Man City signs midfielder Nico Gonzalez as cover for Rodri to take spending past $200M

Manchester City took its spending in the winter transfer window to more than $200 million on Monday by signing midfielder Nico Gonzalez from Porto to help cover for the absence of injured Rodri.

City’s fifth signing of the window was arguably its most important, with the Premier League champion’s lack of energy and power in center midfield a key factor behind its dreadful run of results since Rodri’s season-ending knee injury in September.

The 23-year-old Gonzalez — the son of former Deportivo La Coruna player Fran Gonzalez — came through the Barcelona academy and joined Porto in 2023 for a reported 8.5 million euros ($8.7 million).

Porto is making a huge profit, with City reportedly activating a 60 million euros ($61.8 million) release clause in his contract to sign Gonzalez. Barcelona will reportedly get a 40% cut of the deal.

City has taken the usual step of spending big in January to rescue a campaign that unraveled at the end of 2024 and was derailed again in a 5-1 loss at Arsenal on Sunday.

The first arrivals were young defenders Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens and Vitor Reis from Palmeiras for a combined $77 million, followed by Egypt forward Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt for $73 million. Christian McFarlane, an 18-year-old left back, then came from sister club New York City FC and City also registered 18-year-old center back Juma Bah before sending him on loan to Lens.

Why has City spent so much?

Injuries have badly hurt City. Rodri was the main absentee while all four center backs — Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji — have had spells out of action and weakened the spine of the team.

City’s form has plummeted as a result, with the team out of realistic contention for a fifth straight Premier League title and advancing to the playoffs in the Champions League thanks only to a comeback win over Club Brugge in the last round of the league stage.

City manager Pep Guardiola said they weren’t planning to make any January signings, only to bring them forward because of the bad injury situation and the team’s ensuing poor form.

There will be a lot of pressure on Gonzalez to fill the shoes of Rodri in a defensive-midfield role that many have found difficult to master under Guardiola. Even Rodri, the Ballon d’Or holder, took a couple of years to understand Guardiola’s preferred approach.

Is City’s spree related to financial charges?

Possibly. The verdict is expected any day now in one of the most seismic legal cases in English soccer history. Possible punishments include expulsion from the Premier League or a cap on future spending. For that reason, City might also be using this winter window as an opportunity to get ahead with its planning, bringing in some young talent before a potential exodus of high-earning senior players.

Where does City spending rank?

City’s outlay is the second heaviest spend by a club in a January transfer window. Chelsea is No. 1 on the list after splashing out more than $350 million — more than every club in the top leagues in Spain, Italy, Germany and France combined — in January 2023 on players like Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Benoît Badiashile.

How have the new signings done so far?

It has been a mixed bag. Khusanov was debuted only five days after joining from Lens and looked like a rabbit in the headlights against Chelsea, making a mistake leading to a goal in the second minute and getting booked in the fourth minute. He steadied himself in City’s 3-1 win.

Reis and McFarlane haven’t played a single minute, while Marmoush had an encouraging debut against Chelsea and looked lively against Arsenal before City’s now-familiar second-half meltdown.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer