Jamie Carragher claims Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will never sell another player to Premier League rivals
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has claimed that Manchester City may never sell another player to Arsenal after seeing Oleksandr Zinchenko's impact this season.
The Ukraine international was allowed to leave the Etihad last summer and join the Gunners for a fee of £30 million. The Cityzens started the season with Joao Cancelo and summer signing Sergio Gomez as their options down that flank.
The move has arguably backfired from Manchester City's point of view. While Cancelo has been loaned out to Bayern Munich until the end of the season, Gomez hasn't played an awful lot since his move from RSC Anderlecht.
The 22-year-old has played just 141 minutes of league football this season. Guardiola has tended to play a 3-4-2-1 formation with Jack Grealish as a left-sided midfielder instead.
Zinchenko, meanwhile, has made a world of difference at Arsenal under manager Mikel Arteta, who was formerly Guardiola's assistant at City. He has solidified the left side of their defense and is part of a backline that has conceded the second-lowest number of Premier League goals this season (23).
Zinchenko is the first left back in history to be given a free role. The guy just plays anywhere he wants😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/KqLSZGNmph
He has registered one goal and two assists in 22 games across competitions this term. Speaking of Zinchenko's impact, Carragher said on The Overlap (h/t HITC):
"I just want to ask about Zinchenko. He’s been a revelation for you this season, but I don’t think Pep Guardiola and Man City will ever sell a player to Arsenal ever again. I reason I think they sold him is because his mate was at Arsenal and he didn’t see Arsenal as a threat, is that fair?"
Manchester City also sold Gabriel Jesus to the Gunners last summer for a fee of £45 million. He has been sidelined with an injury since the 2022 FIFA World Cup but managed five goals and seven assists in 20 games across competitions for his new club before that.
Manchester City full-back gives verdict on playing in midfield under Guardiola
Joao Cancelo was often seen playing in central midfield during games despite starting as a full-back under manager Pep Guardiola.
Rico Lewis: "Pep just tells me to play my normal game but asks me to go inside alongside Rodri, to give us more control of the midfield. It's about winning the ball back on the transition. It's nice that he wants to play me and trusts me, it's up to me to perform..."
With the Portugal international now at Bayern Munich, albeit temporarily, Guardiola has aimed to recreate that dynamic with Rico Lewis. The 18-year-old has scored once in 17 games across competitions this season.
Lewis is a right-back on paper but has been seen slotting into central midfield during games. The Englishman right-back recently gave his verdict on playing in this role and said (h/t Yardbarker):
"I love playing in this role [central midfield]. I have played as a midfielder before and then been a full-back so I love it. I have played there all the way through the Manchester City academy but with these players around you it's 10 times easier."