A claim has been made that Matheus Nunes was considered as an alternative by Manchester City after missing out on Jude Bellingham.
This comes from journalist Sam Lee, as he gave more clarity about the £53 million (Sky Sports) man’s signing.
A surprising revelation emerged that Matheus Nunes was viewed as a plan B to Jude Bellingham by Manchester City.
Sam Lee: Manchester City viewed Matheus Nunes as Jude Bellingham alternative
It was reported in June that the Sky Blues were interested in signing the Englishman but they never formalised their keenness, as he went on to sign for Real Madrid in a blockbuster move.
However, City went on to sign Nunes, branded as ‘unstoppable’ by journalist Zach Lowy, who was on the bench as his new employers thrashed Fulham 5-1 on Saturday.
Now, Sam Lee has explained why Manchester City internally considered Matheus Nunes as an alternative to the high-flying Jude Bellingham.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
“To be honest, I forgot about it until last night. Nunes wasn’t an alternative to [Lucas] Paqueta, he was an alternative to [Declan] Rice and Bellingham. We’ve mentioned it before, I think, but it was a long time ago now! But yeah, it did occur to me last night that they clearly wanted that type of midfielder.”
Matheus Nunes couldn’t any be more different to the Real Madrid superstar
This comes as quite a surprise considering Manchester City new-boy Matheus Nunes and Jude Bellingham are quite different in terms of their profiles.
Nunes is at his best in a similar role to Kovacic, as he is brilliant in the first two phases of the pitch, is a terrific ball-carrier and has an engine on him.
Bellingham, on the other hand is at his best in the final third, as exemplified by his start in the Spanish capital.
But perhaps, it is worth saying that finding a like-for-like replacement for the teenage sensation would have been idealistic to say the least.