Why Marco Reus Would be Ideal Manchester City Transfer Move

Since Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of Manchester City in 2008, the club has developed rapidly in almost every area.

The quality of the first-team squad has improved beyond recognition, with accelerated spending allowing them to catch up with the Premier League’s elite band of sides who dominated the English game. Two league titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup suggests the spending has been a success.

The club’s infrastructure has also been revolutionised. Txiki Begiristain, who made his name with Barcelona when he was the key man in their rise to the top of the game during Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola’s time at the club, was appointed director of football in 2012, and he has brought a new slick professionalism to everything City do off the field.

And over the next few months, they will be moving into their new Etihad Campus, an 80-acre site that will be the new home of every strand of the club, with first-team training and medical facilities, to youth development and education. It will be the envy of every club in Europe, allowing City to attract and produce players of world-class ability.

However, the Champions League has proven somewhat difficult. Two group-stage exits and a defeat in the last 16 in their attempts thus far has seen them garner a reputation as a side who lacks the self-belief to impact the latter stages of the competition, and their defeat to Bayern Munich and tentative draw with Roma so far this season have done little to wash away the doubts.

Which is why news of a potential £20 million move for Borussia Dortmund winger Marco Reus this summer, which is being reported by Simon Mullock in the Mirror, should please City’s supporters.

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

Reus is a player with genuine top-class pedigree and one capable of adding extra quality to the current City squad. He’s the kind of signing that would improve any side, and City, who are said to have tracked his progress for three years, appear to be keen to add him to their ranks.

Primarily a winger, Reus’ versatility means he can operate in any attacking midfield role. He’s quick and technically excellent, capable of running at defenders from either side, and with a contract stand-off with Dortmund suggesting he is open to a move, City look set to launch a £20 million move next summer.

Capped 23 times for Germany, there’s very little Reus can’t do in an attacking sense. Capable of leading the line as well as providing pace from wide areas, he offers the kind of tactical flexibility Manuel Pellegrini craves in his players.

He scored 37 times for Borussia Monchengladbach in just 99 league appearances, before a big-money move to Dortmund saw his stock rise even further. Named German Footballer of the Year in 2012 after scoring 18 goals, and named in the UEFA Team of the Year the following season, he has a deserved reputation as being one of the finest talents in world football.

Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

Reus is exactly the kind of player City need to make the jump from a side capable of domestic success to one which can challenge for European glory. He’s an outstanding professional, incredibly versatile and possesses wonderful ability on the ball. With a clause in his contract allowing him to move for £20 million, he would be a bargain for a club in need of one or two more world-class players to give them added belief in the Champions League.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.