According to Wales Online, Manchester City are eyeing a move for former Cardiff City full-back Cameron Coxe.
The 21-year-old right-back, who rose through the academy ranks at Cardiff, was released by the club this season after manager Neil Harris saw no future for him within the Championship side. Cardiff had made the announcement of his release back in February after he failed to break into the first-team. (h/t Wales Online)
Coxe has so far made just four appearances for the Bluebirds despite making his first-team debut back in 2017. The young full-back is yet to make a league appearance for Cardiff, having featured only thrice this season with two starts in the FA Cup against Carlisle United.
Despite his inability to break into the first-team, Coxe is highly regarded by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who had sent scouts to watch the youngster. With the player’s contract at Cardiff now expired and he being a free agent, City are lining up a move to bring him to the Etihad. (h/t Wales Online)
Meanwhile, Guardiola’s City have had their issues in defence this season, which saw them fail to defend their Premier League title. The Citizens fell behind champions Liverpool by a massive 18 points, mainly due to their defensive mishaps this season.
They conceded as many as 35 goals from their overall 38 league games, giving a clear picture of their issues at the back this term. City had earlier last season emerged champions after they maintained a rock-solid defence that saw them concede a mere 23 goals altogether.
City, for the past few seasons, have had a consistent right-back in Englishman Kyle Walker, who joined them from Tottenham back in 2017. However, he seemed to have suffered a dip in form featuring just 29 times in the league this season. Moreover, he turned 30 last May and City need to find some new reinforcements for the future.
Apart from Walker, City have Joao Cancelo as an established right-back within the side. But the Portuguese has failed to impress since his move from Juventus last summer. Cancelo could manage just 17 Premier League appearances and does not have a single assist or goal to his name yet.
City also have Pedro Porro and Yan Couto as a back-up for Walker and Cancelo. However, the two are still very young and lack big-game experience.
That said, City’s decision to make a move for a talented and young full-back such as Coxe makes complete sense. He will be craving to prove a point if given a chance, having spent most of his time at Cardiff on the sidelines and this, in turn, can benefit City.
Coxe has also featured for his national side Wales across multiple age groups and was even offered his first senior call-up to manager Ryan Giggs’ squad in 2018 for a friendly with Mexico. This gives a clear idea of Coxe’s talent and he can prove to be an excellent future signing for City.
Though City have a clear first-choice right-back in Walker, he is already past his thirty, and roping in a youngster such as Coxe will only bolster their squad. With Cancelo, failing to perform he can also prove to be an excellent back-up for Walker. Also, he is just 21 and can develop his game under the guidance of a coach like Guardiola.
