Manchester City’s mass-squad overhaul looks set to continue.
Kyle Walker has already departed, while Kevin De Bruyne will follow him out the exit door, with a few more sky blue stalwarts potentially set to leave this summer too.
Meantime, the Citizens spent £180m in January, that’s more than the other 19 Premier League clubs combined, recruiting Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico González, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah.
However, they are far from done there, so does Pep Guardiola have his eyes on a future £100m sensation to upgrade on Jérémy Doku?
Jérémy Doku's up-and-down Manchester City career
When Doku arrived at Manchester City from Stade Rennais for a reported fee of £55.5m two summers ago, he did so with sky-high expectations.
Director of Football Txiki Begiristain described the Belgian winger as “a very exciting young player”, adding that he possesses “outstanding pace”, believing that he will “develop into a world-class attacking talent”.
Well, so far, the 22-year-old is yet to fulfil the potential promised, as the statistics below suggest.
Appearances
43
33
Minutes
2,171
1,686
Goals
6
6
Assists
11
8
As the table shows, while Doku’s statistics are far from horrific, they aren’t outstanding either, while the fact the Belgian has not started any of Man City’s last five matches underlines that Guardiola still does not fully trust him.
Also, without wanting to be unkind to any of these teams, Doku’s six goals this season have come against Watford, Salford, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich, the most recent of which was scored on 19 January, which isn’t the most eclectic list.
Thus, the Citizens could certainly upgrade out-wide, so has Guardiola identified his dream target?
Manchester City's dream new winger
According to a report by French outlet L’Équipe this week, Manchester City have “made enquiries” in an attempt to sign Monaco winger Eliesse Ben Seghir, with Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen also reportedly interested.
Get French Football News adds that the 20-year-old is likely to push for a move this summer after a falling out with les Monégasques’ manager Adi Hütter, which has seen him start just two of the last eight Ligue 1 games, refusing to celebrate the recent Derby de la Côte d’Azur victory over Nice, having been an unused substitute.
Despite this, Ben Seghir’s potential is undeniable, with analyst Ben Mattinson labeling him an “impressive talent”, while Euan Booth Robertson of Transfermarkt praises his outstanding ‘dribbling ability’.
Meantime, Liam Scahill of Breaking the Lines believes the youngster is ‘destined for big things’, while Alex Barker of the Athletic labels him a “future £100m” gem.
So, let’s assess how the young Moroccan compares to Doku.
Appearances
33
43
Minutes
1,686
2,404
Goals
6
9
Assists
8
4
Take-ons attempted
200
115
Take-on success %
53.5%
38.3%
Progressive carries
202
102
Shots on target %
31%
34.2%
Progressive passes
68
138
Shot-creating actions
75
93
Goal-creating actions
13
8
Touches per 90
46
56
As outlined in the table, both wingers are high-quantity dribblers; the pair racked up 25 take-ons each in this season’s Champions League, despite the fact Monaco and Man City were both eliminated quite early in the first knockout round.
While Doku may be the superior dribbler, Ben Seghir’s statistics prove that he is more of a goal-threat, scoring more goals, finding the target with a higher percentage of his shots and registering more shot-creating actions, while his substantially higher touches per 90 figure proves he is more involved in build-up play.
Thus, this all underlines that the Moroccan would be a great signing for the sky blues, as he would be a clear Doku upgrade.
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