Gvardiol on losing Stones
Josko Gvardiol will miss his "partner in crime" John Stones after the Manchester City defender completed a move to Inter as a free agent.
Stones was not present as the two sides met in a friendly in Hong Kong, with the England man resting after the World Cup. The move ends a ten-year spell at the Etihad, where he won every major honour with City.
Gvardiol, who arrived from RB Leipzig in 2023, was already well aware of a teammate eight years his senior and became close to him. Even after they became equals, the Croatian kept up a long-running request and says he will still cherish the signed shirts.
"A secret"
"When I was younger, I wouldn’t say John was my idol because I was already a defender, but he was one of the best defenders," Gvardiol said in a wide-ranging interview with the Manchester Evening News. "It’s a secret but every season I asked him to sign a shirt for me."
"Also, with Bernardo, both are great people and characters. How much have we lost? We will find out and recoup at the start of the season, but I think we're going to miss both of them. Both of them have a quality."
"Unfortunately we won't see each other, but, yeah, I think it's a perfect club for John as well. He's going to love it being in Italy and also Bernardo being back where he belongs, you know, because I know he talks about Spain for a long, long time and he’s from that area."
Former Everton defender Stones and captain Bernardo Silva will be big misses for the City dressing room, and both leave with the best wishes of all the players. Stones was a popular member of the squad, helping his teammates through days and weeks even during long spells when he was not playing.
