First Man City player chooses to leave after Pep Guardiola’s exit
Manchester City might be about to say goodbye to a £50 million player after legendary manager Pep Guardiola left the club.
After 10 amazing years, Guardiola managed City for the last time during their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season at the Etihad Stadium. The 55-year-old helped the club win 17 big trophies, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League.
Since Guardiola’s exit, a lot of attention has been on the upcoming decision about City’s 115 charges over possible financial rule breaches in the Premier League. But there’s also lots happening in the transfer market this summer. City are expected to compete with local rivals Manchester United to sign Elliott Anderson, a midfielder from Nottingham Forest and England.
It’s not just about new players coming in; some might leave too now that Guardiola is gone. One player who could be on his way out is Nico Gonzalez. According to The Times, he’s thinking about leaving because he hasn’t played much this season. Guardiola once called him a “mini-Rodri,” and he arrived last year in a £50 million deal from Porto. But he has only started nine games in his first season and had a good run of 15 matches in the first half of this year, before losing his spot again, with only two starts in the last 17 games.
Gonzalez still has three years on his contract, but he’s considering leaving, with interest from teams in Spain and Italy. If City manage to sign Anderson, Gonzalez’s playing time might shrink even more—maybe pushing him to move on.
Besides Gonzalez, City could also lose a key midfielder, Rodri. The 29-year-old has been linked with Spanish giants Real Madrid again. Rodri won’t be easy to get, though—Real Madrid want him but are worried about the transfer price because of his injury history. This season, he only started 26 games due to several injuries, including a torn ACL.
Despite this, City want to keep Rodri and hope to offer him a new contract, especially after other important players like Bernardo Silva and John Stones have left the club.