Where on earth do Manchester City go from here?
On Tuesday night, despite leading twice, the Sky Blues were beaten 3-2 by Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League tie, with Jude Bellingham bundling home a stoppage-time winner at the Etihad.
As noted by OptaJoe on Twitter, this is the fifth time the Citizens have lost a game this season in which they were in front, more than across the previous four campaigns combined.
Thus, this leaves Pep Guardiola‘s team with a mountain to climb at the Bernabéu next Wednesday, reaching, at least, the Champions League quarter-finals in each of the last seven seasons, a streak that appears set to come to an end.
Man City’s continued poor form means their transfer decisions are coming under ever more intense scrutiny, especially considering a former player was key to their downfall this week.
Brahim Díaz: Man City’s forgotten former man
When Brahim Díaz equalised for Real Madrid and did not celebrate, this was the moment the majority of onlookers remembered he used to be a Man City player.
Former Manchester United, Wimbledon and Coventry forward Terry Gibson described Díaz’s decision not to celebrate as “bizarre”, suggesting most supporters inside the stadium would not have known who he was.
That’s because, despite being on Man City’s books for four years, the Morocco international made just 15 senior appearances, totalling a mere 415 minutes, all four of his starts for the club coming in the Carabao Cup, before joining Real Madrid for a reported £15.5m in 2019.
Still only 25-years-old, Díaz is yet to establish himself as a regular at Madrid either, 16 of his 30 appearances this season coming as a substitute, although Graham Ruthven of Total Soccer Show believes he is under-utilised by Carlo Ancelotti given that, when he is given an opportunity, he adds “cohesion” to Real Madrid’s often chaotic forward-line.
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Diaz’s cameo vs Man City |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
10 |
|
Goals |
1 |
|
Touches |
5 |
|
Accurate passes |
3/4 |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Shots |
1 |
|
Duels contested |
0 |
|
Stats via Sofascore. |
|
While Guardiola may have been regretting his decision to sanction Diaz’s exit last night, nevertheless, there is another former Man City winger shining right now and it’s likely the manager will rue this one just a little bit more…
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Man City made a mistake selling their superstar winger
Having been a key part of Leicester City‘s title-winning team, Riyad Mahrez joined Manchester City for a reported £60m in 2018, a club-record fee at the time, and he would go on to make 236 appearances in Sky Blue, scoring 78 goals and winning 11 major honours.
His former teammate at Leicester Kasper Schmeichel described the Algerian winger as “incredible” but, after five seasons in Manchester, Mahrez was sold to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli for a reported £30.4m in July 2023.
Playing alongside Roberto Firmino, Ivan Toney and Galeno in Jeddah, Asian football expert John Duerden for the Guardian notes that Mahrez has not been at his best this season, having racked up more assists than anyone else in the Saudi Pro League during his first campaign in the Middle East, accumulating 13.
Nevertheless, his form has picked up in recent weeks, taking his tally to nine goals and 12 assists for the season by bagging one of each against Al-Sadd in the AFC Champions League during a 3-1 victory, meaning he ranks joint-first in that competition for assists, alongside Oscar.
So, let’s assess how his numbers compare to Man City’s current forward options.
|
Mahrez vs Man City attackers 2024/25 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Players |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Riyad Mahrez |
27 |
9 |
12 |
|
Phil Foden |
31 |
10 |
5 |
|
Jérémy Doku |
22 |
6 |
7 |
|
Bernardo Silva |
34 |
3 |
4 |
|
Kevin De Bruyne |
26 |
3 |
6 |
|
Savinho |
32 |
2 |
8 |
|
Jack Grealish |
24 |
2 |
5 |
As the table outlines, Mahrez is outperforming all of Man City’s wingers and attacking midfielders in terms of pure goals and assists, with the obvious caveat that he is playing at a lower level; Global Football Rankings believe the Premier League to be the strongest in the world, with the Saudi Pro League ranked at 31st, just below France’s second-tier Ligue 2, for context.
Pete Hall of the i Paper labelled Savinho “the new Mahrez” following Man City’s 4-1 win over West Ham, although the Brazilian is not putting up Mahrez-esque stats just yet, so were the Sky Blues right to cash in when they did? Would they be in a better place if they still had him?
It’s hard to say but it was certainly a bigger blunder than Diaz, who he is outperforming even at the age of 33.
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