It's no surprise that Manchester City is interested in Wolves defender Rayan Ait Nouri. With his silky touch and ability to receive the ball in a tight space, he passed the eye test of Guardiola players and took a step forward this season.
Even in the awkward year of Wolves, AIT Nouri has made progress. In their 38 Premier League matches, 37 games proved his solidity and opened with four goals and six assists, Algeria International added the final product to his game.
He has been talented since he first arrived in the Premier League from the rage of French clubs in the summer of 2020. Ait Nouri always had a special preference for Stepovers and drag backwards, longing to feel the ball under his feet.
It's a feature, even if the attempted ladder speed has almost resulted in a red card at City recently, and the failed defender has left him stripped of Brentford's goal on the last day. But these are outliers. AIT Nouri is ranked eighth in the Premier League with successful dribbling.
For most of the campaigns on the surface, this is one in five of the surface, and it is sixty-three such takeaways, which is unusual for players. But, as Wolves' former assistant manager Edu Rubio explained, the issue of AIT Nouri positioning has never been an easy thing.
“When we were there, people criticized us because they thought we didn’t play him too much, so they thought we didn’t like him as a player.” Sky movementHe refers to his six months as an assistant to Julen Lopetegui with Wolves.
"That's not true. We want to play him because we always think he's a really good player. But the question is the transition moment. He needs to know when to defend and when to attack. He needs to learn a defender's trade.
"He wasn't a real winger at the time. But he wasn't a defender, nor a defender. He was a player trying to find his best position and his understanding of the game. He did a great job."
This is a balanced assessment of a player who can watch but still fail easily. In August, Chelsea's Noni Madueke helped himself get a hat-trick in a 6-2 victory in Molineux. “We don’t have a left back,” later owner Gary O’Neil said.
Since then, under Vitor Pereira, AIT Nouri has been moved forward to the linebacker, and he has done better off offense and defense. He ranks the highest in tackles. "He can defend," Rubio said. “I think he’s very good at one-on-one defense.”
Ait Nouri showed last season that he could do it on both ends of the court. He is the only nominal defender in the Premier League, ranking in the top 25 of the top 25 players who won the ball in the third place in the defense and One third of the offense.
Of course, the expectation is that moving to the city will see Ait Nouri have more balls, and the number of defensive moves he needs will drop. The fact that Ait Nouri is not just a defender, it is part of the appeal.
Positionally speaking, the role of the city guard actually needs to be more in the opposition than the Wolves guard. "His technical skills make him as interesting as a team with a major cast," Rubio said.
“On the team behind and around everything based on the football you have, your guard will also be asked to reverse and because of his technical abilities he can absolutely handle anything inside. He can definitely play that role.
"There is something to learn. What he wants to develop is his consciousness, his position and understanding, because the game of human cities is equally positional and based on property. It is very important to maintain its structure and location."
But crucially, AIT Nouri proved that “he was able to exchange positions”, and it was this quality that distinguished him from some other attacking left-backs, such as Antonee Robinson of Fulham and Milos Kerkez of Bournemouth.
They are more straight players than AIT Nouri. Guardiola is likely to attract players who can move in to support the way Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabian Delph have done from left back for City for support accumulation.
AIT Nouri, on the other hand, is not as explosive as Robinson or Kerkez in body. Both players have much more sprints every 90 minutes than he does. Both players covered the ground with high intensity higher than him. This is a different configuration file.
Rubio admitted: "He's another type of player." Despite his warning, there may be more to the 23-year-old - a testament to the top sprint speed of AIT Nouri is actually higher than Kerkez. Maybe he can do it.
"We don't know yet. Maybe he hasn't been exposed to Wolves' role. Maybe the coach didn't ask him to do that. Maybe he needs more specific training physically. I'm sure he can handle that.
"I think he has all the ingredients in developing this, physique, so I don't worry too much. Sometimes the way we think of the players also reflects the team's performance. Then they went to another club and people didn't see it coming."
Regardless of the facts, AIT Nouri shows that he doesn't need electric speeds to surpass opponents and city players less and less space. People who can make vacant items when space is more limited may be more useful to them.
“I think his technical skills, his ability and skills in tight areas, getting the ball close to his feet and being able to dribble, being able to get the team third by driving the ball, all of which make him a very interesting player in Man City.
“Manchester City may need some players right now, those who can break the lineup and can get the team to third in different ways, and also through their clever hovering and rhythm.
“The way the team was formed is that it’s hard to just have them now. They’re more resilient. The defender is athlete and technically good.
"Having is the game that Pep wants to play, technically very capable, and it's right. However, they will have to have legs to cover the ground so they can handle the transition inside and out to resist teams that can maintain a strong game."
Rubio expects Manchester City to win the trophy next season. But the acquisition that Guardiola has acquired in the awaiting Guardiola player’s elegant AIT Nouri will only help more likely. "I'm sure he'll do a good job if he goes there."
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