When City midfield is pasta it’s best, Pep should get an Italian
EVERY manager in the Premier League looks at City’s midfield with envy.
With Fernandinho’s industry, Ilkay Gundogan’s precision, Rodri’s class and Kevin de Bruyne’s unerring brilliance, Pep Guardiola has assembled an engine room that can be matched by very few in world football.
But the Spaniard will also realise he can’t rest on his laurels.
Fernandinho, 34, is about to enter the last year of his contract, which could again be largely spent at centreback.
De Bruyne has also hinted at a possible exit if the club’s two-season UEFA ban is upheld by the Court for Arbitration of Sport.
“Two years [without Champions League football] would be long. One year is something I might be able to cope with,” he said.
City’s midfield must evolve in the coming years and it could be time to explore the next generation of talent across Europe.
And it would be shortsighted not to consider an emerging star described by Roma icon Francesco Totti as a blend of Italian greats Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattusso.
Sandro Tonali was first linked with a move to City in November 2018 when he was turning heads in Serie B for Brescia. His talent then was irrefutable and he had already received his first senior call up to the Italy national side by former City boss Roberto Mancini.
Now, 16 months on, he is one of the most coveted young midfielders in European football, shining in a Brescia side languishing at the foot of Serie A.
“He is a mixture of Pirlo and Gattuso. He has everything a player can have. Incredible change of pace, he’s technically good and, head-wise, he’s always calm.” Totti said.
The 19-year-old has made 23 appearances for Brescia this season. Like Rodri, Fernandinho’s long-term replacement at City, Tonali is adept at shielding the back four in a deep-lying role. Crucially for Guardiola, he is comfortable receiving the ball and overcoming the opposition press with awareness and composure.
Tonali boasts a varied passing range and likes to spray ambitious balls to his team-mates with the risk mitigated by his often immaculate execution.
Under Guardiola’s philosophy, however, he would need to become more accustomed to playing shorter, simple passes with City more calculated than his current side in attacking transition.
The Italian also thrives in finding pockets of space and picking out teammates in behind defences with ingenuity and deft touches. This makes him an effective option for City who are familiar with coming up against teams that set up with a low defensive block.
Tonali is versatile and could operate in Rodri’s preferred role, or slightly further forward with more freedom in the preferred midfield three at City.
Perhaps a concern about the teenager playing in England is his slight 5’11 frame, but Guardiola has never been obsessed by signing imposing midfielders and Tonali has all the attributes to more than hold his own in the Premier League.