Nedum Onuoha has praised Manchester City for their reported imminent transfer of Mateo Kovacic.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Citizens had struck a deal with Chelsea to sign the midfielder for a reported fee of £30m.
Speaking in a recent video on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Onuoha said this when asked what he thinks about this reported deal for Kovacic.
Onuoha praises City’s move for Kovacic
He said: “I like it. I think the fee itself, relatively speaking, isn’t as big as some of the other ones we’ll see in the transfer window so that’s a positive sign.
“I think bringing somebody in who’s 29 means that these will likely be the best years of Kovacic’s career because he understands the game. As you get older, you see a different game, physically he can still do it but mentally you understand exactly how it works.
“The average age of City’s team is getting toward late twenties and that’s a bunch of players that did what hadn’t been done before. I think there’s a benefit to youth, there’s a bigger benefit with experience surrounding it.
“So I think somebody coming in that understands the league and understands what it like to potentially go on and win things because he won the Champions League two years ago and he’s been at Real Madrid, he’s done everything.
“I think it’s a good deal, I’ll be interested to see where they see him playing, because he’s not Gundogan, I think that’s a really clear and obvious thing and it seems that City are perhaps in the market for another midfielder as well, but I think to bring in somebody that can be competing for a starting spot and not think there’s ever going to be a weakness should somebody drop out, that’s the biggest thing.”
After winning three Champions League titles with Real Madrid where he made over 100 appearances, the midfielder joined Chelsea on an initial loan deal in 2018 before completing a permanent transfer a year later.
During his time at Stamford Bridge, the Croatian added another Champions League title to his collection as well as winning the Europa League, making a total of 221 appearances across all competitions, scoring six goals and supplying 15 assists.
This showcases the top-level experience he has that Onuoha spoke about and what he’d be able to offer City once he arrives at the Etihad Stadium from Chelsea.
Also, with the Citizens recently announcing Ilkay Gundogan’s move to Barcelona as a free agent, if they knew this was coming, this may have played a part in them looking to bring Kovacic in as a potential replacement.
Moving forward, while this move may have the seal of approval from Onuoha, the real way of assessing this proposed transfer will be after seeing how he performs on the pitch for Pep Guardiola’s side.
