Jeremy Doku has made a big claim about his budding partnership with Rayan Ait-Nouri following Manchester City’s victory over Juventus in the Club World Cup.
Manchester City finished their Club World Cup group stage campaign in style on Thursday as they drubbed Juventus 5-2 in Orlando.
Pep Guardiola’s side looked back at their dominant best as goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Savinho and an own-goal made light work of the Italian greats.
Even Teun Koopmeiners’ instant leveller to make the game 1-1 after an Ederson mistake didn’t put them off their rhythm, with Dusan Vlahovic only adding a late consolation.
Doku was the star of the show with a fine goal and lots of skill, but the real highlight from the performance was the growing partnership between him and new left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Doku has now claimed that the pair already have a strong ‘connection’ despite it being their first game together.
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Jeremy Doku calls Rayan Ait-Nouri a ‘top player’
Doku was named ‘Superior Player of the Match’ for his performance and was delighted in the aftermath.
Speaking to DAZN, the Belgian praised Ait-Nouri and explained what makes him so good to play with.
“Honestly, he’s a top player,” he said.
“He’s so fast, so quick. He can play on the inside, outside.
“It’s a joy to play with him, he speaks French as well.
“So, honestly, the connection is there, and I’m happy that he’s here with us.”
The duo looked like they had already played 100 games together, with a strong positional understanding clearly coming naturally.
When one of them attacked down the line, the other would drift inside to create a one-two passing lane to easily evade defenders.
It was Ait-Nouri’s lovely reverse pass from an infield position that sent Doku through to score his fine opener and the pair continued to link up throughout.
If this is the partnership in game one, then City fans have a lot to be excited about for the season to come.
Jeremy Doku reacts to Man City win over Juventus
When asked if the win was a statement victory for City, Doku replied: “I think so.
“Obviously we won the other two games but I think this obviously is a big team in Europe. 5-2, winning like that is not nothing.
“I’m grateful for every opportunity that I have to be on a pitch like that, in a stadium and everything. I’m happy and I play free, I play with peace.”
Doku will also be keeping a keen eye on who City will play in the last 16 between Real Madrid, RB Salzburg and Al-Hilal.
“Yeah,” he added. “Me, personally, I watch almost every game. So I’m curious to see who we’re going to play against.”
