Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Manchester City is close to signing winger Isco from Malaga, according to the Daily Mail, as the midfielder gets set to sensationally snub Real Madrid in favor of the Manchester club.
Apparently, Isco is worried about not playing regularly for Madrid and fears the lack of playing time on the field he may get could hinder his chances of becoming a regular for his country. From a neutral perspective, however, I’m not so sure Isco will get a regular spot nailed down at City, as they already have many players who can fill Isco’s preferred starting position, so the move may not be everything it seems for the Spaniard.
From a pure ability point of view, though, Isco has been a stand out performer this year for Malaga and appears to have evolved into a pacey, technical wide forward, hence the accompanying price tag of £21 million. Coupled with the recent capture of Jesus Navas from Sevilla and Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk, Isco will provide much more of a goal threat for City next season, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that City now has an overwhelming plethora of attacking talent, yet a rather lackluster defense.
Vincent Kompany aside, City’s defense is populated by Maicon, Joleon Lescott and Matija Nastasic; hardly the sort of players that instill the fans with confidence, so it would have made more sense to restrict the attacking players being bought in to the club and focus on restructuring the defense with players of a higher caliber and awareness. Should Liverpool decide not to pursue Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos he would fit into the Manchester City setup perfectly and only at a cost of approximately £15 million. Madrid defender Pepe would also represent a clever piece of business should Manuel Pellegrini be able to tempt the Brazilian to Eastlands.
City now has a manager with the ability to instill a new tactical approach at the club, so instead of just pushing forward and trying to outscore the opposition, Pellegrini can potentially transform City into a more cohesive unit but for that he needs defenders not forwards. Isco is without doubt a wonderful soccer player, unfortunately, he may not be representative of what Manchester City require urgently at the minute.
James Hilton is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter , “like” his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google+
