against Liverpool in 2019, a miraculous 1.12cm margin that arguably decided the title. However, his ultimate evolution came during the 2022\/23 Treble-winning campaign. His transition into a \u201chybrid\u201d midfielder during the Champions League final in Istanbul showcased a technical elegance rarely seen in a center-back, cementing his status as a world-class operator.<\/p>\n
Though injuries slowed his final seasons, his composure on the ball and tactical intelligence remain unmatched. He leaves as a true legend of the Blue side of Manchester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a decade of redefining what it means to be a modern defender, the \u201cBarnsley Beckenbauer\u201d is set to bid\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":49636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4650],"tags":[3947,3686,4190,3918,1823,3796,2510,4408,527,359,5262],"class_list":["post-49635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-premier-league","tag-centre-back","tag-david-ornstein","tag-english-player","tag-english-premier-league","tag-fabrizio-romano","tag-football","tag-john-stones","tag-leave","tag-man-city","tag-pep-guardiola","tag-stones"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49637,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49635\/revisions\/49637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}