With the seemingly untouchable Manchester City Empire crumbling after seven consecutive winless matches across all competitions before the club, the club finally managed to halt the madness with a 3-nil win at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. However, crucial questions have started to be raised regarding some of the decisions made by the club management in the recent past. While a number of the older players look jaded, some of the younger ones do not look quite up to the mark.
In the past decade or so, the Cityzens have been right on the mark with most of their recruitments. However, during the last two-three years, they have let go some players who have not been replaced properly. In this article, we will take a look at three such players.
3 Players Manchester City Regret Losing
#3. Riyad Mahrez
Among all the former Manchester City players, he probably gets talked about the least. However, the truth remains that he was one of Manchester City’s most influential players during his five seasons with them.
The Algerian right-winger was one of the best dribblers in his team and scored a very 78 goals in 236 matches for the Sky Blues. His ability to cut in from the right flank and then shoot with his left foot to score goals is sorely missed these days.
Phil Foden had a fantastic last season on the right flank, but his graph has come down abruptly this season. Savinho has proved to be a poor replacement of Riyad Mahrez so far. Neither of the above two has scored a single goal in the Premier League this season, which has made the Cityzens miss Mahrez even more.
Manchester City let Mahrez go for a transfer-fee of 30 million GBP, which seems small in hindsight in comparison to the void his absence has created.
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#2. Julián Alvarez
Julian Alvarez was almost permanently overshadowed by the lustrous presence of Erling Haaland ahead of him, but his 36 goals in his two seasons with the Sky Blues, along with his ability to play off the striker in a 4-4-1-1, made him a very valuable player for them.
Alvarez shone where Foden is trying to fit in at the moment with undesirable results. The Argentine left by signing an 81 million GBP deal with Atletico Madrid, and has scored 11 goals in 22 matches for them this season since. Pep Guardiola’s team would have cared a lot for a few of those goals, as the tally of the second-highest goal-scorers in their team this season is three apiece, jointly held by three players.
#1. Cole Palmer
It almost defies belief that Guardiola let a player as good as Cole Palmer leave for Chelsea. Although to be fair to the Spaniard, Palmer never shone for Manchester City in the way he is for Chelsea now. He has scored 33 goals in 60 matches since leaving Manchester City and has also established himself among the best No. 10s in England.
Palmer is a Manchester City academy product. He won the PFA Young player of the Year as a Chelsea player last season and would have been the ideal replacement for the injured and aging Kevin de Bruyne in the Manchester City midfield. As İlkay Gündoğan’s recent struggle as the No. 10 continued, the Cityzens must have been ruing Palmer’s absence, even considering the fact that they won the Premier League last season without his services.