John Stones Reflects on Emotional Manchester City Farewell

John Stones has reflected emotionally on his decade-long journey with Manchester City, admitting he never imagined achieving so much when he first arrived at the Etihad Stadium.

The England international is set to leave City this summer after 10 hugely successful years at the club, having become one of the defining figures of the modern era under Pep Guardiola.

Softfootball gathered that Stones joined Manchester City in 2016 as a 22-year-old during Guardiola’s first transfer window and went on to help the club secure 20 major trophies, including six Premier League titles and the historic 2022/23 UEFA Champions League triumph as part of the Treble-winning campaign.

In his farewell interview posted on the official YouTube channel of Manchester city, the defender admitted the scale of success exceeded anything he could have imagined before joining the club, while expressing gratitude to teammates, staff and supporters who shared those moments with him.

He said:

“I honestly could never have dreamt of doing the things that I’ve done or to the magnitude of what we’ve done and how we’ve done it If you’d said to me before I came here, you’re going to do all these things, I wouldn’t even have thought half.

I’m just so grateful and proud that I’ve had incredible people around me throughout it that have been able to celebrate that with me.

I’m so proud as well to be able to give these experiences to every die-hard City fan, everyone that’s involved with the Club, everyone that has all the difficult moments with us that are in around us every day. It’s just as much for everyone like that.

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Widely admired for his composure, technical quality and leadership, Stones leaves the Etihad with his place among Manchester City’s modern legends firmly secured.

His departure comes shortly after an emotional end to Guardiola’s era at City, with Aston Villa defeating the champions 2–1 at the Etihad Stadium in the Spaniard’s final match in charge.