Chris
“This is a winger, a proper winger,” said Pep Guardiola when asked about summer signing Jeremy Doku after Manchester City’s 3-1 win over West Ham.
Doku got off the mark for his new club in the win against the Hammers. His pace and directness terrified the home side’s backline and he produced a great finish to level things up after the English and European champions had gone a goal behind.
The Belgium international made amends with his leveller after James Ward-Prowse met a cross from right-back Vladimir Coufal, who was given the freedom of the capital when Doku failed to track his man.
In his two appearances for City so far, Doku has shown strong off-the-ball work, a necessity for a player to be a success under Guardiola, as well as the directness that gave him his first Premier League goal.
The 21-year-old is raw but has shown different qualities to those Jack Grealish possesses, who is a different type of winger. Doku’s blistering pace is what makes him exciting to watch, and he is probably the closest City have come to a Leroy Sane replacement.
Since Sane departed for Bayern Munich in 2020, Guardiola has started to move away from his tactic of playing rapid wingers and has instead tended to play wingers who are brilliant in possession and can unpick defences with clever passes. Players like Bernardo Silva, Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, for example – though the latter has now moved on.
Bernardo and Grealish are superb at keeping possession, whereas Doku is at his best when driving at defenders and isolating them on the wing.
Raheem Sterling’s move to Chelsea last summer suggested Guardiola had well and truly ditched the rapid winger approach, but the arrival of Doku means we could see a return to the Pep of old.
The jump from Ligue 1 outfit Rennes to the Treble winners is huge, but the early signs suggest Doku will fit in just fine.
