Transfer News: Is Ndombele the Player we are Looking For?

The Search for a Defensive Midfielder

Manchester City have spent the best part of the last 2 transfer windows seeking to add a new defensive midfielder to supplement Fernandinho and perhaps in the future take his place within the dominant Manchester City side. There have been well documented pursuits involving Jorginho and Fred and since then City have been linked with every defensive midfielder in World Football.

Pep Guardiola has a keen eye on players and seems to specialise in watching players who perform well against us. If a team beats us then watch Guardiola as he begins to analyse the talent available to the other team. Mendy, Bernardo, Gundogan, Danilo, Walker et al.

Of course Guardiola is a powerful voice at Manchester City but he is not the only voice when it comes to transfer business. City have well established scouting and player recruitment departments, undertaking detailed worldwide analysis looking to fill the voids and spaces identified by Guardiola and his staff.

Of course any transfer has to ultimately work for Manchester City. Every player has his price and City have to decide whether the price matches the value the player affords to the team. City have proven they are not willing to be held to ransom and will; walk away from any deal where the price is not right.

City also are keen for any player added to their side to not only have a great chance of fitting into a team of amazing talent who are all willing to work hard together to improve and be champions, but the attitude and personality of the player must fit in with the celebrated values the Club are seeking to promote. There will be no recruitment of poor attitudes and behaviour, regardless of the talent they offer. Guardiola values team work and team ethic over all else.

So no recruitment by Manchester City will be quick – the players need to be scouted, the deal needs to be right and the player’s attitude and background needs to withstand some rigorous vetting. Fans though get impatient and we all worry our one position in our squad without adequate depth is defensive midfield – the deep lying pivot of the Guardiola system.

There are a certain set of skills required of any individual in this role and there are high standards to maintain. We are looking for the future so the player needs to be performing at a high level now in a league of similar intensity but they need to be capable of making a step up into playing for one of the best side’s in the world.

Given all of this it is not a surprise that following an eye catching performance against Manchester City, Tanguy Ndombele has been linked with a move to the Etihad. This is a 21 year old player who has made some 40 appearances for Lyon and has been capped twice by France. He is a neat and combative midfielder but having watched him several times in recent games I am unsure if he has the control necessary for a player in our team.

Ndombele is an athletic and powerful midfielder who moves more like Yaya Toure than Fernandinho. He has come on for France to replace Paul Pogba and there are clear similarities between the two players. His energy and lung bursting enthusiasm is not matched by the deftness of skill present in our team and on the strength of his performances to date I do not think he is ready to play in our side.

Against City he moved quickly to disrupt and destroy our play, his long limbs intercepting and forcing mistakes from our high press. Whilst all of this is commendable, it is not a reflection of the way he would be expected to play in our side. For us he needs to create and release play whilst patrolling the transitions between plays. For Lyon he is not reproducing sufficient levels of concentration to provide confidence in the role. On this basis he would be a better fit for other high pressing teams such as Tottenham or Liverpool, where his ball playing abilities are required less.

Ndombele has recently joined Lyon following a period of loan and so is under contract until Summer 2023. This means he is likely to fetch a price in excess of 50 million Euros in the current market and the value in that price depends upon his ability to develop his game under Guardiola coaching. That represents a risk in the market and therefore I feel there are other players available who may more readily fit within the team blueprint.

Although as a fan I would quite like to see us sign a combative midfielder with power I recognise such a player is not high on the Guardiola wishlist, and its in Guardiola I trust.