Nico O’Reilly is a name on every Manchester City fan’s lips at present.
The 20-year-old came off the bench against Bournemouth in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the end of March to provide two assists to send City through to play Nottingham Forest at Wembley this weekend and ever since, the youngster has gone from strength to strength.
O’Reilly’s situation is similar to Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly as the Englishman has played in Man City’s last five Premier League games, scoring two goals, to help put Pep Guardiola’s side in a good place to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Man City fans have been full of praise for O’Reilly in recent weeks and are very excited about what is to come from the 20-year-old, whom Guardiola already has a plan for.
Pep Guardiola has a long-term plan for Nico O’Reilly
O’Reilly is naturally an attacking midfielder, but the English talent has been deployed as a left-back in recent weeks, which has also brought the best out of Josko Gvardiol at Man City.
Tim Sherwood believes O’Reilly has “all of the ingredients” to be a star and that is a statement Guardiola likely agrees with, as the Spanish coach’s long-term plan for the midfielder is to convert him into a number six as a potential successor to Rodri, reports The Athletic’s Sam Lee.
“Guardiola seems hell-bent on converting him into a holding midfielder because of his height and physical presence, something that the youngster does not sound entirely sold on,” the Man City journalist wrote. “To be fair to O’Reilly, given the way he moves in the final third, he has plenty to offer at the top end of the pitch.”
Like every midfielder, O’Reilly wants to be higher up the pitch and making runs into the opposition box, which left-back currently offers him.
However, playing as a six, where he will be tasked with controlling tempo, breaking up play, and supporting his defenders, that doesn’t seem to appeal to the 20-year-old at present, despite Guardiola being very keen to make it happen.
Nico O’Reilly shares thoughts on FA Cup semi-final
O’Reilly has had a big impact on Man City reaching this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final as the 20-year-old has featured in all four games, scoring three goals and assisting a further two.
The youngster is very likely to start a left-back for City against Nottingham Forest this weekend and the English talent has been speaking to ManCity.com about his excitement ahead of the Wembley showdown.
“It would be an amazing feeling to go to Wembley in a big game,” said O’Reilly. “We know how good [Forest] are and I am excited for it. You have just got to take every game as it comes, and we are just focusing on this match, and we will see what comes from there.
“Forest are a very good team, which they have showed this season in the Premier League. They have got some very good players, very fast players, creative and they are good defensively.
“It is going to be a difficult game, but we are in the latter stages of the competition so of course every game is going to be difficult.”
