Manchester City might be considering revamping their midfield sooner rather than later.
The age profile of City’s midfield could be a worry for Pep Guardiola — with Kevin De Bruyne (33), Ilkay Gundogan (34), Bernardo Silva (30) and Mateo Kovacic (30) all aged 30 or above.
Furthermore, only time will tell whether Manchester City maestro Rodri returns as the same player after his ACL injury — considering it has impacted several players who have suffered such a major setback.
Jamie Carragher stated Ilkay Gundogan looks past his best while also claiming that Mateo Kovacic, another player who is in his thirties is also no longer at his physical peak.
Unsurprisingly, the Premier League champions continue to be linked with midfielders.
On Monday, it was reported that Manchester City are targeting Federico Valverde in January.
Toni Kroos raved about “special” Man City target Federico Valverde
The report claimed that City were willing to shell out a £58 million fee to sign the Uruguayan international.
However, Real Madrid’s openness towards letting the 26-year-old leave in January was considered highly unlikely.
During his podcast, Einfach mal Luppen in October 2022, Toni Kroos sang Manchester City-linked midfielder Valverde’s praises.
Kroos said: “Regardless of his current form, I think he’s a great player. He is also very quick with the ball, he has a great pass and has very good ideas of play. His shooting has always been incredible and now it’s showing with his goals.”
The World Cup winner predicted Valverde to remain a “world-class” player for Los Blancos for a decade.
“He can play more as a winger but also as a number eight. To be honest, that’s where I see him more and more in the future. What I see now in his game is what he always was, very humble. I think he will be a world-class player for Madrid for at least the next ten years.”
The German added: “If he keeps going like this, I don’t see any limits for him. He is very, very complete. If he doesn’t see a solution with the ball at some point then he picks up the ball and goes straight for the opposition goal.”
“I always liked the way he played. Watching him on the pitch, you knew he could grow a lot and become a special player.”
Valverde stats for Real Madrid
The two-time Champions League winner always seems to have had an admirer in Kroos, who is regarded as one of the best midfielders in the history of the game.
So much so that the retired technician handed Valverde his iconic number eight shirt at Real Madrid, announcing the decision to do so as they celebrated their double win during the club’s parade in June.
If Manchester City are indeed serious about signing the Montevideo-born dynamo, they would be taking a close look at his statistics from the past 365 days in comparison to other attacking midfielders across Europe.
| VALVERDE STATS VS ATT. MIDS OVER THE PAST YEAR | ||
| STAT | PER 90 | PERCENTINE |
| PASS COMPLETION | 89.9% | 90 |
| PROGRESSIVE CARRIES | 2.08 | 82 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | 1.37 | 77 |
| ASSISTS | 0.15 | 81 |
| PROGRESSIVE PASSES | 6.26 | 75 |
The numbers certainly back up how complete a player Valverde is.
With Kroos’ glowing endorsement of the versatile midfielder coupled with City’s ageing midfield, he could make for a shrewd signing.
Whether Valverde himself would be keen on a move to England is the question if Manchester City intensity their efforts to sign him.
