Archie Gray has suggested that one Manchester City player is better than James Maddison.
The Leeds United midfielder could be facing off against a plethora of Premier League players if his side get promoted out of the Championship at the end of the campaign.
Now though, the 19-year-old has been sharing his thoughts on some of the current top-flight players, specifically the ones who know what it’s like to play in the lower divisions.
Gray says Man City star is better than Maddison
Speaking in a recent video shared on the Football Manager TikTok channel where he had to blind rank 10 former EFL stars, Gray had this to say when John Stones came up after he already had ranked players such as James Maddison, Jack Grealish and Jarrod Bowen among others.
He said: “Number one definitely. I love watching him play. He’s from Yorkshire as well.”
City signed the 29-year-old from Everton back in 2016 in a deal worth £47m, after he initially came through the ranks at his boyhood club Barnsley.
Since joining the Blues, the defender-turned-hybrid-midfielder, has made 254 appearances for the Manchester club across all competitions.
During that time, the Englishman, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £250k-a-week has scored 16 goals, provided seven assists and won numerous domestic and Euroepan trophies.
Heavy praise for John Stones
Even though it was a blind ranking, the fact that Gray put Stones in first place above some of the top-flight’s best attacking players shows just how much he admires the City star.
Despite not being a natural midfielder or one as capable as Maddison in terms of delivering goals and assists on a fairly regular basis, having earned such hefty praise from Gray highlights how impressive the England international has been.
Looking ahead to nect season, it’ll be interesting to see if Gray and Stones end up facing off against each other in a midfield battle and which side comes out on top.
