Manchester City have a track record when it comes to signing players for big transfer fees from various clubs across Europe.
One of those players for example is Jeremy Doku, who City paid £55m to sign from Rennes back in the 2023 summer transfer window.
Since then, the winger has scored eight goals and provided 13 assists in 56 games with Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions.
Now in the middle of his second season at the Etihad Stadium, the 22-year-old has made an admission about one key figure in the City squad and what surprised him about the player in question.
- Who is Jeremy Doku? Keep up to speed with Man City’s rapid winger
Jeremy Doku admits he was surprised by Rodri’s quality
A recent video uploaded on the Amazon Prime Video Sport YouTube channel saw Doku get asked various questions by former top-flight goalkeeper Ben Foster.
When asked which players he was most looking forward to working with when he joined City, the winger gave this answer.
He said: “Erling [Haaland]. Because he scores a lot of goals. Phil [Foden]. Rodri, I didn’t expect him to be that good. He is very underrated to be fair.”
Micah Richards explained what makes Rodri so special
After helping City win their fourth consecutive Premier League trophy and then playing a key role in Spain’s European Championship victory in Germany, Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
More recently, Micah Richards praised Rodri and explained what he has that makes him so special, saying this on the subject.
He said: “What makes him so special, I think, is football intelligence. So, you know, when we have stats, don’t we? And stats are so important for football.
“But, like I keep saying, if you watched and you don’t, you don’t look at the stats, you just watch the game of football, he’s always in the right position at the right time.
“Technically, he’s so gifted, and how quick he’s able to move the ball from A to B. When you’re watching football next, look at midfielders, how many touches they take, and how long it takes them to pass the ball forward.
“Rodri does it like with a split second. He does it better than anyone else.
“And then on a counterattack, like we’ve seen with Man City now, with [Mateo] Kovacic and Bernardo Silva and [Ilkay] Gundogan, there’s times in the games where they’re very good players, but understanding that position, when you can press and when it’s time to hold.
“Rodri just does all them things better than any player in the Premier League, especially in that defensive-midfield position.”
Now that Doku has admitted he was surprised by how good Rodri was when he first arrived at City, this highlights how under the radar he may have been a year ago. Whereas now, having won the Ballon d’Or, he is rightly regarded as the best player in the world.
Unfortunately, having seen Rodri suffer a season-ending injury back in September, Doku and the rest of his City teammate will now have to show that they can still be competitive without their prolific midfielder in the team.
