Manchester City centre back John Stones admits he considered retiring last season out of frustration towards his injury struggles.
Stones is no stranger to fitness issues, but the 2024–25 campaign proved to be the worst of his career when it came to injuries. Four seperate issues saw him miss a total of 32 matches and limited him to just six Premier League starts.
Across the season, Stones failed to appear in four consecutive games, with fresh issues quickly sending him back to the sidelines on a number of occasions, and the frustrations grew to a point that the 31-year-old considered bringing his career to a close.
“Last season was tough for me, to the point where I thought about stopping,” Stones told .
“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.”
Stones’s emotions stemmed from a lengthy battle with injuries. Since his breakthrough with Everton in 2012, he has missed a total of 137 matches across all competitions, with those absences spread out across no fewer than 22 different issues.
