As Manchester City closes in on inking Colombian youngster Marlos Moreno, it raises the question whether the club needs the 19-year-old forward at the moment.
Since Pep Guardiola was handed the reigns of Manchester City, he’s been shopping. He nabbed Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Oleksandr Zinchenko. In this week, Guardiola added Leroy Sané and Gabriel Jesus, while Marlos Moreno is supposed to be around the corner. There’s murmurings John Stones might be wearing a paler shade of blue soon too.
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Discounting Stones, Guardiola’s spending is now north of £100 million with Jesus’ signing, according to the Daily Mail. Moreno’s and Stone’ signings, if they happen, are likely to take City’s expenditures over a whopping £150 million.
As the squad’s ranks swell further, City’s purse continues to shrink. And although having the financial smash to go out and pluck world class talent whenever the club wants has taken City to new altitudes of success, one wonders if just dropping stacks makes the Blues’ issues disappear. After all, as the Daily Mail wryly notes in the linked article, no club has won the Premier League after just spending £100 million on players.
This brings us to this probable purchase of Marlos Moreno. What does the Atlético Nacional player afford City if signed? He’s would likely leave the Etihad immediately after arriving, going on a season loan to Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga. Gabriel Jesus is also finishing out his season at Palmeiras, not making his first appearance for the Citizens presumably until next calendar year, but if his comparisons to Neymar are to be believed, then he should be contributing in the foreseeable future. I’m not so sure about Moreno. Don’t get me wrong, he’s shown some glimmers of brilliance at Atlético Nacional, but he’s raw and clearly a project, hence a likely loan if signed.
Guardiola, for some reason only known to him, has spent a lot money on wing-attacking players, many of them young, this transfer window. And yeah, it’s nice to have some new shiny toys, but the sheer amount of them means he can’t play with them all. So he would likely loan players like Moreno out now to develop, but when he would return, Guardiola still can’t play them all. Then times change; attitudes change. No one knows if Moreno, Zinchenko or even Jesus, Nolito or Sané will pan out as imagined.
The point is the roughly £4.75 million that’s being allocated to land Moreno could be instead directed toward getting Stones. Everton staunchly wants £50 million for its prized center half, who’s bit more of a known quantity than Moreno and the heir apparent to England’s back line. Hey! City also needs an heir apparent to its backline, with Vincent Kompany on the fritz and other players disappointing in his absence. The defense was City’s Achilles heel in its hunt for the Premier League title last season. Perhaps steps should be taken to make sure that doesn’t happen again this go-around.
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As it stands, despite the price tag, 20-year-old Stones is a smarter investment; Moreno is a bit of pipe dream. Given some of the signings on the wing already and what City already possesses there, he’s redundant. Not only is Moreno not as promising as the freshly added Jesus or Sané, he doesn’t have much of a track record or career to evaluate like the proven Nolito. And when you start adding together these nickel and dime purchases — Zinchenko (£1.7 million), Nolito (£13.8 million), Moreno (£4.75 million), plus now rumors about Croatian attacking midfielder 19-year-old Ante Couric (£8 million possibly with add-ons) — you start to think, “We could have gotten Stones and shored up the defense by now.”
Lest you need to be reminded, Leicester City’s squad last year was only worth £54.4 million.
And City’s vaunted side…
…£418.8 million.