It is a well-documented fact that Pep Guardiola is looking to inject young blood into the Manchester City team who have an abnormally high average age of their team. The addition of the likes of Sterling, De Bruyne, Sane and Gabriel Jesus has certainly helped things but they are still lagging behind in terms of chronological advantage (!) City have 4 fullbacks who are above 30 and the likes of Toure and Fernandinho are also on the wrong side of 30.
Pep demands a high-intensity brand of football and it is obvious that such a style requires players to be full of running and stamina and they need to have the urge do that day in, day out and prove themselves which might not always be possible for the likes of Toure, at this stage in his career.
Although he has improved in recent weeks and has enjoyed some sort of renaissance, with his contract running out in the summer, there is a good chance that he might not be offered a new one.
Coming back to the present problems, although Fernandinho and Toure are available, Pep’s fickle nature and his propensity to think out of the box has seen a number of surprising choices already.
Guardiola had the likes of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta in midfield at Barcelona and in contrast against Everton where they lost 0-4, he had to deploy a 32-year old Pablo Zabaleta and a 33-year old Yaya Toure in midfield. While the manager cannot be expected to always have the support of a world class players to back his tactics, City are in clear need to upgrade.
The midfield does not look like a Pep Guardiola midfield by any means. Fernandinho has impressed but his latest antics have befuddled many. Yaya still has class but the legs are too heavy after such a long time while Fernando and Delph are backups at best. Gundogan was brought to add a touch of class but his injury made sure that wasn’t going to happen.
And hence reports, repeatedly linking them with a move for Sporting midfielder William Carvalho does not come as a surprise.
William Carvalho came through the Sporting youth ranks and made his senior debut in 2011. The Sporting Lisbon midfielder has been brilliant for both club and country and is high on the wishlist of a number of clubs right now.
He will shore up their midfield and his latest improvements as a player who can venture forward with the ball when required will help a much-needed balance in the centre of the field. He lends a physical presence to the midfield and will toughen up the centre of the pitch for City. With Fernando and Delph along with Toure looking likely to make exits in the coming window, a replacement in the form of Carvalho is very much on the cards.
