There is a positive atmosphere around the Manchester City camp heading into the new Premier League season.
This mostly stems from the changes that were made at the Manchester club over the summer, as Pep Guardiola has seen six new faces arrive through the doors at the Etihad Stadium, and the Premier League giants may not be done there.
Two huge signings in Rodrygo and Gianluigi Donnarumma could still join Man City before the transfer window shuts, but even if they don’t, Micah Richards is happy with the business the Citizens have done already.
One new signing in particular has the former Man City star excited, with the pundit stating that the player has “absolutely everything”.
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Micah Richards is excited about Rayan Ait-Nouri at Man City
Rayan Ait-Nouri completed a £34m move to Man City this summer from Wolves, and the left-back is a player Guardiola has been working closely with in training, as the Algerian star is set to be a key part of how the Spaniard’s team plays during the upcoming season.
Richards is very excited to see how the 24-year-old performs at the Etihad Stadium this summer, with the former City star believing Ait-Nouri has “absolutely everything” the Manchester club needs.
“Oh, he’s amazing. He’s absolutely amazing. His technical ability is brilliant,” Richards said about Ait-Nouri on the latest episode of the Rest Is Football.
“He’s got absolutely everything for this team. But he does leave Man City exposed to a counterattack, and we know that Man City’s weakness is counterattack.”
Man City fans will get a first glimpse of the defender in Premier League action for the Manchester club against Wolves on Saturday, a team Ait-Nouri knows very well.
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Rayan Ait-Nouri’s terrible opening weekend record
Ait-Nouri joined Wolves on loan during the 2020/21 season, before completing a permanent move a year later, and throughout the left-back’s time at Molineux, he has had no success on the opening weekend of the season.
Over the last four campaigns, Ait-Nouri has been part of a team that has lost every game on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
The 24-year-old produced no goal contributions, picked up one yellow card, and did not play at all in one of the matches.
Last season, Wolves kicked off their season with a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, and being part of a stronger team heading into the 25/26 campaign, Ait-Nouri will be hoping to break this run.
