Manchester City defender, John Stones reportedly revealed he considered retiring from football earlier this year.
The 31-year-old’s 2024–25 season was ruined by hamstring and foot injuries. He only made 24 club and national team appearances, and none of them came after February.
However, he has returned to full fitness this season and is expected to play in the forthcoming matches against Wales and Latvia for the first time under England manager Thomas Tuchel.
Stones Almost Retired From Professional Football
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“Last season was tough for me, to the point where I thought about stopping,” Stones told BBC Radio 5 Live as quoted by The Mirror.
“I didn’t want to do it. I had had enough of being so professional and trying to do everything right in my power, to then keep breaking down and not having the answers. It was a very difficult place to be in.
“There comes a point where you don’t know why it happens and it’s even harder when you put in so much effort, or you are ultra professional, to be able to play and be available.
“When that time comes and something happens, it would be easier to say, ‘Well I didn’t do X, Y and Z, that’s why’, but when you do it, it’s then mentally challenging. Hopefully I don’t go back to that place.
“My emotions were high. I wasn’t thinking straight. Don’t think deep down I would have ever done it. I said years ago when City wanted me to have a new challenge, I said, ‘I am going to fight’. That’s all I have known since I was a kid – why should I stop that now?
“So yes, there is that fight in me and that winning mentality that doesn’t want to stop.”
Stones’ invitation to Tuchel’s summer camp for the matches against Andorra and Senegal, in spite of his injury problems the previous season, demonstrated the German’s desire to include the defender in his plans.
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