Manchester City’s mass overhaul of their squad has well and truly begun.
The Citizens spent £180m in the January transfer window on five new recruits which, as noted by Philip Buckingham of the Athletic, is a bigger outlay than all other 19 Premier League clubs combined.
Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush were thrown in the deep end for their debuts against Chelsea last month, Nico González appeared for the first time at Leyton Orient on Saturday, while we’re yet to see either Vitor Reis or Juma Bah, the latter having been sent out on loan to Lens.
Thus, the Sky Blues are set to continue this strategy come the summer, but for one problem position in particular, did they already have the perfect future first-team starter on their books that they have just agreed to sell?
Manchester City's right-back issue
Back in early January, following the 8-0 hammering of Salford in the FA Cup, Pep Guardiola dropped a major bombshell, revealing that club captain Kyle Walker had asked to leave the club and “explore options abroad”.
Well, a few days later, having made 319 appearances for the Citizens, Walker departed for AC Milan on loan, starting all four of I Rossoneri’s matches since, including Wednesday night’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Feyenoord at De Kuip.
Former Everton and Man City defender Joleon Lescott believes Walker is the “Premier League’s greatest right-back”, but the England international had indisputably not been at his best this season, with Oliver Kay of the Athletic noting that his “speed and athleticism”, attributes that had defined him for so long, were on the decline.
Nevertheless, with no direct replacement signed, Guardiola has been trialling Matheus Nunes at right-back, starting seven successive fixtures in that position, prior to the weekend’s FA Cup tie, with his manager believing the Portuguese international is making a lot of progress as a full-back.
On the contrary, Michael Cox of the Athletic describes Nunes as an “uncomfortable… makeshift right-back”, while Graham Ruthven of Forbes adds that he “doesn’t have the defensive instincts of a natural full-back”.
With 20-year-old Rico Lewis also seemingly out of favour, not starting any of the last seven Premier League or Champions League matches, the Citizens are still searching for the long-term heir to Walker’s throne, but did they just sell the perfect player for this role?
Manchester City's latest transfer blunder
Man City supporters, you have probably never heard of Yan Couto, which is fair enough considering he’s never made a first-team appearance for the club, coming closest in the 2021 FA Community Shield against Leicester, when he was an unused substitute.
Instead, he has spent his five years on Man City’s books out on loan, partially at Braga but mainly with fellow-CFG owned club Girona, spending three seasons in Catalonia, most notably helping Blanquivermells qualify for the Champions League for the very first time during the most recent campaign.
As a result, the 22-year-old was called up to the Brazilian national team for the very first time, debuting in World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay, before remaining on the bench throughout last summer’s Copa América, although this only after a dispute with the CBF, who demanded he change his “signature pink hair”, Couto later stating “they said the pink was a bit stupid”.
His performances in La Liga last season earned widespread praise, with Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout labeling him a “superb talent”, while Spencer Mossman of Breaking the Lines claims he is “up there with the best full-backs in the world”.
This attracted the attention of Borussia Dortmund, who signed him initially on loan last summer.
Well, a few months later, die Schwarzgelben agreed to make the move permanent for a fee of €30m (£25m), which represents a massive profit for Man City, who initially paid just £5m for his services from Coritiba.
So, was this a piece of masterful business from the Citizens, or will they regret selling Couto before ever giving him a chance?
Let’s see how the Brazilian compares to Walker, the man he would’ve been replacing.
Appearances
53
55
Minutes
3,223
5,602
Assists
11
4
Touches
2,456
4,588
Pass completion %
85.24%
88.87%
Take on success %
44.98%
76.41%
Tackles
61
68
Interceptions
16
36
Ball recoveries
195
241
Duels contested
359
292
Aerials duel success %
29.83%
67.42
Ground duel success %
46.36%
58.17
As the table outlines, Walker is more defensively solid, albeit Couto has played the majority of his football since the start of last season as a wing-back, with the Brazilian more of a threat going forward as a result, underlined by his 11 assists.
As noted by OptaFranz on Twitter, Couto carried the ball 286 metres in La Liga last season, the second-highest of any player in the division on a per-90 basis, behind only Frenkie de Jong; third on that list, none other than Savinho.
Still only 22-years-old, the Brazilian clearly has great potential, no defender in La Liga last season provided more assists, so Couto could prove to be the latest in a long line of players Man City may regret selling.
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