John Stones believes Manchester City and England teammate Raheem Sterling could win the player of the tournament award at Euro 2020.
Sterling has been in good form all summer and key for Gareth Southgate’s side as England made it to their first major final in 55 years. The 26-year-old scored the winner in two Group D matches under the arch.
He also broke the deadlock in the last-16 victory against Germany and laid on Harry Kane’s opening goal in the quarter-final win over Ukraine.
Sterling has been a constant threat in the side of opposing defenders and drew the penalty which saw off Denmark in the semi-final. Kane saw the spot-kick saved before turning home the rebound.
Now, ahead of the final against Italy on Sunday, Stones says Sterling has been good enough to earn the accolade as the tournament’s best player.
“I’ve said it all along but I’m a big fan of Raheem’s,” he said. “I believe and I’d love to see him get player of the tournament. What he’s done for us and the unselfish part of his game goes unspoken about.
“But as players we see it. He’s been a great threat going forward with how direct he’s been in the games and it has been great playing with him.
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“I’m sure he will be giving everything on Sunday, being that direct, and hopefully get another goal and see where it takes us.”
Stones praised Sterling’s recovery after the City winger scored just one in his last 16 matches of the season for Pep Guardiola’s side before the Euros. And he was in and out of the team.
“I couldn’t be happier for him,” he said. “He has gone through some difficult times personally and I can only speak from my point of view and what I have been through, but you can see it has motivated him and he has come out the other end a better player.
“That is what top, top players do. They find something or they find a way when something isn’t going well to succeed and excel as a person and as a player and Raheem has done that on and off the pitch. So all I can say is that he really deserves it.”
