Premier League star Destiny Udogie, who manager Ange Postecoglou called ‘outstanding‘ just months after his arrival in North London, has been identified as a potential transfer target for Manchester City, as per Fabrizio Romano, who are looking to add a new full-back to their squad in the summer.
Destiny Udogie Added to Manchester City’s Summer Shortlist
Destiny Udogie’s Career to Date
Udogie came through the youth ranks at Hellas Verona, where he made seven appearances in the 2020/21 season.
The Italian then moved to Udinese on loan for the 2021/22 season and he thrived in his first full year in men’s football. The defender made 35 league appearances for the Bianconeri, scoring five times and making four assists as he broke into the Italy U21 side.
The summer of 2022 was a hectic one for Udogie. Udinese activated a buy-clause in his loan contract before he was snapped up by Spurs and instantly loaned back to the Serie A side.
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After another outstanding season in the Italian top flight, where he registered seven goals and assists in 33 games, the left-back returned to Spurs ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
Udogie was one of the stars of the Premier League last season as he scored twice and got three assists in 28 league appearances. What particularly impressed fans and pundits alike were his offensive runs and positioning; he had more touches in the opposition box than 96% of left-backs last season.
Although the goal contributions have dried up for the 22-year-old this campaign, he has maintained a good overall performance level, particularly defensively. The Italian international has won more tackles and duels per 90 than 93% of Premier League left-backs.
Manchester City’s Struggles At Full-Back
Full-back is an area where Pep Guardiola’s men have massively struggled this season.
The performances of club captain Kyle Walker in the first half of the campaign were so disappointing that the club happily let him join AC Milan on loan in January.
Since then, the right-back spot has been mainly filled by Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis, whilst Abdukodir Khusanov and Manuel Akanji have also played there at points.
This lack of consistency and experience in the backline have certainly been key factors in City’s downfall this season. They are currently in 6th place in the Premier League, one point off fifth-placed Newcastle, though the Magpies have a game in hand on the Citizens.
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Whilst City’s struggles at right-back have only emerged this season, problems on the left-hand-side of defence have been in existence since the start of Guardiola’s time in Manchester.
Benjamin Mendy, Guardiola’s first left-back signing, was too injury-prone and defensively inconsistent to be a key player in the Catalan’s side.
Danilo, who was ostensibly signed in the summer of 2017 as cover for both sides of the defence, was also not always trusted at left-back. This meant that Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who were both midfielders by trade, were used as makeshift left-backs for a reasonably long time.
Although City have since signed Joao Cancelo, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol, who have all thrived on the left of defence for fairly lengthy periods, they have always lacked depth in the position. This has recently seen Nico O’Reilly, who has been deployed as a striker by City at youth level, be forced to play at left-back.
What Would Signing Udogie Do for City?
The signing of Udogie would be a massive aid to City’s squad depth, which has been proven to be lacking during this injury-fraught campaign.
It would take some of the burden off Gvardiol, who has been City’s best attacking threat at points this season, and allow him to move into the centre of defence to help solve the problems that the Sky Blues are having there.
Additionally, it would allow O’Reilly to be moved into midfield, where he could use his strong 6″3 frame to add a combative nature to the middle of the park, another aspect of their game that City need to improve next year.
Udogie’s intelligence and athleticism would make him a perfect fit for Guardiola’s systems, which are often very tactically demanding on full-backs.
