Manchester City are about to sign Benfica’s central defender Raben Dias on a five-year contract worth 64 million pounds ($79 million), and Dias is expected to go through a medical examination in the coming days. Nicolas Otamendi, also central defense, passing the other side for $17. 5 million.
Dias’ arrival follows a humble 5–2 home defeat to Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday. It’s the first time a Pep Guardiola team has conceded five goals and it’s also been two decades since Manchester City suffered the same fate.
Statistics show that under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have held the defensive record, or close to it, in the Premier League in 3 of the last 4 seasons, but the reality is that defense is still a damaging weakness. City have sought to fix with a revolving door marked as “defenders” feeding the club’s insatiable appetite.
Nathan Ake, another central, signed from Bournemouth for $51 million in August and played Leicester on Sunday. There were two other major signings in the first quarter: Kyle Walker charged the Spurs $58 million in July 2017 and Benjamin Mendy charged Monaco $63 million in the same month.
Eric Garcia, a 19-year-old Barcelonan in 2018, finished the defensive body but conceded a penalty just like Mendy. Garcia may be the next player to leave with a imaginable return to Barcelona.
Other advocates who signed Guardiola’s years include:
The only undisputed good fortune Aymeric Laporte claimed $72 million when he was transferred from Athletic in July 2018.
However, injuries and illness limited the French zaguero to 84 games in just under 3 years. Just over a year ago, Laporte suffered a serious right knee injury that limited him to 20 games in 2019/20. -recessed in which it had to be isolated after a positive covid-19 test. Laporte may be back in the most sensible way until mid-October.
Guardiola and City enthusiasts will have to hope that Laporte’s time at the club will not mimic the injury disorders that have affected former captain Vincent Kompany. Kompany’s 11 seasons at Manchester City have been tarnished by injuries, that is, in his last four seasons, and he nevertheless retired in May 2019.
But when he played, Manchester City was a much tougher and more resolute team.
Attention may focus only on Guardiola’s signings, but getting effective and consistent advocates has been a challenge for Manchester City since the club acquired through Sheikh Mansour in 2008.
Here are a variety of those who have gone before.
If you didn’t know Boateng played one season in 2010/11, you might think it would be the ideal solution to Manchester City’s defensive problems. He signed from Hamburg for $13 million, played only 16 games before moving to Bayern Munich. Boateng won the World Cup in 2014 for Germany and is a two-time Champions League champion with Bayern Munich.
Manchester City paid FC Porto $54 million for the player in 2014. In his match for the time being with City, he scored a goal against his and gave a penalty, never recovered, with less than 80 games before being loaned to Valencia and then to Everton. He signed for Valencia in 2019 after City let his contract expire.
Savic was just 20 years old and less than 50 professional matches under his belt when he signed $ 8 million from Partizan Belgrade in 2011. He played just 12 times for Manchester City before the club was not the solution. He moved to Fiorentina and then Atlético de Madrid in 2015. At Atlético, he has become a trustworthy and unspectacular defender.
Lescott signed from Everton in 2009 for $ 30 million and played five seasons for Manchester City, a component of the city team that won the 2012 Premier League in dramatic cases on the final day of the season. A series of injuries led to inconsistencies and poor form. and allowed to leave in 2014.
I have been a soccer announcer and broadcaster for over 25 years and have followed the game of the world for as long as I can remember. I was a football analyst for Fox Soccer
I have been a football announcer and announcer for over 25 years and have followed the game of the world for as long as I can remember. I was a football analyst for Fox Soccer Report and Fox Soccer News from 2001 to 2013.