Man City confirms signing Doku as Laporte moves to Saudi Arabia

Premier League side Manchester City has confirmed the signing of Belgian forward Jeremy Doku from Stade Rennes for around £55.4m. The 21-year-old joins City on a five-year contract, having scored ten goals in 75 Ligue 1 appearances across three seasons.

He becomes Manchester City’s third signing of the summer after Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea and Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig. The winger expressed his delight at joining the treble winners from last season.

“This is a great day for me, both personally and professionally. City are the best team in world football, so joining them is special. I am a young player with so much learning and improvement to do. Working with Pep and his staff and playing alongside these world-class players will make me a much better player. I feel sure of that. Watching City last season was amazing. To win the treble is the hardest thing in football, and they did it.” Doku said.

Although he might have had injury problems in between, Pep Guardiola has identified the 16-time Belgian cap as the replacement for Riyadh Mahrez, who left for Saudi Arabia this summer.

Manchester City is still in the transfer market, especially after the injury of Kevin De Bruyne. While their move for Lucas Paqueta is called off due to the FA’s investigation of the West Ham player on the betting issue, they have turned attention to Wolves’ Matheus Nunes.

Meanwhile, Josko Gvardiol’s arrival and Pep Guardiola’s preference for Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji last season and this season have forced Aymeric Laporte out of the club after five years and twelve major trophies, including last season’s treble.

The defender has made a move well in excess of £20M to join Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr. The 29-year-old joined City from Athletic Bilbao in January 2018 for a then club record £57m and announced his exit in a video on social media.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu