Manchester City were extremely busy throughout the summer period spending a lot of money and signing some serious talent from across the globe. They focused mainly on the attacking areas and invested in youth and are understandably setting up a platform for the future.
But it seems they weren’t done for the season. Despite reiterating multiple times that they will not be adding to their squad during the January transfer window, there have been multiple reports of players being on City’s radar. Their lack of a young and energetic fullback has been well documented and hence the names being linked have been those of defenders. City have been nervous and jittery at the back and the state of the defence does not align with the grand scheme of Guardiola’s master plan regarding City.
But we will be looking at a slightly more unconventional report which we have come across. According to latest rumours, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been linked with a sensational £25m move to Manchester City. While this has indeed come out of the blue and on the first impression seems a tad frivolous on the part of the back pages, a slightly more observational glance does help us in joining the lines and unearthing the logic behind the supposed move.
Pep Guardiola and his penchant for midfielders is well documented in the football fraternity. He draws his formations, his tactics and his team around the midfielders and is obsessed with the way they can influence the game. His simple philosophy roughly translates into the notion that ‘the more his team has the ball, the better chance they will have to score and hence automatically reduce the number of chances their opposition can have.’
And he intends to go about it by increasing the number of players at the centre of the park and hence his strong obsession for players who can operate in that area of the field.
While Chamberlain is understandably considered as a winger due to his pace, his dribbling ability and the very fact that almost 95% of his appearances have been in that position, he does have a lot more in his kitty to offer and we believe Pep Guardiola is exactly after that extra bit.
Pep has had a long history with young players with potential. And it has not always been the most conventional of partnerships with his players. He aims to use the potential and ability in various ways. If a player is good with the ball at his feet he does not necessarily have to be an attacking player. If a player is a good tackler and is good defensively, he does not necessarily have to be a defender. Philipp Lahm was a perfect example of this when the two worked together at Bayern Munich.
Manchester City have Yaya Toure leaving in summer. They have Gundogan crocked for at least this season. Fernandinho is not getting younger while there are question marks about Fernando’s overall quality to be Pep’s midfielder.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has previously deputised for Arsenal in midfield, notably against A.C Milan and Bayern Munich wherein his displays in a box to box role was widely lauded. But Wenger has refrained from giving him a run in that position ever since then and the jury is out on whether he has actually moved ahead in terms of his career prospects by staying at Arsenal.
Although Arsene Wenger has issued a hands-off warning for the midfielder, City will hope the deal takes shape in future as the boundless energy and ability of the English international can be harnessed by Pep Guardiola who can transform him into a potential world-beater.
