Manchester City’s summer of spending is seemingly set to commence.
The Sky Blues were the world’s biggest spenders in January, signing Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico González, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah for a reported £180m; that’s more than the other 19 Premier League clubs spent combined.
However, this appears likely to be a mere amuse-bouche ahead of the summer rebuild, so will the Citizens snap up one of the Premier League’s best players?
Manchester City targeting a new full-back
According to a report by journalist Graeme Bailey, Manchester City are interested in signing Wolverhampton Wanderers full-back Rayan Aït-Nouri, having already made ‘background checks’ regarding the Molineux sensation.
As the report goes on to note, Pep Guardiola has previously suggested that they will look to sign a left-back this summer, stating “obviously, Nico’s helping us, but he’s not a left-back… we’ve found solutions”.
So, could Aït-Nouri be that solution, valued at £40m by Wolves, according to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider?
Well, the Algerian international has certainly caught the eye, with Dougie Critchley of Sky Sports noting that he has “been one of the Premier League’s best players” in recent months, while David O’Brien praises his “creative” qualities.
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But would he be a good fit at Man City, and would his potential arrival be reminiscent of the signing of another sky blue stalwart?
Why Ait-Nouri could be the next Kyle Walker
Kyle Walker joined Manchester City from Tottenham back in 2017 for a reported £53m, a world-record fee for a defender at the time.
Fair to say, this proved to be a good investment, as the table below outlines.
Appearances
319
Starts
286
Appearances in goal
1
Minutes
25,716
Goals
6
Assists
23
Premier League titles
6
Champions Leagues
1
FA Cups
2
EFL Cups
4
Total major honours
17
When Walker departed for AC Milan in January, Ali Tweedale of Opta’s the Analyst stated that the Englishman is the Premier League’s ‘best-ever right-back’, while Michael Cox of the Athletic adds that Man City would not have enjoyed nearly as much success as they have in recent times without being ‘reliant on his recovery pace’ which, now that he’s 34, ‘has faded’.
So, could Aït-Nouri have a similar impact at the Etihad? Well, let’s assess his statistics this season to help answer that question.
Starts
34
16th
Minutes
2,865
36th
Goals
4
74th
Assists
7
18th
Pass completion %
83.9%
86th
Key passes
36
52nd
Crosses
86
40th
Shot-creating actions
78
51st
Goal-creating actions
12
28th
Progressive carries
79
41st
Attempted take-ons
116
12th
Take-on success% (min 100 attempted)
48.3%
5th
Tackles
82
13th
Tackles won
52
11th
Interceptions
24
72nd
Ball recoveries
133
48th
Touches
1944
36th
As the table outlines, Aït-Nouri is a very well-rounded full-back, ranking highly when it comes to both attacking and defensive metrics, but also dribbling, with only 11 players having attempted more take-ons, an impressively high figure for a full-back.
The Algerian is also always available, missing just one Premier League match all season, and this was due to a suspension, which would be a very useful asset, considering the defensive injury crisis Man City have endured throughout the season.
Moe Adikwu of Breaking the Lines believes Aït-Nouri possesses ‘enormous potential’, while also noting ‘there is still a lot of room for improvement’, but Venkatanarayanan of Total Football Analysis highlights that he ‘is known for his attacking prowess’, so would therefore thrive in a team higher up the table.
It appears pretty likely that Aït-Nouri will wave goodbye to Wolves this summer, so do Man City lead the race to land his signature? If a deal is to be agreed, he could represent a left-sided version of Walker at full-back.
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