Isco: Why He Would Be a Very Smart Manchester City Signing

I think most Manchester City fans would agree that this season did not go according to plan.

After winning the Premier League in such dramatic fashion last season, Roberto Mancini’s team failed to recapture the urgency, the drive and the results that saw off Manchester United on the final day of the 2011/12 campaign.

Rooted at the bottom of Group D, The Citizens were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and, in April, the Premier League was confirmed to be beyond their grasp.

The 1-0 loss to Wigan in last weekend’s FA Cup was a final turn of the screw and City’s season is to end trophyless.

Respite is offered in the form of Champions League football, which has been secured for next season. However that was not enough to save Mancini from the chop this week (BBC Football).

The Italian was sacked after three-and-a-half years managing the club. Rather poignantly, a year to the day that he won City’s first league title in 44 years.

Reports suggest that Malaga CF coach Manuel Pellegrini is poised to take over at the Etihad Stadium (The Guardian).

With the summer transfer window soon to open, talk is already underway about how to strengthen Man City next season and how to bring silverware back to the blue half of Manchester.

One answer to this question lies in midfield. It’s simple—City need a playmaker.

Continuous links have been made to Malaga’s Isco and many thought that the 21-year-old was going to join Mancini’s side in January (The Mirror).

Interest has intensified in the Spaniard after his electric performances in the Champions League this term, where his three goals and four assists were instrumental in getting Malaga to within a whisker of the semifinals.

Reports now suggest that Francisco Roman Alarcon Suarez could be on his way to City in the summer (The Express), despite having three years remaining on his current contract.

It could be a very smart move for Manchester City, who have failed to match the attacking prowess they displayed last season.

Take David Silva, for example. The statistics speak for themselves. In last year’s title-winning campaign, he scored six goals and made 17 assists in the Premier League. This term he has scored four goals and made nine assists.

While it’s true that the Spanish midfielder has missed games with a hamstring injury, City are too reliant on Silva for creativity.

City don’t need any more holding midfielders, those boxes are already ticked in Gareth Barry and James Milner. Defensive midfielders Jack Rodwell and Javi Garcia were brought in from Everton and Benfica last summer and Yaya Toure is, without argument, one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world, but under Mancini he was too often deployed in a deep-lying defensive midfield role.

That just leaves Samir Nasri who, by his own admission, has had a poor showing for City this season (via Daily Mail) A return of two goals and seven assists doing little to stifle rumours that he may not be playing at the Etihad come August.

Where does Isco come into the picture? The Spaniard, who has represented his country at every youth level, is valued at £27 million and is an out-and-out playmaker, with an incredible first touch and a superb range of passing (Whoscored.com). He could be to Man City what former Valencia CF teammate Juan Mata has become to Chelsea.

Malaga teammate Jeremy Toulalan has even compared Isco to Messi:

“Barcelona have Messi. We have Isco," he said (Goal.com). 

And parallels can indeed be drawn between Isco and the Barcelona star. In this season’s Champions League, Isco made more dribbles than the Argentine, more assists, through-balls and key passes. Goals were the only area Messi had the upper hand, with seven to Isco’s three (Skysports.com). 

In 2012 he was voted FIFA Golden Boy—an award given to the best U21 player in Europe by Tuttosport. One look at previous winners shows that Isco is in very good company, with Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi (Goal.com) on the exclusive list.

Isco’s relationship to Manuel Pellegrini could also be key if the current Malaga boss takes the Man City role. Isco has been described as saying he’d “walk on glass” for the Chilean coach, who he views as a father figure (via Talksport) and cash-strapped Malaga are in need of the money that his sale would bring.

Isco also used to play with David Silva at Valencia and the prospect of the two playmakers combining in the Premier League is mouthwatering. Perhaps the duo will be able to help Aguero reach a figure closer to the 23 goals he scored last season, rather than this campaign’s 11.

Manchester City were able to put away £17 million with the sale of Mario Balotelli in January (The Guardian) and it’s been suggested that Edin Dzeko may be leaving the club this summer (Metro).

Money from player sales will keep Manchester City in line with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and £27 million could turn out to be a snip for the highly rated 21-year-old. Watch this space.

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