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Why Manchester City do not need to sign replacement for departing David Silva

In this article, we take a look at why Manchester City do not need to sign replacement for departing Spanish attacking midfielder David Silva.

Why Manchester City do not need to sign replacement for departing David Silva

Bengaluru, June 23: Star Manchester City winger Leroy Sane has been linked with an exit from Manchester City for a long time now and was pretty close to moving to Bayern Munich last summer before the move was scuppered with the German international suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Lately none other than Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Sane will not renew his deal at Etihad that runs until the next summer and it is believed that he will be up for grabs on a bargain this summer with Bayern Munich evidently leading the race.

Sane has missed the whole season with injury and it has been pretty evident that Manchester City have missed him dearly even though they do not lack in numbers on the flanks with the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva present at the club.

Despite that, Guardiola has made a claim that he might not have to necessarily replace Sane with another signing if the German leaves this summer. And, we believe he has a point.

Phil Foden is now 20 years of age and he has done everything he could in the limited number of minutes he could manage for the Cityzens. With the star-studded lineup Guardiola has at his disposal, Foden has still managed to get 1110 minutes of first-team football and that is only due to the Spaniard's extensive rotation policy.

Despite the short amount of playing time he has been presented by Guardiola, the Englishman has impressed having scored four goals and provided seven assists in all competitions.

Foden has shown that he is more than ready of getting more minutes next season and clearly deserves that. With David Silva and Leroy Sane both departing, Foden's gametime could be doubled or even trebled next season and it would not be fair if Guardiola deprives the youngster from that by signing two ready-made replacements of the departing duo.

With the European Championship postponed for a year and Gareth Southagte stating that he will prefer to pick the players who play week in week out, Foden's chances of making the Three Lions' squad for the Euros is at stake and if Guardiola does not offer him that, he might run the risk of losing his best talent in the future.

Manchester City already made a mistake with Jadon Sancho in the past and cannot afford to make the same mistake with Foden again. Even though Foden seems to be much more patient and mature than his former academy teammate, it would be wise if Guardiola does not test his patience for much longer.

Foden is a tailor-made player for Guardiola's fluid and attacking game thanks to technical abilities and versatility. He has shown than he is more than capable of filling in across a number of positions in the team.

He is comfortable as a number eight or as a number ten and even on the flanks. He looks natural just like David Silva or Bernardo Silva no matter where he is deployed and that is an impressive trait especially in someone so young.

With the times being so uncertain and Manchester City also facing the prospect of facing a two-year ban by UEFA from their club competitions, the Cityzens might not have the flexibility to spend much this summer and thanks to Foden, they do not need to even though two of their best players are departing. The money should rather be spent in reinforcing the defence with the Cityzens in a desperate need of a new centre-back and a left-back.

Story first published: Tuesday, June 23, 2020, 16:19 [IST]
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