Should Manchester City consider this striker?

Manchester City’s never-ending search for Sergio Aguero’s successor is set to reach new heights this summer. With the chairman declaring that he is ready to splash big money to sign a striker, Manchester City are being linked to every big name striker available.

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With Harry Kane being the most likely replacement and Gabriel Jesus’ future at Manchester City in doubt, in this article, we will take a look at a young player Pep Guardiola can consider bringing back to the Etihad to add some depth to the centre-forward position.

Gabriel Jesus’ numbers have looked very ordinary this season and with Guardiola losing his trust in him in the recently finished season, we can see the young Brazilian leave the Etihad for some decent game time. This leaves a lot of room for the German youth-international and City’s academy graduate, Lukas Nmecha. 

At loan this season at former club captain Vincent Kompany’s club Anderlecht, Nmecha has shone like a bright diamond. Under the Belgian, the 22-year old has scored 14 and assisted 3 in 2608 minutes. Jesus meanwhile managed only 9 goals and 3 assists this season in the 2063 minutes that he played with Manchester City.

Nmecha has 41.6% of his shots on target, while the Brazilian could only manage to hit the target 29.6% of the time. He also took more shots per 90 compared to Gabriel Jesus. Nmecha averaged 3 shots per 90, while Jesus managed only 2.36 per 90.

Lukas Nmecha is also a more hardworking player than the Brazilian. He loves to press and pressure the opponent into making a mistake, a quality that will be valued a lot by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Now we do understand that Gabriel Jesus played in a tougher league compared to Nmecha, but regardless of that the German’s numbers at 22 years old are worth taking another look.

Pep Guardiola lacks players in the centre-forward position and should look to bring Nmecha back to the Etihad to play as a cover for Harry Kane if Gabriel Jesus chooses to move on from Manchester City.

Lukas Nmecha might not be a generational talent, but he can provide great cover in his position and can improve greatly under the right mentorship, as shown by his time under Kompany in Belgium. Bringing him back will also save Manchester City loads of cash as he will not cost anything and will not ask for a huge wage.