Newcastle United are closing in on a deal to sign Manchester City midfielder Nico Gonzalez, with both clubs finalising the details of his protracted transfer. The Spanish midfielder is believed to be open to a move to St James' Park, and it looks increasingly likely the 24-year-old will become a Magpies player this week.
Guardiola's 'mini Rodri' comparison
Gonzalez joined City from Porto 18 months ago and has made 59 appearances for the club, helping them win the Carabao Cup and FA Cup last season. Pep Guardiola was a huge admirer of his talents and pushed for his signing in February last year rather than waiting until the summer.
He competed with the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders and Rodri for game time last season, and it was Rodri whom Guardiola famously compared him to in a press conference.
“I’d like to tell you a secret why my game went so well,” Guardiola said. “I don’t know why I didn’t play him before now but the presence of Nico helped us a lot. He’ll be an incredible player for the club in the future in terms of mentality. We call him our mini Rodri.”
Data suggests Modric resemblance
Being compared to a former Ballon d'Or winner is high praise, but data suggests Gonzalez actually resembles another former Ballon d'Or winner more closely. Using DataMB's player similarity generator tool, which brings up five players with the most similar statistics across Europe's top six leagues, Luka Modric appears as one of the top results for Gonzalez.
It is a well-documented story that Kevin Keegan tried to sign Modric for Newcastle in his second spell as manager in 2008, but was told the Croatian was too lightweight for the Premier League. Modric instead joined Tottenham before moving to Real Madrid, where he won every major trophy possible.
Midfield rebuild at St James' Park
If Gonzalez can bring the qualities of Rodri and Modric to Tyneside, Newcastle may have secured one of the coups of the summer transfer window. The prospect of him playing alongside Lewis Miley in midfield is exciting, with youngsters Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba also options, as well as Jacob Ramsey, who has had an excellent pre-season under Matthias Jaissle.
The departures of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali from the midfield unit felt like a huge blow, but Gonzalez's arrival gives that department an exciting feel moving forward.
