Manchester City have made significant additions to their squad in the ongoing summer transfer window.
City’s list of transfers so far include Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and Marcus Bettinelli. This transfer window is deemed to be a crucial one for the English club after their underwhelming run in the 2024-25 campaign.
Man City also parted ways with club legend Kevin De Bruyne this summer, which left a void in their midfield, prompting a search for an ideal replacement.
While City has already acquired the signatures of Cherki and Reijnders, who both have been hailed as great options to deploy in the midfield, the duo have made their stance clear of being potential successors of De Bruyne at the Etihad.
What did new Man City duo say about being potential replacements of Kevin De Bruyne?
Last week, Man City announced the signing of Reijnders from AC Milan on a five-year deal reportedly worth £46.5m. While speaking to club media, the 26-year-old candidly mentioned (comments via GOAL) that he is not at the Etihad to ‘replace’ De Bruyne and has to ‘play his own game.’
“I’m not here to replace him [De Bruyne]. I have to play my own game. But I take things from different players… with Kevin De Bruyne, how he was scanning the pitch, the passes he gave. That’s also a big thing, of course – the best coach in the world. I am very eager to learn new things here and the style of playing, and that’s what I’m looking forward to,” said Reijnders.
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Cherki, meanwhile, also made a similar admission following his arrival at Man City. The Frenchman referred (comments via @City_Xtra on X) to De Bruyne as ‘the legend’ and said,
“I’m not Kevin De Bruyne; he’s the legend. I’m here to help. We have the best players in the world. I work and wait my turn. I spoke with Pep [Guardiola] about my position, what I enjoy on the pitch. It’s very good. He told me he loves a No10, but I play all positions – it’s not complicated, I just want to play. Pep told me, ‘When you have the ball, you’re free’, which is very good because it’s my first quality to help the team…”
Both Reijnders and Cherki are included in Man City’s squad for the Club World Cup, and their first match of the competition is against Wydad AC on June 18 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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