Guardiola ‘chooses’ £37m Rodri replacement as Man City ‘withdraw from negotiations’ for Barcelona star
Man City boss Pep Guardiola has chosen Hakan Calhanoglu as the player he wants to cover for Rodri in January, according to reports.
The Citizens made a good start to the new Premier League season under Guardiola with seven wins from their opening nine matches.
However, Man City have now lost their last two Premier League matches in the Premier League with Guardiola’s side struggling without Rodri in the middle of the park.
The Spaniard, who won the Ballon d’Or at the end of October, picked up a serious knee injury against Arsenal on September 22 and was ruled out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
There have been rumours Man City will bring in a player to replace Rodri in the winter transfer window with reports in Spain claiming Guardiola ‘chooses’ Inter Milan midfielder Calhanoglu for the job.
The experienced Turkey international ‘stands out not only for his vision and precision in passing, but also for his powerful shot from medium distance, a quality that Guardiola values and which reminds him of Rodri ‘s offensive abilities at key moments in games’.
Man City are ‘willing to put 45 million euros (£37m) on the table to complete the transfer in January’ and Inter, despite not wanting to sell, could ‘be open to negotiating due to the possibility of getting a considerable amount for a player who is close to turning 31.’
Despite the difference between the Premier League and Serie A, Guardiola is ‘confident that Calhanoglu will quickly adapt to the team’s dynamic’ at Man City.
It is also claimed that Guardiola ‘withdraws’ Man City ‘from negotiations’ for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong as they ‘have completely lost interest’ after witnessing the Netherlands international’s recent performances.
Man City lost 2-1 to Brighton on Saturday with former Tottenham and Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp calling the Citizens’ second-half display as “one of the worst halves of football” that he’s seen from Guardiola’s side.
Redknapp said on Sky Sports: “I thought second half, and I’ve watched a lot of Manchester City, I’ve admired his team for so long. but that’s one of the worst halves of football I’ve seen from a Pep Guardiola side.
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“They were abject, they didn’t defend, they didn’t win individual battles, they didn’t pass the ball forwards. First half, they were excellent, they should’ve been 3-0 up.
“The second half when he [Hurzeler] made the subs, there was only one team going to win it. Once the game starts to run away from you, you’re looking at characters.
“Who is going to dig in? Who is going to get on the ball when you need them most? Who is going to make this team calm? There was nobody to do it.”
Redknapp added: “The two centre backs, [Josko] Gvardiol and [Jahmai] Simpson-Pusey, it was very difficult; they’re not a regular partnership and you could see it.
“They looked like a bunch of strangers. The goals summed it up, they were really poor from Manchester City’s point of view.
“It is fixable but it’s going to be the same. It might sound completely boring, but when Rodri doesn’t play you can see the impact he has. There’s no way they lose those three games if Rodri plays. But he can’t play and he’s out for the rest of the season – how do you manage it?”
