Aymeric Laporte was allowed to leave for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia while Josko Gvardiol was purchased by Manchester City this summer.
Aymeric Laporte left Manchester City this summer with the least amount of fanfare.
Laporte left after five years, but his exit largely went unnoticed due to a low price, a lack of interested clubs, no transfer saga, and a replacement who had already been signed.
In the final months of City’s treble-winning campaign, he was forced to sit on the bench more often than not, and he claimed that this prevented him from fully appreciating the victories.
Laporte knew his time was up when City signed Josko Gvardiol for £77.5m and declared him a signing for the next ten years.
It was more surprising that no European club thought he was worth the bargain price of £23.6 million than that he left the Etihad.
Gvardiol, however, is a natural replacement for Laporte and City now have a center-back fit for the modern era.
He has already demonstrated what Laporte couldn’t do for Pep Guardiola.
Laporte was frequently praised by Guardiola as a player with a special ability to pick a pass that would split the defense and quickly launch the team’s attack.
Laporte had an unmatched eye for a forward ball, and City will miss that quality now that he is gone.
Although City won the treble last season, he wasn’t selected for the majority of the games.
Before connecting with the midfielders, Guardiola preferred to let his center backs and full backs carry the ball into the middle of the field on their own or move into the center of the field and receive the pass from their defensive teammates.
Laporte was consistently picking out the same areas with the ball.
Just one extra pass was needed, and there was a little bit more movement, but the chance of an interception decreased. Laporte can take credit for helping City’s strategies develop, but in the end, it forced him out of the team.
Now that Gvardiol can play on the left, he will compete with Nathan Ake for the position.
Despite spending the majority of last season at left-back, Ake has started this season in the center while Gvardiol is at left-back while he adjusts to the system.
Although injuries hastened the plan, Guardiola acknowledged that he would have preferred to wait to insert Gvardiol.
Gvardiol acknowledged this week that he is already picking up tips from his manager, citing a “calmness” on the ball as something he has absorbed and applied in his international training camp.
The most crucial factor, according to him, was that I added some serenity to the national team’s game.
What is required of me is to proceed as simply as possible while working with [Josip] utalo on the defensive.
“We can see that every player handles the ball with calm; they don’t hesitate to play with it. This is what distinguishes Manchester City from other teams.”.
Gvardiol has shown flashes of brilliance in his first three starts for City, with clips of him driving into the middle of the field being promoted by the team to demonstrate his ability to switch from left-back or center-back.
In a club media feature, Gvardiol was asked to select his best Croatian team to compete in the Premier League.
After selecting the center-backpairing of Dejan Lovren and Vedran Corluka, the youngster misplaced himself at left-back.
I’m going to position myself as a full-back on the left side, he declared.
When I was younger, I also acted as the number six in addition to playing left back.
I moved around a lot. At the very end, when I was 19 years old, I began to play as a central defender.
Simply put, I’m perfectly suited to my position.”.
The fact that Gvardiol has played on the left and as a number six in the past makes it clear that he sees himself as a center forward, but it also gives fans a fascinating look at the player he might develop.
He can give Guardiola what Laporte simply couldn’t if he adds that composure to moving the ball forward.
updates on city transfers.
City has been busy, making high-profile signings and sales during the hectic transfer window.
Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol, both of Croatian descent, were acquired by City from Chelsea and RB Leipzig respectively, with Jeremy Doku being the most recent addition.
Later, on deadline day, Matheus Nunes of the Wolves joined the Blues.
Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez, and Cole Palmer were among the players who left for Saudi Arabia, while Treble winner Ilkay Gundogan moved to Barcelona.
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