Speaking recently on the Football Writers Podcast, Adrian Clarke discussed Manchester City’s left-back position and how he thinks the club should act over the current transfer window regarding the position.
Following a season in which Manchester City finished a distant second in the Premier League, exited the Champions League in the quarter-final stage, and lost in the FA Cup semi-final to Arsenal, much has been spoken about in which positions City need to improve ahead of next season.
One of the most prominent of these positions has been left-back, with current options Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko not exactly ranking among City’s best performers in the Premier League last season.
Meanwhile, Angelino – another option that City have got at left-back, left the Etihad Stadium to join RB Leipzig on loan in January, where he remained until earlier this month after he had made just 12 appearances for City in all competitions in the first half of the 2019/20 campaign.
Speaking on the Football Writers Podcast, Clarke offered his opinion as to what he believes City should do in the position this summer.
He said: “I think they need a left-back, definitely. I’m not sure about Angelino, I have to say. I know that he improved under [Julian] Nagelsmann at Leipzig, he was really good for them but from what I saw of him he was excellent inside the final third, good crosser, makes good decisions, but I’m not having Angelino as a defender.
“I’m willing to have egg on my face in a year or two when he’s named in the World Team of the Year. I just don’t think Angelino is up to it, and I don’t think Zinchenko is up to it, and I don’t think Mendy is up to it, as a defensive left-back. They need a more solid player in that position.
“They don’t need an overlapping, marauding fullback, they just don’t need one because they’ve got so much talent ahead of the play, haven’t they? So I would keep Mendy or Zinchenko, one or the other, as that option – that wing-back type but, for me, a proper left-back that loves defending has to be top priority now. Angelino is not that guy, in my opinion.”
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From Clarke’s comments, then, it would appear he certainly is of the belief that City are indeed in need of a more defensive-minded left-back this summer, with the journalist not being convinced of returning RB Leipzig loanee Angelino, Mendy or Zinchenko being able to operate as a defensive-minded player in that position.