Talking Tactics: John Stones is the Premier League Player of the Season - Lewis Dunk the runner up

Stones has transformed Manchester City into potential treble winners; Dunk has helped make Brighton a European-bound force

Going back to his early playing days at Barnsley, John Stones has always been an impressive ball-playing centreback. Stones cuts a towering figure and is physically imposing but as his career has progressed, we’ve seen a potentially evolutionary figure in English football.

At Everton, Stones combined a ball-playing ability with a tactical ability to read accurately when to play the right pass forward. For all my criticisms of Roberto Martinez as a manager, his work with Stones improved the players ability to spot a pass and pick his moments to spring a surprise either by stepping into midfield or spraying a longball to an attacking player in an advantageous position. It made him a logical Pep Guardiola signing.

Since arriving at Manchester City in 2016 ( during Guardiola’s first transfer window), Stones has become increasingly versatile while demonstrating a calm on the ball rare among English centrehalves.