It seems like Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki could prove to be excellent additions for Manchester City in the present and the future.
With City signing all four players in time for the FIFA Club World Cup, Pep Guardiola has had the chance to watch them train up close for weeks.
Ait-Nouri revealed he is loving life under Guardiola as the Catalan boss has given him the freedom to play his natural game and so far, he has looked like a livewire down the left flank.
As for Cherki, he has garnered praise from Pep Guardiola as he registered a goal and an assist at the Club World despite making just one start.
Reijnders has settled in very well at Manchester City as well, with his technical excellence, astute movement and composure in the middle of the park standing out.
- READ MORE: Tijjani Reijnders shares what he’s already ‘grateful’ for in his first few weeks at Manchester City
Craig Burley questions why Man City signed Rayan Ait-Nouri
However, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Cherki and Reijnders would have been frustrated that they could not help Manchester City get over the line against Al-Hilal in the Round of 16 of the Club World Cup.
Ait-Nouri in particular may be upset with his display as he started the game well by setting Bernardo Silva’s opening goal up. But simultaneously, the Algerian international did not have his best outing defensively — letting Malcom bypass him for Al-Hilal’s first strike and being in no-man’s land in the lead-up to Marcos Leonardo’s winner.
However, Craig Burley went as far as to question why Manchester City signed the 24-year-old as the pundit feels he is suspect at back and the Sky Blues’ defence has been their weak link since last season, as he told ESPN FC: “As soon as I saw this signing, I thought chaos, more chaos defensively. You would’ve thought that they would have tried to fill the full-back positions, particularly left-back’s been an issue with somebody who’s a bit more solid.”
“Because they have enough players, more than enough in the other areas to be creative and I know you want to play out from the back and all that sort of stuff and you want to invert your full-backs and all that sort of nonsense that everybody seems to be doing these days.”
“But go back to City’s most successful season a couple of years ago when they won the league and they won the Champions League, they were a hybrid. They defensively were a lot smarter than they’ve been in previous years but it didn’t take away from their attacking game.”
While his new teammates like Jeremy Doku praised Ait-Nouri, Craig Burley feels the player will only benefit Manchester City going forward, saying: “It seems to me that during the last year and their bad times and I know they had injuries that they got away from that. I don’t see how this signing, apart from going forward and we’re just going to outscore everybody, I don’t see that’s going to solidify a back four that’s been creaking and cracking all the time.”
Pep Guardiola’s verdict on Rayan Ait-Nouri
While Craig Burley might fairly feel that Ait-Nouri was not at his best against Al-Hilal, it would be too early to question his chances of succeeding at Manchester City.
Ultimately, City’s poor defensive display was down to their performance as a unit.
However, what should matter the most to Manchester City fans is that Pep Guardiola lauded Ait-Nouri after he starred against Al Ain, saying: “At the end, he played really good. It’s his first game but he’s played in the Premier League for many years.
Guardiola added: “Wow, he played very good because we had to defend a back four and then a back five, he had to arrive in the end. He can help us play in that important role, then he went holding midfield in the pockets, he moves really well in small spaces.”
