£65M SOLUTION: GUARDIOLA TARGETS SEMENYO AFTER LEVERKUSEN LOSS
After a shocking home loss to Leverkusen, Man City's hopes in the UCL are in doubt. Pep may spend big on Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo to partner with Haaland.
Pep Guardiola shook things up for Tuesday's Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen, keeping only Nico González in the starting lineup, and it didn't work out.
Manchester City lost at home in the group stage for the first time since September 2018 against Olympique Lyonnais. Leverkusen won comfortably, 2-0, at the Etihad.
Nico O'Reilly, Jérémy Doku, and Phil Foden came on at halftime, with Rayan Cherki and Erling Braut Håland joining them later, but they didn't really threaten Leverkusen's goal.
Now, City's chances of finishing in the top eight in the Champions League are in doubt. They're heading to Real Madrid in two weeks, before playing Bodø/Glimt near the Arctic Circle and then Galatasaray at home in late January.
After the game, Guardiola talked about his team's lack of depth, which might push him to make a move in the January transfer market for what some are calling the best winger in the country.
Man City Eyes Attacking Options
This past January, Manchester City spent around £180 million on Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Juma Bah, Nico González, and Omar Marmoush, outspending all other Premier League clubs combined.
Reports from Spain say they might spend big again this winter, with Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo as a 'priority target.'
Man City is reportedly 'considering' a January move for the Ghanaian attacker, along with Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, and others.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Semenyo has a £65 million release clause that kicks in on January 1st. This means he could choose his next club, and Bournemouth couldn't stop him from leaving.
How Semenyo Could Help Manchester City
Chris Waddle, a former England player, has claimed that Semenyo is the best winger in the country this season. Anantaajith Raghuraman from The Athletic even suggested he's 'the best player in the Premier League right now.'
That's not too far-fetched, seeing as he's already scored six goals and made three assists this season.
Semenyo has been a standout player in the league so far.
Only Håland, Igor Thiago, and Danny Welbeck have scored more goals. Among players with at least 10 shots on target, only Håland has a higher percentage, showing how clinical he's become.
One of the main benefits of signing Semenyo in January would be to take some pressure off Håland.
Håland already has 14 league goals, but the only other City player to score more than once is Maxime Estève, who scored two own goals in the game against Burnley in September.
Players like Foden, Cherki, and Doku have shown flashes of brilliance, but not as consistently as Semenyo has been performing on the South Coast.
So, alongside Håland, he could form a great partnership that could bring the good times back to the Etihad as they try to catch up with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO GUARANTEE RODRI’S RETURN FOR MONDAY’S PREMIER LEAGUE CLASH
Pep Guardiola provides the latest injury news on Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of a crucial title race clash at Everton.
Pep Guardiola has shared the latest on Manchester City's injury situation ahead of Monday’s Premier League match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
City is in good form right now. They came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, making it six wins in a row across all competitions.
But they’ve had to do it without Rodri. He's missed their last two matches, including a tight 1-0 win at Burnley, after hurting his groin against Arsenal a couple of weeks back. Guardiola recently told reporters that Rodri is getting better, but the team’s been cautious and isn’t rushing him back.
At his latest press conference on Friday, Guardiola said Rodri still hasn’t returned to training, so they’re just taking it day by day. There's hope, but Guardiola wouldn’t give any guarantees about Rodri’s chances of playing against Everton. "He’s getting better. Still, he didn't train with us, so we’ll see in the next few days,” he said. When pressed about his confidence, Pep just replied, “I am always confident.”
With Rodri still not training, it sounds like a last-minute decision on whether he’ll play. A start against Everton seems unlikely. That probably means Nico González, who scored the winner against Southampton, will keep his spot in midfield next to Bernardo Silva. Maybe Nico O’Reilly slides into central midfield, too, if he isn’t covering at left-back.
It’s not all good news in defence either. Ruben Dias is still out with the ankle injury that’s kept him sidelined for the last six games, and Josko Gvardiol is recovering from the tibial fracture he picked up in January. Both are working their way back, and Guardiola says they’re improving, but there’s no sign of a return just yet.
Turning to the Everton game, City could head into it trailing Arsenal by six points if the Gunners beat Fulham on Saturday. With the title race this tight, City can’t afford to slip up.
Guardiola knows Monday will be tough. “Everton have always been tough,” he said. “Old Everton was so cool and so British, and I loved to go there, but in the new stadium, they are defending really well, and it has always been tough." He’s not taking recent Everton results lightly, adding, 'They're fighting for a place in Europe. We won with two or three actions here, but we were not good at that moment. We can’t have any result but win, win, win.”
Everton won’t be easy, especially away, but City can at least take confidence from their strong record of 17 league games unbeaten against the Toffees. They won the reverse fixture 2-0, with Haaland scoring both goals. Still, Guardiola isn’t expecting it to be straightforward.
MANCHESTER CITY’S REQUEST TO RESCHEDULE PIVOTAL PREMIER LEAGUE TIES BRUTALLY DENIED
The Premier League has rejected Man City’s plea to swap Palace and Bournemouth matches. See City's brutal end-of-season schedule.
Manchester City are on the hunt for another domestic treble just seven years after the last one. Pep Guardiola pulled it off in 2018/19 with wins in the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. Now he's got his sights set on doing it again.
City’s deep run in the cups has created a mess for their league schedule. Their home game against Crystal Palace, which was supposed to happen during the Carabao Cup final weekend on March 22, got bumped. Same thing with their trip to Bournemouth, originally set for the day after the FA Cup final.
There’s a hold-up with rescheduling Palace; the Eagles’ Conference League semi-final run means they’ve got barely any free midweek dates. The match was pencilled in for Wednesday, May 13, but things got complicated when City reached the FA Cup Final, and Bournemouth got postponed too. The city asked the Premier League if they could play Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 12, then face Palace a week later, to squeeze in an extra recovery day before the Wembley showdown. Plus, that would give them the bonus of finishing their last two league games at home. But the Premier League usually insists that the fixture that was originally scheduled first in this case, Palace, gets played first.
According to The Mirror, City’s request was shot down. So now Guardiola’s team has to cram their last four matches into just 12 days: Palace visits on May 13, then the FA Cup Final, Bournemouth away on May 19, and finally wrapping things up at home to Aston Villa on May 24.
They couldn't play Bournemouth on May 20 because that’s the Europa League final night, and UEFA didn’t want any Premier League games stealing the spotlight when Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest could be involved.
The Mirror says the revised fixture dates and kick-off times are coming out today. Chelsea, also FA Cup finalists, will play their rescheduled match against Tottenham on May 19.
City still has to travel to Everton next Monday and host Brentford on Saturday, May 9. Then comes their jam-packed finish, starting with Palace.
Meanwhile, title rivals Arsenal will be hoping City’s crowded schedule works in their favour. Though Arsenal has its own challenge, a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid is spread across the next two midweeks.
Arsenal closes out its league campaign with home games against Fulham and Burnley and trips to West Ham and Palace.
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