Manchester City’s new £49m midfielder Nico Gonzalez has insisted he does not feel like the replacement for Rodri.
The 23-year-old was signed from Porto on the final day of the winter transfer window and believes his years at Barcelona will help him adapt to manager Pep Guardiola’s style of play and tactical demands.
But while City had lacked a specialist defensive midfielder since the Ballon d’Or winner Rodri was injured in September, Gonzalez feels he is not charged with emulating his fellow Spaniard.
“I don’t see it that way,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who plays, we’re a team that is very united with everyone now. It doesn’t matter if I play, or Kova [Mateo Kovacic] plays, or whoever, I don’t see myself as the replacement for Rodri, I see myself as another player.”
Gonzalez made his City debut in the FA Cup win at Leyton Orient, excelled in last week’s 4-0 win over Newcastle and opened his account for his new club in injury time as they lost to Real Madrid.
He came through the youth system at the Nou Camp and feels that can aid him settle in at City.
He added: “I was raised in Barcelona and I’ve always more or less played the way we play here, I’ve got used to playing here very quickly. Obviously the team plays really well, there are also players close to me to have the ball and everyone wants the ball every time so it’s easy to find players and find passes. The quality of the players is so good so for me it’s easier to play here than the team I used to play.”
Gonzalez admitted that, after being in the Portuguese league, he was not accustomed to coming up against footballers like Mohamed Salah, who got a goal and an assist in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
“I’ve just arrived, I’m not used to playing against players of the quality like Salah, I think he already had 30 goals and it’s tough to play against players like this,” he said.
After winning four consecutive titles, City are now 20 points behind Liverpool and Gonzalez added: “I haven’t won a Premier League and I’ve been here two weeks and it’s disappointing to lose and disappointing to be fourth in the league.”
