The teenage defensive midfielder was fast-tracked into the Barcelona first team — alongside Gavi and Alejandro Balde — by Ronald Koeman in 2021 as the Catalans were forced to turn to youth amid financial struggles.
Gonzalez took little time to adjust to senior football and comparisons to Sergio Busquets were just as immediate. But as much as those early appraisals were premature, they did offer a fleeting snapshot of the now 23-year-old. His impact at Barcelona soon faded and he spent a decent, yet unspectacular season on loan at Valencia. He revitalised his career during the past 18 months at Porto, who snapped him up for a modest €8.4m in the summer of 2023.
Free from comparisons to the legendary Busquets, Gonzalez has evolved into more of an all-round central midfielder at Porto. While sometimes deployed as a holding midfielder, he enjoys added attacking freedom as he’s usually paired with a more defensive-minded partner in a double “pivote.” On occasions he’s also been deployed as an attacking No. 8, or even tucked in behind the forwards in a role akin to a No. 10.
His versatility will benefit a Manchester City side that are struggling in all midfield departments right now, while his tactical discipline, imposing physique and positional awareness should provide welcome help for their exposed centre-backs.
An excellent passer of the ball, Gonzalez possesses the quality to dictate the pace of the game and when allowed to venture forward he’s also capable of breaking the defensive line with the ball at his feet.
OTHER RUMORS
![]()
play1:25
Laurens: Man City should’ve had Nico González in on January 1st
Julien Laurens looks at new Manchester City midfielder Nico González and explains why Pep Guardiola needed him a month ago.
– Manchester City have retained academy midfielder Nico O’Reilly despite strong interest from Chelsea this month. (The Athletic)
– PSV Eindhoven are set to finalise the details of Tyrell Malacia‘s loan move from Man United as the Dutch window is still open. (Fabrizio Romano)
– Arsenal midfielder Jorginho, 33, has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Brazilian side Flamengo on a free transfer in the summer. (Daily Mirror)
– Brighton will have to wait until the summer to try to sign Sunderland forward Tommy Watson after running out of time to secure a deadline-day deal. (Sky Sports News)
– Napoli coach Antonio Conte is unhappy that that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was not replaced by either Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho or Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, though the club did bring in AC Milan striker Noah Okafor. (Sky Sport Italia)
– Adeyemi is reported to be waiting for offers from major European clubs in June amid interest from Napoli this winter. (Ekrem Konur)
– Hoffenheim’s attempt to sign Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Marvin Friedrich on deadline day collapsed in the final hours. (Florian Plettenberg)
