Manchester City has struggled this season, losing more (and with more goals conceded) than ever before in Pep Guardiola's career. There are multiple factors to this, but one of them is definitely related to Rodri's absence, winner of the Ballon d'Or shortly after he got injured for the remaining of the season.
The club needed reinforcement in the midfield, and the most direct answer has been announced on the last day of the winter transfer market: another Spanish player, Nico González, 23 years old, who made his professional debut at FC Barcelona before moving to Porto for two years, winning the Portuguese Cup in 2024.
Manchester City has spent £50m for the midfielder, who had already scored 7 goals and 5 assists in the 29 games he played this season in Porto. González joins the English club until 2029. "This is the perfect opportunity for me at this stage of my career. I am 23 and I want to test myself in England. There's no better club than Manchester City for me to do that", he said.
González's father, Fran, was also a player in Deportivo Coruña, and even was teammate with Guardiola for the Spanish national team during the 90s. Nicolás will now join the club as the fifth winter transfer market, after forward Omar Marmoush, defender Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov, as well as defender Juma Bah, who has been loaned to Lens after "stealing" him from Valladolid.