Manchester city have no excuse and dont have to sign Ajax defender

Image result for Matthijs De LigtHaving missed out on one Ajax wonderkid, you could understand Manchester City being determined not to make the same mistake twice.

City missed out to Barcelona on 21-year-old midfielder Frenkie de Jong, a player they considered a potential long-term replacement for Fernandinho. Now attention turns to Matthijs de Ligt’s next destination.

The 19-year-old central defender has been linked with a £75m switch to the Etihad but having already made 97 appearances for Ajax he could almost have his pick of clubs in Europe.

You can see why City are interested. Uncertainty still surrounds Vincent Kompany’s future and even if he does stay for another year, he is continuing to suffer fitness issues and doesn’t appear to have long left at the top level.Image result for Matthijs De Ligt

But in John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Nicolas Otamendi City have three central defenders they can rely on and who are competing for a place in the side. Stones and Laporte, probably City’s best pairing, are both 24. Keeping them all happy could be Pep Guardiola’s biggest challenge, as he has admitted recently.

If Kompany can do another year then City’s need for a new central defender eases and, just as importantly, they may well have their own wonderkid they can nurture over the next couple of years to seamlessly replace the Belgian.

City have already seen some of their brightest academy talents move elsewhere in the search for first-team football. They won’t want to see that scenario repeat itself with Eric Garcia.Image result for Vincent Kompany

Having arrived at City from Barcelona in the summer of 2017, Garcia has long been earmarked for a glorious career in the game. As a 17-year-old he took his chance to shine on the pre-season tour last summer.

 

“Eric Garcia is 17 and played like he is 24 or 25,” Guardiola enthused after a friendly with Borussia Dortmund.

Garcia, who turned 18 last month, has started three of City’s Carabao Cup ties this season, including both legs of the semi-final dismantling of Burton Albion. His development could be well served by being thrown in at Newport County in the FA Cup this weekend.

Guardiola has continued to talk effusively about Garcia. Last month he said: “I can count on him. He has shown me an incredible personality, in the Carabao and especially in pre-season when he played with a lot of young players.

“It’s easier when you are a young player and you come in close to Nico (Otamendi) or David Silva or Kevin (De Bruyne).Image result for why manchester city

“But to play there with six or seven academy players, he was a real captain. He guided and he led.

“In three games against Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Dortmund, he was incredibly good. In the Carabao, he was good.” Guardiola said in that paean to Garcia’s leadership and footballing ability that ‘the only decision is what is going to happen in the future.

“He could become a third, fourth or number five central defender, stay one more year in the academy, or we could loan him,” the City boss said of the starlet’s future.

Whatever City decide, the last thing they need for Garcia’s progress is to sign a player who could block his pathway to the first team. De Ligt might be Europe’s hottest teenage defender at the moment, but you wouldn’t bet against Garcia taking that title himself at some point.

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