Matheus Nunes and Eberechi Eze choice could hint at Man City tactics this season
12 months ago, Manchester City played Newcastle early on in the Premier League season, and Pep Guardiola came away from St. James' Park deciding that his team needed another defender.
City weren't exactly thin on numbers at the back, but Aymeric Laporte was injured, while Ruben Dias wasn't fit enough to start the game. A bold Newcastle side raced into a 3-1 lead, with City needing to dig deep to salvage a draw that looked far better come the end of the campaign than it did at the time.
Guardiola decided that another centre-back was needed, so City went out and signed Manuel Akanji for a bargain £14m from Borussia Dortmund. He would end the season having displaced Joao Cancelo, and it was Akanji who sent Bernardo Silva into the area to tee up Rodri for the winning goal in the Champions League final.
Almost a year to the day that City drew with Newcastle, they narrowly beat Eddie Howe's side on Saturday night. The defence is sorted now, but Guardiola appears to have decided that his midfield options need strengthening this summer.
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Kevin De Bruyne is out until next year, while captain Ilkay Gundogan has left. Mateo Kovacic has replaced him, and has started well, but can't do all of the same things that Gundogan and De Bruyne can at the same time. Guardiola clearly has doubts over Phil Foden's readiness to be an out-and-out No.10, while Bernardo Silva's absence through illness against Newcastle only emphasised the lack of options.
Foden was brilliant in the centre on Saturday, but there are two factors that cannot be ignored before proclaiming him a world-class No.10. First, Julian Alvarez was also playing at No.10, and the pair linked well to combine for
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