"?Former England striker Michael Owen has claimed that John Stones could 'walk into Barcelona's team', as rumours continue to swirl about the Catalan giants being interested in a move for the Everton defender.
Stones has been linked with the Spanish champions since last summer, with even an average domestic season failing to dampen the talk that Luis Enrique could be set to bring the England international to the Nou Camp - especially with Javier Mascherano, Thomas Vermaelen and Marc Bartra all close to exits this summer.
John Stones is the only English player who "could walk into Barca's team", says Michael Owen https://t.co/4EiAFAho8r pic.twitter.com/nxgJqaLNng
Speaking to the "?BBC ahead of England's Euro 2016 campaign, Owen hyped up Stones and admitted: "I am a massive John Stones fan. A massive John Stones fan. I think he's absolutely on a different level to virtually anything else. I think I'd play Smalling and Stones [for England at the Euros].
"People go so overboard on mistakes, and associate John Stones with mistakes, but if I ask anyone to name three mistakes this year that Stones has made, they can't name three - but I could name five or six that Cahill and Smalling have made.
Smalling's given away a penalty, got sent off and scored an own goal just in the last couple of weeks in the season, but nobody mentions the mistakes with anyone else. This country seems to be infatuated with picking up on one thing and once someone says something, everyone jumps on.
Roy Hodgson tells players to focus on England in the Euros and put their futures on hold https://t.co/1ESjIzoIDI
"This kid could play for Barcelona. He's probably our only player in this England squad that could walk into Barcelona's team at the moment, he's absolutely brilliant."
Stones' value may have dipped since Everton were said to have rejected bids of around £40m from Chelsea last summer, but a strong summer on the international stage could see him earn a move away from a struggling Toffees side sooner rather than later.
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