According to the reports from the Sun, Spanish club Valencia are looking to re-sign Nicolas Otamendi in the summer. The Argentine defender moved to City from Valencia in 2015, and it seems like his former club are once again keen on his services.
The 31-year-old has his contract at the club until 2022. Otamendi was linked with a move away in the summer, but he stayed put at the club. The Argentine defender did play a crucial role in City’s titles triumphs in the previous few years. However, the centre back has come under the scanner for some of his poor performances this season.
End of the road for Otamendi?
Pep Guardiola has often preferred Fernandnho in defence over Otamendi this season. This indicates that even the manager has also lost confidence in him. A lot was expected of Otamendi and Stones once Aymeric Laporte went down with a long term injury, but it is fair to say that Otamendi didn’t cover himself in glory with some of his performances.
Hence, we believe that if Valencia table a decent bid in the summer, then City wouldn’t have any qualms in letting the defender leave. Otamendi has declined significantly in the past two years, and he has been relatively error-prone at the back. His tendency to commit himself into challenges has led to him being opened up by the opposition attackers. City’s defensive woes have been well documented this season.
Even with Laporte’s injury, Otamendi struggled for game time, and he has managed 12 starts in the Premier League this season. The French ace is now back onto the pitch, so the Argentine defender’s game time is likely to reduce further.
City will undoubtedly have to dive in the transfer market in the summer to bring in defensive reinforcements. It remains to be seen though whether the club would make wholesale changes at the back or not. As mentioned, both Stones and Otamendi have been below par, and if Guardiola is ruthless enough, then both of them could move away from the club.
City’s inability to replace Vincent Kompany and an untimely injury to Laporte has been the club’s undoing this season. Many expected an experienced player like Otamendi to step up in the time of the crisis. It remains to be seen what kind of transfer fee the Premier League holders would demand from Valencia for the defender. Given Otamendi’s performances this season, it is slightly surprising to us that a heavyweight club like Valencia are interested in him.
