Manchester City tend to have quite a measured approach to the transfer market unlike several other clubs in the Premier League.
Aside from Pep Guardiola’s brilliance, one of the many reasons why City remain as successful as they are is because Txiki Begiristain is one of the greatest sporting directors to have ever graced the game.
Pep Guardiola reacted to Begiristain’s exit from Manchester City at the end of the 2024/2025 season by going as far as to say that “a part of” him is leaving the club.
Txiki Begiristain’s transfer blueprint at the Etihad Stadium was one where he made sure that the squad would have two players in each position with an age gap between them so the older player was internally replaced.
Examples of the age gaps between Phil Foden (24) and Kevin De Bruyne (33) in attacking midfield as well as Rico Lewis (19) and Kyle Walker (34) at right-back explain the former Barcelona director of football’s thinking.
However, a surprising report emerged on Wednesday that Manchester City could sell Ruben Dias for more than the £65 million they signed him for as a part of a major “reshuffle” of their squad in the summer of 2025 — with clubs in La Liga, the Bundesliga and Chelsea are keen on signing him.
Selling Ruben Dias would be a transfer disaster from Man City
Last week, it was reported Chelsea were targeting Dias in the summer transfer window as well.
Ruben Dias has been at City since 2020 — yet to lose a single Premier League title as he has won the last four, winning the Champions League in a treble-winning season, two Carabao Cups and one FA Cup amongst other trophies.
Letting the Portuguese international leave in any circumstance would be the single worst transfer decision Manchester City have ever made.
At 27, the former Benfica defender is still in the prime of his career.
Furthermore, Dias has been an ever-present figure in Manchester City’s backline since he signed for the club.
| SEASON | RUBEN DIAS’ PREMIER LEAGUE STARTS |
| 2020/2021 | 32 |
| 2021/2022 | 27 |
| 2022/2023 | 22 |
| 2023/2024 | 28 |
| 2024/2025 | 8 (out of 9) |
Barring the odd injury and rotation, the 2020/2021 Premier League Player of the Season has been one of the first names on the team sheet for Pep Guardiola.
Nathan Ake hailed Dias, as the pair joined Manchester City in the same season for being incredible from day one.
After Walker and De Bruyne, the UEFA Nations League winner sits third in City’s pecking order of captains at the club.
With Manchester City’s current captain and vice-captain being way past 30, the treble-winner could well be the future skipper at the Etihad Stadium as well.
Considering the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Ake mostly play as full-backs, Dias, alongside John Stones and Manuel Akanji are often deployed as centre-backs — where he is relied upon by Pep Guardiola.
Taking into account how incredibly successful City have been since his arrival indicates just how remarkably consistent the decorated defender has been in England.
As far as defending inside the box goes as well, Dias is arguably the standout centre-back in the world — with Jack Grealish telling Amazon Video Sport that him and Stones are “the two best blockers of the ball I’ve ever seen.”
Pep Guardiola once compared Dias to Vincent Kompany
In March last year, Pep Guardiola likened Dias to Vincent Kompany, who is widely regarded as Manchester City’s greatest-ever defender.
Guardiola said: “The type [of defender he is], quite similar with Vinny [Kompany], who it’s not about how I play myself. Ruben is not playing just his game. He’s playing for everyone. He has the ability to see and solve problems. His character is so important.”
“His leadership is huge, especially even when he didn’t play.”
“You should see the impact [he has] before the game, at half-time, or even after… He behaved the same as if he was playing. That makes you deserve to be a captain.”
Considering Pep Guardiola worked with Kompany and understands how elite a centre-back and captain he was, him mentioning Dias in the same breath speaks volumes of the player and character is.
With perhaps the best still left to come from the Manchester City colossus, if the club even consider selling him, it would be nothing short of a blunder.
