Manchester City’s dire need for a central midfielder had finally been addressed with the £50m signing of Nico Gonzalez from Porto. In the 23-year-old Spaniard, Pep Guardiola hopes to have found someone who can play instead of Rodri – and alongside him.

Gonzalez’s height and physicality hint at the sort of robustness and athleticism that has been sorely lacking in Rodri’s absence, while his goal output, playing in a more advanced role at Porto, shows that he is versatile enough to be more than a back-up.

It is a bet on pedigree and potential given that Gonzalez is not yet a full Spain international. But he is packed with both, the native Galician having been identified as a talent worth developing within Barcelona’s academy before he was even a teenager.

Pau Marti coached Gonzalez in Barcelona’s B team in Spain’s third tier for a full season before seeing him progress to make 37 appearances for the first team. “I worked with many good players in those years,” Marti tells Sky Sports. Gonzalez was a little different.

‘Reading the game’

For La Masia graduates, the B team can be a tough school, where their slick passing game is exposed to a different style, many opponents a decade older. “Nico was one of the players who had more of an impact in the team despite being so young,” says Marti.

“Sometimes it is difficult for young players to make the difference playing in the third division against men. But he did. It was how he played, how he read the game, how he handled the situation. Ronaldo Araujo was the one other I remember who could do that.

“When Nico was in the B team, you could see that he made the difference. In some aspects, like physicality, he was very high above the rest. You could soon see that he was not getting enough from it. He was someone who, for sure, wanted to go further.

“When you are at Barcelona, you always hear about a few names when they are coming through the youth levels, the ones who you know will arrive in the first team, you just do not when. Alongside Gavi and, of course, Lamine [Yamal], Nico was one of them.

‘So mature’

“He was 18 when playing for the B team and he was so mature in that team that he started maybe one or two games on the bench. After that, he was in the team because he was ahead of everyone in that position.” He took first-team football in his stride too.

“That was his maturity. At that age, when you play for Barcelona, sometimes players can be all over the place. A lot of people are talking about them. They become famous. They get some good money at a young. But Nico was not affected by any of that.

“He was very confident but he was always willing to learn, willing to listen, and improve his game. He is very intelligent and he that desire and expectation that he is going to get to the next level.” It helps explain the moves to Valencia and Porto. He backed himself.

‘Busquets style of player’

What is interesting, perhaps crucial to him earning this move to Manchester City, is that leaving Barcelona has seen his game develop in a different way. The player with whom he was most compared at La Masia was Sergio Busquets, the great midfielder.

“Being so big but good with his feet, I think he is very similar,” says Marti. “We used Nico mostly as a No 6, as that Busquets style of player. He is very strong, able to read the game and able to defend as well in that position. I think, for me, he is a pure No 6.”

Gonzalez, 6ft 2in, had actually been deployed as a No 8 in the younger categories, although that was true of Busquets too. “He also started as a No 8, playing a bit higher. Nico always wanted to play higher too.” It took a move away from Barcelona to get that chance.

It is at Porto, the club he joined in a cut-price £8m deal in the summer of 2023, where that ability in the final third of the pitch has been more obvious, becoming a real goal threat. Gonzalez scored twice for Barcelona. He scored seven for Porto this season.

‘Moves the ball quickly’

“For his size, I think it is how he moves the ball so quickly. That, for his size, is not usual. That is why he also scores goals, he is good near the box, doing the last pass. Because he is so confident and so calm with the ball, protecting the ball and using his body.”

That sounds a lot like Rodri, who, of course, has scored some famous goals of his own. Although, there are differences. Gonzalez is someone more likely to arrive late into the box to latch onto a chance rather than crack one in from the edge of the penalty area.

Marti makes the point that a No 6 at City needs to be a little different to a No 6 at a team that is less dominant anyway. Rodri becomes more of a No 8 at times too. “Because they can dominate higher on the pitch, it means the No 6 is also quite close to the box.”

Gonzalez’s numbers reflect his impact at the top end of the pitch. He ranked among the top 10 players in Portugal for possession won and passes completed in the final third. Despite playing so high up, his pass completion rate was still in excess of 90 per cent.

Marti’s conviction remains that the deeper role will be Gonzalez’s best in the long term. “I think he can be a very good number 8 but an excellent number 6.” Being able to do both is what makes Gonzalez so appealing. “It will depend on what Pep wants.”

‘Pep will have a plan’

Someone with presence who can stop City haemorrhaging chances on the counter-attack is what Guardiola wants in the short term. What is certain is that Gonzalez is a player he will know plenty about. His father Fran was an international teammate of his.

“Pep is a good friend of Fran.” The Deportivo La Coruna legend was even part of the staff at Manchester City for several years. “Pep will know all about Nico from a long time ago. I am sure he will learn a lot from Pep I think he will have a plan for him, 100 per cent.”

For Barcelona supporters, the thought of Gonzalez continuing his development away from the club was already an uncomfortable one. The prospect of him flourishing under Guardiola at Manchester City is particularly troubling. It did not have to be this way.

“I thought he would stay,” admits Marti. “Because for me he was a player who, even so young, was starting to play games at a good level. Sometimes it can be difficult being young at Barcelona. It might look the opposite way now with Lamine but it can be.

“There is a lot of pressure on the young players. I think Nico did quite well but there was a financial situation too. And maybe he saw it was going to be difficult for him to have minutes and he wanted to get more experience. But I think he could have stayed.

“I think he could have been the perfect fit for Barcelona because of his profile, another Sergio Busquets for the club, but, sometimes, that is football. In Barcelona, if Nico starts to perform, everybody will now start to complain about why we let him go.”

But for those who know him, there is only pride. “Whether it is City or Barcelona, I am so happy.” And this could be just the start. “If he gets minutes, he can get the chance with Spain too.” A big move for Nico Gonzalez, then. And a solution for Manchester City.