Chris Sutton has suspected that Pep Guardiola is not a fan of one of Manchester City’s players.
The Catalan tactician has a history of being ruthless in a footballing sense and letting players go at will, as was evidenced at Barcelona when he was willing to offload superstars like Ronaldinho and Deco.
Pep Guardiola admitted Jack Grealish needed a new club to resurrect his flailing career before he joined Everton on loan, as it seemed he was fed up with the Englishman’s recurring fitness issues and inconsistent performances.
Guardiola is considered a serial winner and as a result, he seems unfazed about taking bold decisions.
Chris Sutton reckons Pep Guardiola is not a fan of Nico Gonzalez
Speaking on BBC Sport’s The Monday Night Club show, Chris Sutton claimed that he doubts Pep Guardiola rates Nico Gonzalez.
Guardiola dubbed Nico a “mini Rodri” but since his move to City, the midfielder has started 11 out of a possible 19 league games. Considering Manchester City paid £50 million to sign Nico, it is a surprise that he has been in and out of the side.
Chris Sutton commented: “They spent 40 million or something on Nico Gonzalez for that reason, didn’t they?”
“And there was a lot made about the signing, about him being the, you know, the new Rodri. And he’s gone in and obviously, you know, Pep doesn’t mess about with players who he doesn’t like. You know, he’ll evaluate.”
“And then, you know, he clearly doesn’t rate him that highly. Hence why, you know, he’s gone against the grain and his normal way of thinking by, you know, going for three consecutive games with the starting line up. So that’s clearly not ideal.”
Man City had doubts about Nico Gonzalez from day one
It is impossible to know for sure whether Pep Guardiola rates Nico highly as a player or not.
However, Manchester City had doubts about Nico from day one as they were aware that he is not a natural defensive midfielder.
As things stand, it seems like the 23-year-old is viewed as an understudy to Rodri as he started in his absence against Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur.
