Michael Dawson has questioned how Manchester City can leave themselves exposed after selling Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal and getting beat to the transfer of Marc Cucurella by Chelsea, as he told Sky Sports.
The former Tottenham defender added that he is ‘really surprised’ by Manchester City’s situation and how they are leaving themselves short in the left-back department this season.
Arsenal paid £32 million for Zinchenko’s talents this summer (Sky Sports), a player who was used at fullback by Pep Guardiola, but plays in the middle of the park for Ukraine.
The Premier League champions then went hunting for his replacement and they targeted Cucurella, who was Brighton’s Player of the Year last season – his first campaign in England’s top-flight.
But Manchester City were beaten to his signature by Chelsea, who put down a £63 million fee for the Spanish superstar (ESPN).
Dawson shared his thoughts on the situation now facing Manchester City and how Zinchenko is a ‘great signing’ for the Gunners.
“I was surprised, really, really surprised,” said Dawson. “We saw Zinchenko going to Arsenal. A great signing for Arsenal.
“You have Cancelo, who is an unbelievable talent, but they looked at Cucurella and said ‘we are going to sign him’.
“We all thought, well I did anyway, when Manchester City go to Brighton and say ‘we want Cucurella and it’s going to happen’, then Chelsea come from nowhere and sign him for £60 million+.
“I am like ‘wow’. It was a surprise for me and a kick in the teeth for Pep (Guardiola) because he wouldn’t have let Zinchenko go.
“How can you leave yourself (exposed)? The number of games Manchester City play, every competition, then you need two top players in every position and now they only have Cancelo (at left-back), so he will have to go and get another left-back.”
WILL MANCHESTER CITY REGRET LETTING ZINCHENKO GO?
Zinchenko wasn’t a regular at the Etihad, but he was still a very important player for Guardiola, someone who could fill various roles and was used in those very important games.
What is Manchester City’s loss is going to be Arsenal’s gain because, as they saw at Crystal Palace on Monday night, he is a top, top talent.
It will be interesting to see if that role is filled by Guardiola this summer because if they want that all-important Champions League, then they need to rotate, rotate and rotate.
As Fantasy Football players will know too well, Guardiola does that a lot anyway, but he can’t afford to go into this action-packed campaign by just relying upon Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo.
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