Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola seldom gets it wrong when it comes to players and their development.
The Spaniard is undoubtedly one of the greatest tacticians of all time and as well as winning a shedload of trophies, he has also developed many brilliant players throughout his career.
Sometimes though, great talents slip through the net.
Cole Palmer left City in the summer of 2023 and has gone on the become a superstar at Chelsea. Liam Delap has also started to impress after joining Ipswich Town
There is another player who left City in recent times who hasn’t quite exploded like Palmer, but he has certainly made a very positive start to life with Real Sociedad.
And interestingly, he has been thriving at his new club having taken up some different positions
Sergio Gomez is thriving at Real Sociedad after leaving Manchester City
Sergio Gomez left City in the summer for a reported £8.4 million, after mostly warming the bench for two years at the Etihad.
Gomez did also reportedly have interest from West Ham United, but his preference was ultimately to return to Spain – and it’s a decision that looks the right one so far.
Gomez has made 10 appearances so far for Real Sociedad.
He has laid on an impressive three assists so far, with two of those coming in a recent match against Valencia in La Liga. FotMob gave him a 9.1 rating for his performance that day, with his average score being 7.29 so far for the season.
Intriguingly, Gomez has not been playing where he mostly did for City, which was at left-back.
Under Imanol Alguacil he’s actually mostly played as a winger and also as an attacking midfielder.
Pep Guardiola should have used Gomez further forward
It is nice to see Gomez playing regularly and impressing for Sociedad after his exit from City.
He spent a lot of time on the bench at the Etihad Stadium and never once complained about his role in the squad. Sadly for him, he just didn’t quite have enough to force his way into the starting XI and stay there.
It is very interesting to see him thriving playing higher up the pitch at Sociedad, with Guardiola mostly using him at left-back for City.
| Sergio Gomez for Manchester City 2022-24 |
| Appearances – 38 |
| Goals – 0 |
| Assists – 2 |
He can play there, but Gomez regularly played as a winger for the Spain U21s. But there were sometimes question marks over his defensive capabilities.
Guardiola did use him higher up on occasion. But with the likes of Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden all ahead of him in the pecking order, it was always tough for Gomez.
City do have a sell-on clause over Gomez and hopefully, the club will be able to benefit from that in the coming years.
