Manchester City’s strong end to the season continues.
On Friday night, the Sky Blues beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at the Etihad with, who else, Kevin De Bruyne the only scorer.
Having now won four Premier League games on the spin, Pep Guardiola’s team now have second place well within their sights, widely expected to continue their winning streak on Saturday, considering they’ll be facing rock-bottom Southampton.
Despite this recent upturn in form, which includes reaching a third successive FA Cup Final, Guardiola still insists that this season has been a disaster, hence why he’s planning to spend big this summer, so could he go shopping within the league?
Manchester City's midfield target
The Blues are lining up a big-money move this summer with the likes of £100m-rated Morgan Gibbs-White now in their sights and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz also a target.
That said, could it be another Premier League star who Pep and Co turn to?
Transfer Focus
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Indeed, according to a report in Spain, Manchester City ‘have submitted’ an offer of £55m to Tottenham Hotspur for the services of James Maddison, who they claim is viewed as the long-term ‘successor’ to the outgoing De Bruyne.
Maddison would surely add a touch of creativity and vision to Man City’s midfield, something that has been lacking throughout this season.
The 28-year-old England international joined Spurs from Leicester City for a reported fee of £40m two summers ago but, with Tottenham currently down in 16th, no European football next season could force them to sell key assets, unless they’re able to win the Europa League of course.
So, would Maddison be a good signing for Manchester City, and which recent move would this be reminiscent of?
How Maddison compares to Jack Grealish
Of course, the Sky Blues are no strangers to signing high-profile English international attacking midfielders from within the Premier League, breaking the then-British transfer record to secure the services of Jack Grealish for £100m in 2021.
Now coming towards the end of his fourth season at the Etihad, Grealish’s Man City career can be split into two distinct parts, as the table below outlines.
Appearances
39
50
36
31
Minutes
2,730
3,487
2,114
1,520
Goals
6
5
3
3
Assists
4
11
3
5
As the numbers emphasise, during Grealish’s first two seasons in Manchester, he was a regular starter and key contributor, but this has certainly not been the case during this campaign or the last, starting only one Premier League fixture since Christmas.
So, would Maddison be able to replicate the form of great Grealish should he make the move to the Etihad?
Well, let’s compare the duo this season to help answer that question.
Appearances
31
45
Minutes
1,520
2,717
Goals
3
12
Assists
5
11
Goals – xG
+0.1
+4.2
Shots on target %
32.3%
46.6%
Pass completion %
87.7%
81.5%
Attempted take-ons
37
106
Take-on success %
37.8%
41.5%
Big chances created
3
8
Progressive carries
92
62
Progressive passes
71
221
Touches per 90
36
66
As the table highlights, Maddison’s statistics this season are almost universally more impressive than Grealish’s for every metric included.
He’s certainly a more progressive passer, while simply on goals and assists alone, the Spurs star – who is “unbelievable” in the eyes of Sky Sports pundit Darren Ambrose – has a lot more end product.
The one problem could be that Maddison’s season may actually be over.
Ange Postecoglou stated that he is “concerned” his star midfielder could require knee surgery, which would be a major blow because, as Jack Pitt-Brooke of the Athletic argues, he might just be Tottenham’s most-important player, given ‘how good he is at finding those pockets of space’.
Thus, any potential summer sale would be a massive blow for Spurs but, on the flip side, this would be a major coup for Man City.
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