Manchester City came up short at the Club World Cup, and fans have been talking about a player who had a surprising lack of involvement.
Manchester City lost to Al-Hilal on Monday night, which was disappointing considering how promising the team had looked in the first three games.
But poor defending was City’s undoing against Al-Hilal, and there is much for Pep Guardiola to ponder in the weeks preceding the 2025/26 season.
Attention will now turn to transfers. Specifically, the selling of players.
James McAtee is expected to leave Manchester City this summer, as he has not proven himself and only has one year left on his contract.
Jack Grealish is also likely to leave City, but later in the window.
After those two, a couple more could leave – and fans reckon there is potential for a player who only signed in January to leave.
Man City fans fear for Nico Gonzalez after Club World Cup involvement
Nico Gonzalez joined City at the end of the January transfer window from FC Porto, for a reported £50 million.
The injury to Rodri had really stung City, and there was a clear need for a new defensive midfielder.
Nico has a similar profile to Rodri, and Guardiola even described him as a mini Rodri after he starred against Newcastle United.
Nico was superb for Man City against Newcastle, but sadly, he has been unable to replicate those kinds of performances.
The Club World Cup might have been a chance for him to prove himself, with Rodri still getting back up to speed.
But Guardiola gave him just one 61-minute appearance against Al Ain – and now fans fear for his future.
@RexCity01: “I feel really bad for Nico Gonzalez man. He should have stayed in Porto 💔💔”
@expressninja8: “Only person should be worried is Nico.”
@owoolasun: “It was painful yesterday seeing him on the bench, meanwhile Bernardo was tired and exhausted. Anyway for City fans let’s prepare our minds for the new season, nothing might change.”
@CityBoyzUp: “Pep doesn’t rate him at all 😂”
@Rodr16SZN: “Kalvin Philips 2.0”
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Nico Gonzalez future at Man City may be in doubt
That Nico only got given 61 minutes at the Club World Cup was surprising, strange and a little bit disappointing.
He cost a lot of money earlier this year, and he needs opportunities to show that he was worth that outlay.
At the moment, he is starting to look like a bit of a panic buy.
The signing of Tijjani Reijnders does not help his cause and at the moment, he is way down the pecking order with Guardiola preferring the likes of Reijnders, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Rodri in the central roles.
Mateo Kovacic is also an option, as is Rico Lewis and possibly even Matheus Nunes.
With City needing to trim their squad down, fears over Nico are understandable.
