Back in March, a report from The Sport claimed Manchester City were one of the clubs interested in signing Benfica left-back Alex Grimaldo.
The Spaniard, 23, has attracted the attention of several top clubs in the last 18 months, as he has continued to develop in Portugal. He has made 49 appearances for Benfica this season across all competitions, supplying with seven goals and 11 assists.
Alex Grimaldo is contracted at Benfica until 2021 which means the Portuguese club could ask for hefty money to part ways with their star in the summer. That being said, Manchester City should do everything possible to bring the defender at the Etihad ahead of the new campaign.
It’s no more a secret that Pep Guardiola wants to strengthen his squad at left-back due to Benjamin Mendy’s recurrent injury problems. The Frenchman joined City from AS Monaco in the summer of 2017, but he has failed to impress. Injuries have been the major concern for Mendy, who has managed just 11 appearances throughout the 2018/19 campaign.
In his absence, Guardiola has experimented with Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, with the latter impressing after enjoying sustained run in the team. However, the City manager needs a specialist left-back and cannot rely on Zinchenko for an entire season.
Grimaldo has the qualities to take City to the next level. The 23-year-old came through Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy and left Barca B for Benfica in 2016. And since then he has established himself as one of the finest left-backs in Portugal.
The Spaniard is a modern-day full-back, renowned for his raw pace, energy, intensity and crossing abilities. He has excellent technical abilities, is strong in the tackle and has a wicked delivery that the likes of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus would thrive off.
While Grimaldo has shown the penchant to support the attack with powerful overlapping runs, he is no slouch defensively. Furthermore, the 23-year-old has a sound positional sense and his tactical awareness is also of the highest quality.
If Guardiola is looking to add quality to his first team as well as looking to improve upon the squad depth, then it makes a lot of sense for City to go for a promising left-back like Grimaldo.
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The Cityzens are undoubtedly the best Premier League side at the moment, but signing Grimaldo would solve a real problem position for Pep, whilst making the current English champions an unstoppable force next season.