12 months after struggling at the bottom of the Premier League with Sunderland, Van Aanholt may be on his way to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
It is only a year since Crystal Palace parted with £14 million to bring Patrick Van Aanholt to Selhurst Park from struggling Sunderland, as reported by the BBC. And while the flying Dutchman has not exactly lived up to such a huge transfer fee, it appears he has done enough to impress none other than Pep Guardiola.
The Sun reports that Guardiola wants to enhance his left-back options at Premier League leaders Manchester City with Benjamin Mendy ruled out for the foreseeable future. And Van Aanholt could be a shock candidate to arrive at the Etihad Stadium as a backup option.
And considering that Van Aanholt was flying down the flanks for Sunderland just 12 months ago, this would cap a rather remarkable progression for the former Chelsea youngster from the bottom of the Premier League right the way to the top.
As it stands, Van Aanholt’s old employers are sitting bottom of the Championship table and facing up to the very real prospect of successive relegations.
While the one-time Newcastle United loanee was never the most consistent of defenders, he was a constant threat going forward and Sunderland have really missed his thrust and surprising prolificity in the final third.
And, on paper, Van Aanholt is exactly the kind of jet-heeled, modern-day full-back Pep Guardiola adores. More an attacker than a defender, Van Aanholt is cut from the same cloth as the currently crocked Mendy and would provide a more natural alternative than Fabian Delph.
While never likely to be a first-team player for City, it appears that Van Aanholt got out of Sunderland at precisely the right time.
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