Manchester City have found their Riyad Mahrez replacement

Manchester City sold winger Riyad Mahrez to Saudi side Ah-Ahli earlier in the window. While Mahrez had seen his role reduced in his last season under Pep Guardiola, he still provided a massive spark in the City attack. The club has failed to get in a replacement before the beginning of their Premier League campaign, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t moving closer towards a signing. Recent reports suggest Manchester City are close to agreeing to personal terms with a winger.

Manchester City advances in a deal for Rennes’ Jeremy Doku

Fabrizio Romano had revealed at the beginning of August that Jeremy Doku was on Manchester City’s shortlist of wingers to buy this summer. He has since given an update on this rumour and believes that Manchester City is advancing in a deal for Jeremy Doku with personal terms likely close to completion. Romano describes Doku as a “priority target” for City, signalling a bid will likely come sometime soon.

Doku came through the highly-respected Belgian academy of Anderlecht’s and became a wonderkid very early in his pro career. He then moved to French side Rennes in 2020 and, for the most part, has not lived up to the hype until very recently. After Kamaldeen Sulemana departed for Southampton in January 2023, Doku was given more opportunities to start for Rennes. In the last eight games of his 223/23 Ligue 1 season, he notched impressive 7-goal contributions.

Doku’s biggest strengths are his rapid pace and his dribbling. He has someone with the best dribbling stats in all of Europe. FBREF shows his successful take-ons, progressive carries and touches in the box are all in the 99th percentile among tracked wingers. He is also exceptional at drawing fouls with his elite ability to beat defenders 1-on-1 often. He would likely be a bench player to start under Pep Guardiola but he has the potential still to turn into a star at age 21.