With Manchester City still trying to find a new forward after the sale of Riyad Mahrez, Pep Guardiola appears to have chosen Jérémy Doku.
The Rennes forward has been on the agenda of many Premier League clubs for a number of years, and now could be the ideal time for him to make the jump to English football.
One of those who firmly believes that Doku is ready for a transfer to Manchester City is Philippe Albert, who knows English football well from his time at Newcastle and Fulham, as he explained in a chat with La Tribune for RTBF.
Asked about various Belgium internationals, the conversation started with Doku, who would cost the Premier League champions a pretty penny.
He said: “He has incredible qualities that we discovered at Anderlecht, but he has been often injured over the last two or three seasons. He’s a young gem who was sold for more than €20m, so Rennes would accept an offer of €60m. I don’t think the step is too high. He has the qualities to impose himself in the Premier League or in any other league in the world.
“If he’s 100% physically, he’ll make his mark and sicken the opposition. A bit like Eden Hazard at the start of his career, with his double and triple accelerations that can really hurt. In England, some teams are still little naïve at that level, so he’d be a real handful.”
Albert then advised Guardiola, should the player sign for Manchester City, to play him on the right hand side of the team rather than to try and use him as an inside winger.
That way, he would be able to stretch the game a little bit better, and with Erling Haaland waiting for crosses in the middle, it could be the ideal addition to an already outstanding squad.