Why Manchester City should rope in talented teenager Romeo Lavia
According to Voetbalkrant (h/t The Sun), Manchester City are in pole position to land 16-year-old Belgian wonderkid Romeo Lavia.
Teenager Lavia announced his departure from Anderlecht last Thursday via his Instagram account, after eight years in the Belgian side’s youth ranks.
Considered as one of the hottest young prospects in Europe, Lavia’s former club Anderlecht were desperate to keep hold of him. They were planning to give the defender a chance to break into Franky Vercauteren’s first-team. Despite that, young Lavia refused to sign new terms with the Belgian side. He is now looking for pastures new.
Lavia a future replacement for Fernandinho at Manchester City
Manchester City, meanwhile, are keen on landing the highly-rated defensive midfielder, who is supposedly a big fan of Pep Guardiola.
Manchester City suffered a major blow in their title challenge this season mainly due to an inconsistent defence that saw Guardiola relying on veteran midfielder Fernandinho to take over the centre-back duties.
The ever-reliable Brazilian had to guard the City backline due to the poor form of centre-backs John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.
Having failed to rope in a suitable replacement for their former skipper Vincent Kompany, City’s pursuit of a top-spot finish was affected even more when Aymeric Laporte suffered an injury early in the season.
Luckily for City, the club had brought in a defensive midfielder in the form of Rodri last summer, who has now taken over the defensive midfield responsibilities for Guardiola’s side. The Spaniard has done a commendable job so far, scoring three goals and managing 10 clean sheets from 28 league games.
City, however, lack depth in the defensive midfield role and it could prove to be a major blow for the side in the coming years if they wish to stay at the top. Moreover, Fernandinho turned 35 last month and is the twilight of his career.
That said, City’s pursuit of upcoming talent Lavia makes complete sense and he could prove to be an excellent future replacement for Fernandinho if both parties can come to an agreement. Hence, City should push ahead with their attempts to land Lavia at the Etihad as soon as possible.
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Verdict
Apart from Fernandinho and Rodri, City lack depth in the defensive midfield role and talented teenager Lavia’s arrival will only make them stronger in the future.
Though, he won’t be a guaranteed starter if signed, Lavia is still very young and can develop further under the guidance of Guardiola. Thus, by all means, the young Belgian looks like a good future investment by City.