Kobbie Mainoo has shared his admiration for one particular Manchester City player.
The Manchester United midfielder recently got his first call up to the senior England squad for the upcoming friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium.
Having had his first taste of being in the England squad, the youngster has now shared his thoughts on one specific player he’ll be sharing the dressing room with this week.
Mainoo impressed by John Stones
Speaking in a recent video shared on the England YouTube channel, Mainoo had this to say about Stones after Anthony Gordon picked the City defender as part of his ideal England five-a-side team.
He said: “He’s smooth, he’s too smooth.”
Back in the 2016 summer transfer window, City paid over £47m to sign the defender from fellow Premier League side Everton.
Since then, the 29-year-old has gone on to make 251 appearances for the Manchester club across all competitions, chipping in with 16 goals and six assists.
For the second half of last season, Stones was deployed in a midfield role, which eventually helped the Blues win the Treble.
In fact, whilst playing this role in the Champions League final against Inter Milan, the England international successfully completed all seven of the dribbles he attempted, leaving only Lionel Messi (10) in the 2015 final with more.
This is a prime example of how smooth the defender can be on the ball, regardless of where he’s playing on the pitch or who he’s playing against.
Now that Mainoo has shared how much he admires the City star, we feel that the young midfielder could benefit from training with Stones for England and seeing what the 29-year-old can do on the ball.
Moving forward, we predict that the centre-back will play a key role in whether or not City end up regaining the three titles they won last season as well as being a prominent figure in the England team for the upcoming European Championship.