“If I wasn’t doing my job properly then I’d be sacked but these lot seem to get away with it every weekend.”
You’d be telling porkies if you were to claim you’d never heard those words from either your dad or some old fella you sit near at the match, as they try desperately to compare their 9-5 jobs to those in the professional footballing industry.
We get it, it’s absolutely infuriating watching your team underperform, but the fact of the matter is you simply cannot draw comparisons between the two. They’re just totally different universes.
When some people decide to leave a job, they vow never to engage in any further dealings with their former employers, such is their utter contempt for said business. Again, football is very different.
It’s no secret that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola still holds a strong relationship with Barcelona having enjoyed some of the finest days of his playing and managerial careers at Camp Nou.
His decision to sanction the transfer of Ferran Torres to Barca recently was in no way steered by his admiration for the LaLiga giants, but more so a continuation of his philosophy that if a player wishes to leave then he’ll not stand in their way.
Despite their financial turmoil, Barca have continued to peruse the Manchester shelves this month, with players from both Manchester United and City being linked with the side currently sitting fifth in the Spanish top flight.
Ayermic Laporte is the latest to catch the eye, with Joan ‘Barca are back as soon as we sell nearly all of our players’ Laporta understood to be keen on making a move for the Spain international.
(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Perhaps the Barca president’s interest stems purely from the fact he’s envisaging creating a Blues Brothers tribute act going by the name ‘Laporte and Laporta’ – it sounds implausible but given some of their dealings over the past decade there may actually be some truth in it – though rumours of a potential swap deal with Frenkie de Jong may well pique Guardiola’s interest.
The City boss has been an admirer of the Dutchman for some time now, with his Total Football roots and ability to perform on the grandest of stages potentially culminating in him representing the ideal Guardiola signing.
The Catalan tactician’s love of players who adopt the position he previously occupied with such aplomb has almost seen him ridiculed at times.
And yet, with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne now the ‘wrong side’ of 30, Bernardo Silva’s future at the Etihad far from certain and Fernandinho expected to depart next summer, central midfield reinforcements are sure to be on the agenda. But that doesn’t mean he should be so willing to cut ties with Laporte in order to bolster his midfield ranks.
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Guardiola has had very little trouble when trying to sign midfielders who can adapt to the rigours of his methods throughout his managerial career.
Such is his genius, the City boss could probably field a midfield three of Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo and Ederson and still control a game. Both Walker and Cancelo have proven themselves capable of stepping into the centre of the pitch with ease under the mentorship of Pep, while Ederson is just, well, Ederson.
The point is, you’d back Guardiola to get a tune out of Moonchester in the centre of the pitch, but finding a centre-back who is as adept at launching attacks as curtailing those of the opposition is a little more troublesome.
The signing of Nathan Ake hasn’t quite panned out as Guardiola no doubt would have hoped, while John Stones took a long time to find his feet at the Etihad. Even Laporte took his time to settle in Manchester, with his excellent 2018/19 campaign preceded by a 6-month period during the previous season in which he only once featured in three consecutive Premier League outings.
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When Guardiola hangs up his coatigan and calls time on his managerial career, players like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Phil Foden will undoubtedly be pinpointed among his greatest success stories.
It would take a certain type of football hipster to instantly rejoice in the form of Laporte and Stones during Pep’s City tenure, but the truth is they’re equally as important if not more so than the players at the top end of the field when it comes to Guardiola’s style of play.
De Jong would thrive under Pep’s stewardship and his name should definitely be considered in the future, but swapping him for Laporte should not be an option.
Would you like to see City swap Aymeric Laporte for Frenkie de Jong? Follow City Is Ours content editor Ross Jackson on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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