The January transfer window may prove to be key to Man City’s 2024/25 campaign.
Having struggled throughout the first half of the current season following the long-term injury picked up by Rodri, City unusually spent a lot of money during the winter transfer window, adding Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov to their squad.
All three have had an impact in Manchester, with Marmoush standing out above the others, as the Egyptian’s arrival proved even more crucial as Guardiola lost Erling Haaland to injury at the end of March.
Gonzalez has also seen a lot of minutes since his arrival as the Spaniard has been deployed by Guardiola in the number six role in his team and City fans are yet to see the best of the 23-year-old.
The former Porto star has now admitted that he is constantly trying to improve and has been watching one Man City legend in training in order to achieve that.
Nico Gonzalez is learning from Ilkay Gundogan at Man City
Man City fans have been impressed with Gonzalez since his arrival and they are aware that the 23-year-old has even more room to develop.
The Etihad faithful will be happy to learn that the midfielder is paying close attention to Ilkay Gundogan in training as the 34-year-old is one of the best players they have ever witnessed in Manchester.
“I try to pay attention to him,” Gonzalez said about Gundogan to ManCity.com. “I love all the movements that he makes, the positions that he takes up and I’ve had to mark him in a few training sessions and it’s always caught my attention how he can get out of situations.
“He’s always in the right spot and always chooses the right pass. So I try to keep my eyes on him”.
Gundogan has received praise from many people within English football, with Leicester City star Conor Coady once stating via the BBC that the “fantastic” German is “one of the most intelligent footballers” he has seen in his life.
Gundogan is not the only person Gonzalez has been learning a lot from at Man City as the 23-year-old also mentioned his boss.
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Pep Guardiola is improving Nico Gonzalez
Working under the legendary Pep Guardiola was always going to improve Gonzalez and the legendary coach’s presence at Man City was likely a key factor in why the 23-year-old chose to move to Manchester in January.
Speaking to ManCity.com about his relationship with the City boss, Gonzalez stated: “It’s really nice [my relationship with Pep], I think I’ve learned a lot in the last few months.
“I think that I am improving a lot and viewing football in a different way, one that I haven’t viewed it from before.
“He tries to remind me of certain things before every training, it’s so important. If he wants you to improve on something, at the beginning of every training session, he’ll be speaking to you about it to remind you, so that you focus so much on learning that, to improve in that specific way.
“I think that’s why you see so many players improve so much in such a short space of time, by concentrating on something in particular. I think what I’ve improved so much over the last few months is playing with more calmness, that way you make better decisions.”
