Defensive reinforcement for Manchester City might come in the form of Bayer Leverkusen’s Benjamin Henrichs.
As the summer months draw nearer, so is Pep Guardiola‘s spending spree to fix the defense — or so we hope and pray. As such a lot of names from France, especially Monaco, have been rumored to be targets for the Manchester City defense.
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Well, here’s another one to keep an eye on from Germany — Bayer Leverkusen, to be precise.
The Daily Mail reports City still covets Leverkusen right back Benjamin Henrichs despite Leverkusen reportedly saying no to a £20 million move in January.
There are a fair number of reasons why Henrichs would be a fine addition to the squad.
First of all, he is versatile in the vein of Philip Lahm and David Alaba, the two full backs Guardiola was gifted with at Bayern Munich. On top of right back, Henrichs can play left back and in the midfield. In Guardiola’s fluid system, being able to play in multiple spots is imperative.
Secondly, Henrichs is young. The 20-year-old has lots of years of football to play. So he can be a cornerstone for several years for Guardiola and City. He offers a new era after the impending departure of the 30-plus-year-olds Aleksandar Kolarov, Gael Clichy, Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna. These four are slow, out of their prime and been victimized all season long. Henrichs, if signed, should be a step to reverse that.
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Lastly, Henrichs is a rising star. He already is a capped international for Germany after spending time playing for Die Mannschaft‘s junior sides. Likewise, his most notable accomplishment to date is being man of the match when Leverkusen bested Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League earlier this season. That’s a plus.
So the sooner City can take Henrichs off the market, the better. Fortunately, according to Club Call, City and the young German are already in contact with each other.
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City supporters should hope for some sort of deal to be struck.