Why the midfield prowess of John Stones - the 'Barnsley Beckenbauer' - was first spotted at Oakwell and not by Pep Guardiola

Should Manchester City succeed in Istanbul's Ataturk Olympic Stadium this evening and the 29-year-old play an integral role, that feeling will resonate around the globe, let alone Europe.

In truth, two unassuming figures who played a key role in the early development of the 'Barnsley Beckenbauer' saw it before Pep.

Stones was not forged as a footballer in Barcelona's feted La Masia academy, but at Barnsley's training ground just behind Oakwell.

Under the tutelage of Reds academy bosses Mark Burton and Ronnie Branson, he was given licence to express himself and be progressive, take risks in possession - and make mistakes if necessary.

The sight of him stepping out from defence into midfield was a common one in those key development days at Barnsley. It is why his recent spectacular metamorphosis in the middle of the pitch in the sky blue of City will not have surprised the pair.

Burton told The Yorkshire Post: "Stonesy is such a good footballer. He'd probably play anywhere..

"Put him up front and he'd be all right..He'd drop into little pockets.

"He has the 360-degree peripheral vision around him and while he is not a natural in there (midfield), he says himself that he is going to get better and you can see now that he is comfortable. And he is comfortable under pressure.

"I do think that comes from his grounding days where we were asking him to play all the time under pressure. For him to do that at top level is absolutely brilliant.

"Me and Ronnie changed the whole curriculum and playing philosophy at Barnsley. We encouraged centre-halves to step into midfield and then stay in there. Once they stepped in, we wanted them to stay there until the play broke down and then filter their way back.

"I think John played in midfield at under-16s a couple of times, but didn't really feature at under-18s. But we knew it was an ever-evolving game and at that time, Barnsley were about 'head it, clear it, organise'.

"Without knowing it as such, we saw the change in the way football was going to go. We just thought: 'you know what, they (defenders) are going to have to start playing a little bit more.'

"We knew centre-halves would have to be a bit quicker as well as attackers were getting quicker. The game was evolving."

Stones may have been praised to the hilt of late, but back in 2020, his future at the Etihad Stadium looked far from certain. Struggling with form and fitness issues and ridiculed for some high-profile mistakes, many observers expected him to leave.

The Yorkshireman, for his part, embarked upon some searching self-analysis to find answers. Was he training or eating right? Was he putting enough extras in?

Prior to that, the career of the Penistone lad had been going one way. Less than five years earlier, he had been famously been included in a world XI picked by Barcelona legend Gerard Pique. For company, he had Xavi, Iniesta, Neymar and Messi.

Here was his hardest time and his ability to overcome it speaks volumes not just about the player, but the individual.

For his part, Burton knew that Stones - once sent to do boxing sessions at Brendan Ingle's famous Wincobank Gym to toughen ahead of starting his league career at Barnsley - would come out on the other side.

Burton, who recalls Stones coming to the club as an eight-year-old from the village of Thurlstone, continued: "Every professional goes through peaks and troughs and because John was in the limelight and players at that level are more, I think it gets scrutinised a bit more.

"Whereas, with all due respect, a League One player has peaks and troughs, no-one knows about it. But they all go through it where they have been out of favour and their form is poor. Then suddenly something clicks and they kick on again even stronger.

"The reason we know about this with John is because he plays for one of the best clubs in the world and with the best manager. He is securitised more.

"With international football, every mistake he has made has been scrutinised. Harry Maguire has been through it the same - even more actually. But I still think he will come through the other end.

"They have an elite mentality. It also takes some motivation when the tabloids are saying: 'oh, he's done now' and he's going to get transferred to a Premier League club who, with all due respect, are not going to be playing for anything.

"That can provide extra motivation. Sometimes, they need that. But they don't have to show the people behind them and us who believe in with them."

Burton has a signed England shirt belonging to Stones at his home. If the Oakwell academy product becomes a king of Europe tonight, his pride will be palpable. His other half will share in that feeling.

Pinpointing the moment when he thought that Stones was special, Burton - now under-23 assistant coach at Blackburn Rovers - revealed: "I remember my 'missus' went to watch him. I'd just met her and was under-18s coach at Barnsley.

"She comes to watch all the games now and I remember back then at a game saying: 'Is there anyone who you would pick out?' And she said: 'Him at the back.'

"It was Stonesy and I said: 'Why?' She replied: 'Because he looks so elegant on the ball and he's a centre-half and doesn't look rushed at all.'"