Gerard Pique Tips John Stones For Success Under Pep Guardiola
If there is one man who knows how to flourish under Pep Guardiola, it is Gerard Pique - and he expects John Stones to follow suit.
Gerard Pique believes Pep Guardiola is the perfect mentor to develop John Stones into a world-class defender at Manchester City.
Stones moved to City from Everton earlier this month for a fee believed to be in the region of £50million, as Guardiola attempts to mould a team able to fit his philosophy of playing out from the back.
Those plans have already seen goalkeeper Joe Hart dropped to the bench, with Willy Caballero preferred and speculation mounting that the England international could seek a move away from Etihad Stadium.
But one man who appears set for the long haul is Stones.
The 22-year-old has drawn comparisons with Pique, winner of three straight LaLiga crowns and two Champions League titles under Guardiola at Camp Nou.
"Stones is a great player, the best central defender England have. I like how he plays, it's a similar style to mine," Pique told Marca.
"Pep will help him to a lot to take a lot of risks with the ball. It's like poker - sometimes, you have to take risks.
"But being in defence, you have to control those risks. I think he'll do well."
