Jeremy Doku is now in his second season at Manchester City and fans are excited to see him potentially reach new levels in 2024/25.
The winger was a £55 million arrival from Rennes last summer, and the youngster enjoyed a very good first term at the Etihad Stadium.
He scored seven goals and provided 11 assists across all competitions, which is a decent return from a young player coming to the English top-flight for the first time.
Doku often got fans out of their seats with his rapid acceleration and footwork, but sometimes his end product let him down.
Yesterday against Chelsea, that was the case again at times. Doku led a couple of breaks for City, but failed to find the right ball at the end of the move.
But there is no denying he could be a superstar, and there is one thing he continues to be really good at, which Gary Neville spoke about during commentary for Sky Sports.
Gary Neville says Jeremy Doku is just brilliant at holding onto the ball, as he’s left amazed by 89th-minute slalom
Doku was given a start by Pep Guardiola against Chelsea yesterday at Stamford Bridge, with Jack Grealish having recently picked up a knock.
Grealish was not fit to face Manchester United in the Community Shield, and Pep preferred to go with Doku and Savinho yesterday, perhaps due to both being a bit more match-sharp.
Doku started on the right, but swapped over to the left midway through the first-half and then played there for the rest of the game.
It was a lively showing from Doku and he had a decent opponent in the form of Malo Gusto.
Doku was a handful and in the 88th minute, he drew a foul from Moises Caicedo, which prompted Neville to say on commentary: “He’s so good Doku at holding onto the ball. Using his body, he knows exactly what Caicedo is going to do.”
Then, in the 89th minute, Doku showed his amazing ball retention ability again, embarking on a mazy run from the left and skipping through three Chelsea players to make it into the box. This prompted Neville to say ‘Wow, what a run’.
Doku is a consistent end product away from being world-class
- Who is Jeremy Doku? Keep up to speed with Man City’s rapid winger
This is a big season for Doku.
He now has a feel for the Premier League having played one full season, and he should have more of an understanding of how things work.
The expectation will be that he improves on last season, and to do that he will need to be more consistent in the final third.
Doku is a scary player to face. That rapid acceleration and ability to create space in a millisecond are fantastic qualities, but too often Doku will not choose the right option at the end. Or his execution will be off.
Gabby Agbonlahor claimed after the game with Chelsea that Doku probably frustrates players like Haaland.
He can be frustrating, but we have to remember he is still only 22 and won’t hit his peak for about five or six years.
But Neville is certainly right with his assessment. Doku is superb at holding onto the ball and is very hard to actually dispossess, a little like his teammate Jack Grealish.
