Another promising talent has come into the limelight in Europe and again it is the two clubs of Manchester who are reportedly locking horns to secure his services. The player in question here is Eliot Matazo of Anderlecht.
The 16-year old central midfielder is a highly-rated teenager and is the captain of Belgium’s national team in the youth setup. He currently has a youth contract which will expire at the end of the current season. It is being believed that Matazo has refused to sign a professional contract at the end of the season with the Belgian side and wants to move on to a bigger stage to showcase his skills.
The player has a reputation that precedes him and is being chased by top sides all across the world. It is believed that the Belgian is being coveted by Spanish rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona while German quartet Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Schalke 04 are also interested in signing him.
He has already been capped eight times for the national team in the under-16 setup and prefers to play as a central holding midfielder. He is versatile enough to play as the playmaker or as a typical box-to-box number 8 as well given the team’s requirement.
It is believed that City are interested to add him to their roster of world-class players at the squad. The Citizens have some excellent young players in Brahim Diaz, Phil Foden, Oleksandr Zinchenko and adding Matazo would only add further talent for their future.
He will, however, have to wait patiently in the wings alongside U-17 World Cup winner Phil Foden before he can break into the first team at City on a regular basis. Hence, his game time will not be guaranteed in his first few years especially with City boasting of world class players in the final third. Hence his move to Manchester City will no doubt see him spending plenty of time on the bench, something he cannot afford to do at this point in his career.
However, he can be expected to be a long-term replacement for the impressive Fernandinho in the squad. Moreover, with Yaya Toure now ageing and Ilkay Gundogan clearly not the defensive player to shield the backline, Matazo might just get a run of games in City’s Guardiola era should he come to the Etihad.
He will fit into the team perfectly as an exciting player with the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane and more, in what would be a dream come true for the Belgian. However, such chances are bleak and he should probably opt to turn them in favour of a team where he can get first-team football.
