Manchester City are reportedly interested in securing the signature of Kingsley Coman who is currently at Bayern Munich on loan from Juventus. It was Pep who had got the player on a 2-year loan and while Bayern Munich do have an option to make it a permanent move which they are expected to exercise, it is understood City will be willing to pay around £40m to get the deal done.
Do they really need him though?
Well, considering the fact that the young winger was phenomenal under Pep Guardiola at Bayern last season, it seems a very good deal for the Sky Blues. He was the one who brought Coman into the Bundesliga, on loan from Juventus two seasons ago. He was in blistering form in Pep’s last season in charge of Bayern, scoring six goals and providing a total of 12 assists.
This season, however, the Frenchman has failed to impress his new boss Carlo Ancelotti. Managing only 13 outings in the league so far, Coman’s performances have been highly underwhelming this season, scoring just two goals and providing ZERO assists! But Pep believes that the French International has the potential to be one of the best wingers in Europe, despite his dire season under new boss Ancelotti.
The 20-year-old has mostly featured as a substitute for Bayern this season. We should also acknowledge the fact that the Frenchman struggled with injuries in the Hinrunde of 2016. Apart from that, the full fitness of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben didn’t help the cause of Kingsley Coman in terms of getting first team opportunities. He got largely overshadowed due to the fiery form of the trio of Robben, Ribery and Douglas Costa. Ribery had a very unfortunate three years under Pep, where he mostly spent his time on the sidelines due to a frequent number of injuries.
Coman is a very dynamic player, who can play on both sides of the wing equally well while naturally being a left winger. His unmatched pace and acceleration often spell trouble for the opposition. One of his main assets as a winger, however, is his ability to cross the ball. It was evident last season, under Pep, where he worked extremely hard on the flanks to drive in a lot of crosses for the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller. His tally of 12 assists is enough to prove his credentials.
Interestingly, the former Juventus man also featured as a striker for a few times under Pep Guardiola. There he mainly used to run in behind the defence or feed the other attackers with his offensive qualities. He is, however, a lot of more effective on the flanks because of his dynamism out wide.
At Man City, Kingsley Coman will surely be an upgrade to Jesus Navas and a long-term replacement for someone like Nolito. Along with Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling, he can craft a deadly young attacking trio which is sure to cause some concerns for the Premier League sides.
While a price tag of 40-50million might seem a little too high for the French International, there also remains a fact that the young attacker has the experience of playing at clubs like PSG, Bayern and Juventus, where he also won the titles with the respective teams. So a value of such large amount makes sense for Kingsley Coman, who is set to move to another top club at just the tender age of 20!
