TalkSPORT broadcaster Adrian Durham has claimed Manchester City should have signed Mamadou Sangare this summer instead of Enzo Fernandez. He has also compared the Mali international to Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.
Sangare has joined Brentford in a reported £41 million deal from Ligue 1 side Lens this summer. The 24-year-old has enjoyed a glittering start to life at his new club, providing two assists in his first three games across competitions.
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Durham has claimed that the Mali international has been the second-best player in the Premier League behind Rayan Cherki. He has also claimed that Sangare’s all-action game reminds him of former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard. He said, as quoted by TalkSPORT:
“The second best player in the Premier League so far this season, and I appreciate it is early days, is the Brentford midfielder Mamadou Sangare. He came in from Lens in the summer, he was in the Ligue 1 team of the season last year, only cost £40million. In the current market, that is a snip. 24-years-old so a good age, not too young, experienced enough, but still plenty of time left. Mali international, he’s good on the ball, he can tackle, get stuck in and he’s just got everything.”
Durham added:
“Watching him in the first two games for Brentford, he is everywhere. The most dynamic midfielder I have seen in a long, long time. A little bit of a throwback Steven Gerrard-style. In fact, I would say that we’ve gone down a bit of a cul-de-sac with midfielders in that they’re all stoppers, defensive midfielders and they cost a lot of money all of a sudden, but their numbers aren’t great. I think this guy is going to be that throwback to those midfielders that were all-rounders, basically did everything in the game. He’s sensational.”
Durham has also hit out at big clubs such as Manchester City for not taking a punt on quality players for relatively lower fees. He has claimed that Manchester City would have been wiser to get Sangare rather than spending £125 million for Enzo Fernandez. He said:
“One thing that bugs me about some of the bigger clubs, particularly Man City, is they always seem to let other clubs buy players first and then they go and sign them. Which means they haven’t really scouted properly. They surely could have seen that that player could have done a job for them and cut out the middle man. Sangare is that player that a team like Man City should’ve looked at, should’ve seen. They’d have got him for £40million, wouldn’t have had to pay £125million for Enzo Fernandez, a waste of money and all the booing that’s going to come with that.”
Manchester City were heavily linked with Enzo Fernandez throughout the summer following Enzo Maresca’s appointment. They eventually landed the Argentina international on transfer deadline day for a British-record-equalling £125 million fee from Chelsea.
Pundit says Manchester City haven’t improved despite making midfield reinforcements
Pundit Danny Murphy has claimed that Manchester City have not improved despite their heavy spending on new signings this summer. He has insisted that none of the players they brought in is on the same level as Rodri, who joined Barcelona in a reported £65.4 million deal. The ex-Liverpool midfielder said:
“They’ve certainly strengthened and that’s what you expect from one of the biggest clubs in Europe. They want to be competitive, they’ve made some really good signings for sure. The big question is, although it is full of quality, is that midfield dynamic equal to what they had last season – which was Bernardo Silva and Rodri.”
He added
“I’d argue anyone they’ve got in isn’t on the same level as Rodri in terms of quality, but they do bring different attributes. Not many out there have got what he’s (Rodri) got and that’s why they’ve got two (signings). They are bold moves, but are they better than they were last season? I’d argue they’re not.”
Manchester City had a major overhaul this summer across every department, including a managerial change. Pep Guardiola stepped down after ten seasons at the club with Enzo Maresca coming in to replace the Spaniard.
Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Savio, Tijjani Reijnders, Nico Gonzalez, James Trafford, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Omar Marmoush left the club. They signed Enzo Fernandez, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson, Iliman Ndiaye, Allan, Jeremy Monga.
Edited by Snehanjan Banerjee
