Manchester City have upped their interest in Olympique Lyonnais’ Nabil Fekir who was at the end of a failed transfer saga with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool last summer.
According to a report from the Daily Express, both Liverpool and City are the contenders for Fekir’s signature who has only one year left on his contract. Lyon are ready to accept bids for the French international in order to not lose him for free next summer.
Fekir has failed to replicate the same form he showed during the 2017/18 season where he scored 23 goals in 39 appearances. The 25-year-old, despite the dip in form still had 21 goal contributions in the 2018/19 campaign and helped to seal Champions League qualification for Lyon.
Nabil Fekir to Etihad: How will he fit in?
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have a task on their hands as they look to secure a long-term successor of Fernandinho in the summer. While the replacement of the Brazilian remains a priority, the age of David Silva and the uncertainty regarding Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane‘s future means Pep will be looking at new prospects further up the field as well.
Fekir is a versatile player who mainly features as an attacking midfielder but can shift to the flanks and feature as the false 9 if the situation demands given his flexible style of play. The 25-year-old has a plethora of qualities from his passing, crossing, set-piece prowess, long shots and dribbling all being top notch.
Guardiola will be keen to keep the group on their toes so that there is no let up in the level of hunger and competitiveness which has kept them at the top in the last couple of years and the addition of someone like Fekir can certainly manage to do that. The Catalan manager generally deploys a 4-3-3 system pegging the opposition back into their own half with his attacking possession-based style of play.
Fekir could prove vital in this regard as he possesses the ability to open up defences with his key passes. He is a good dribbler of the ball like most in the City dressing room and can glide past defenders creating space for himself to have a pop at goal. He averaged 1.4 dribbles and 1.5 key passes per game last season which highlights his prowess in the final third.
The Frenchman’s linkup play is another of his key attributes. The 25-year-old finds space by arriving late in the box, can move left or right to make room for a cross or to lay it off to one of the wide players in the final third. His lack of aerial prowess also doesn’t raise any alarm bells for the Sky Blues as the likes of Sterling, Silva and Gundogan have proven beyond doubt the possibility to flourish at City without that particular skill-set.
All in all, it could be a good addition for the City squad who are also keen on signing Fekir’s teammate Tanguy Ndombele as a Fernandinho replacement.
Stat Courtesy: Transfermarkt, Whoscored