Man City Are ‘Open’ To Selling £50M Midfielder After Making Just 17 Appearances And 12 Starts

Nico Gonzalez’s Man City career could be over before it has even started with the club “open” to offloading the player just six months after paying £50m for his services, according to reports.

Manchester City News report that “intermediaries” have been offering Gonzalez to other clubs and the 23-year-old is “ready to leave”, having made only 17 appearances and 12 starts.

It appears the arrival of Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan has accelerated plans for Gonzalez to depart the Etihad.

Rodri and Reijnders are expected to be first choice for the holding midfield role next season, while manager Pep Guardiola can also call upon the likes of Mateo Kovacic if required.

Gonzalez was a panic buy

If the reporting is accurate, it seems clear now that the Spanish was only bought to provide cover for Rodri during the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

When it became apparent that Porto would not sell Gonzalez on the cheap, City were forced into paying over the odds. That decision has turned out to be an expensive mistake.

Guardiola wants to trim Man City’s squad

At the moment, there are simply too many central midfielders in the senior setup. In addition to Rodri, Reijnders, Kovacic and Gonzalez, the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Nico O’Reilly, James McAtee, Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips can all be deployed in the middle of the park.

Guardiola has already expressed his desire to work with a smaller group of players, so cutting the number of midfielders is vital to achieve that aim. With that being the case, it appears the decision has been made to wield the axe on Gonzalez after just six months at the club. It’s very unlikely that they will get their money back on their investment.

In other news, Guardiola was reportedly angered at Man City’s failure to sign a £50m centre-back