Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has spoken to Sports Mole about whether Matheus Nunes can elevate his game to another level as a midfielder in Pep Guardiola's side.
Nunes has had to bide his time for first-team opportunities at Man City since arriving from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported £53m in the summer of 2023.
Indeed, the 26-year-old was limited to only 15 starts in 29 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions last season, including just seven starts in 17 Premier League outings.
However, Nunes has since impressed when called upon by Guardiola so far this season, chipping in with two goals and four assists across nine matches in the Premier League, EFL Cup and Champions League.
In the absence of injured duo Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku, Nunes has started as a left winger in Man City's last two matches, scoring one goal and providing two assists in a 5-0 Champions League win over Sparta Prague, before assisting Erling Haaland for the only goal in a 1-0 Premier League win against Southampton last weekend.
McInerney has insisted that Man City currently need Nunes at a time when Guardiola is working with a first-team squad down to its bare bones, but he expects the Portugal international to revert back to playing centrally when both Grealish and Doku return to fitness.
Can Nunes match 'absurd' midfield standards at Man City?
Nunes is also yet to fully convince McInerney that he can reach the same heights as some of the legendary central midfield players who have donned the sky blue of Man City under Guardiola, including Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, David Silva and Yaya Toure to name a few.
"I don't think anyone envisioned Nunes being a left winger when we signed him. I don't even think the boldest of person would have predicted that," McInerney told Sports Mole.
"I've got a slightly divisive opinion on Nunes. I think he's a good footballer. Some City fans don't probably follow my view on this... I feel the levels that Manchester City require as a central midfielder are absurd. They just are.
"You look over the last decade under Guardiola, we've had some of the best to ever do it in the Premier League in midfield. Full stop. It goes back a long way City's excellence in midfield.
"We look at Kevin De Bruyne, probably the greatest ever playmaker in the Premier League history. We look at David Silva, actually maybe he's the greatest playmaker ever in Premier League history.
"We look at Bernardo Silva, a truly world-class midfielder. Phenomenal. Ilkay Gundogan, a treble-winning captain. Then Rodri and Fernandinho, two of the best defensive midfielders ever to play in the Premier League, and then go back before that, Yaya Toure. The standards are so high at Manchester City in terms of central midfielders.
"Where I currently stand on Nunes is I am not quite sure he can reach those levels. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I don't think there's any shame of falling short of that.
"I feel that Guardiola might feel that too given how little he's played in central midfield for Man City, but weirder things have happened in football than a player suddenly clicking and just getting it."
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Confident Nunes has "evolved" at Man City
McInerney added: "The only thing that matters when you're a footballer is being on the pitch and feeling confident within yourself, putting those ideas together, for the muscle memory to kick in from training, and playing with confidence.
"So much of football is confidence and psychological, because a happy footballer is a better footballer. Nunes right now, even though he's playing out of position, he's evolved and his goal contributions have massively shot up. He's got a whole bunch of assists. He's scored a couple of times this season. He's having a really nice spell of form right now.
"I don't see him as a permanent long-term left winger, I don't see that happening and I might be wrong there, but I feel as soon as Doku and Grealish are back fit, he might revert back to be playing more centrally."
McInerney is keen to see whether Nunes can step up when called upon to play in higher-profile matches for Man City, saying: "So far, Nunes has played on the left wing against Sparta Prague and Southampton. I mean this with the greatest respect to both sides, but they're not top-level Premier League sides yet.
"I want to see how he goes on (in bigger games). Momentum could carry him forward to actually get to the level required to be effective in games against Arsenal, Liverpool, the higher Champions League level games.
"For now, he's on the pitch and that's literally all that matters. I'm hoping if he keeps playing on the left, keeps finding a way to influence the game, then eventually if he goes back into a central role, he has that confidence, he has that rhythm and he can find a way into the team.
"Ultimately, regardless of what I feel as a City fan about him, City need him right now. We really do. The squad is stretched. The squad is thin."
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What can Nunes offer to Man City's midfield?
Discussing the qualities Nunes can offer to Guardiola's side, McInerney said: "He does have attributes that a lot of our midfielders don't have.
"That leggy stride he's got, he's so powerful, he can get back really well because he's got that pace, he's great getting forward on the transition, and of course we've noticed in the past few weeks that he's got a really nice cross on him.
"He's not going to reach Kevin De Bruyne's level of crossing the ball, but Kevin De Bruyne out wide when he drifts into those channels is such a threat for Manchester City and Nunes, so far, is showing that he can do a bit of that as well, which is really useful."
McInerney added: "Nunes is in an interesting place right now. I think even the staunchest of Nunes fans would struggle to deny that he's got his chance for injuries, but even maybe the harsher critics, like myself, would have to admit that he's taking them right now.
"He's in a really nice place where he's got his chance maybe by fortune and hard work and patience, and he's taking it.
"I just hope he carries on because I do want Nunes to succeed. I'm still not quite sure yet how good he'll be as a central midfielder, if he can keep up the levels that City require, because City's levels are just best-in-class in midfield, but there's no better way to find out than watching him on the pitch and see if he can do it."
Nunes, who scored in Man City's 2-1 win over Watford in the EFL Cup third round last month, is expected to be involved in some capacity when the Citizens travel to North London to take on Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16 of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.
Oliver Thomas
