Man City could re-sign £42m star on loan in January

Manchester City could come to an end, with a terrible five-match winless streak followed by back-to-back wins against Leicester City and West Ham United.

The Citizens managed to end 2024 on a high, beating the Foxes 2-0 at the King Power Stadium, before beating the hapless Hammers four times to start 2025 with a bang.

The reigning Premier League champions are now unbeaten in their last three games, drawing 1-1 at home to Everton on Boxing Day.

Guardiola has made changes for each of those games and veteran midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has barely featured in recent weeks.

Gundogan’s 2024/25 season

It has been a somewhat difficult season for German midfielder Gundogan. After a year away from the Etihad Stadium, playing one season for Barcelona, ​​he returned to the club on a free transfer in the summer.

After returning to the club, the three-time winner certainly played a big role for the Citizens in this period, but he didn’t quite make the biggest impact in the Sky Blue comic. He has played 25 times in all competitions, he scored twice in the Champions League and registered one assist in the first division.

Indeed, things did not go as smoothly as Gundogan had hoped. The German at times did not look like the player he was during his first stay at the club. Earlier in the season, suggested football analyst Umir “lacks a bit of edge” in his game.

The void that Gundogan has to fill in the absence of Rodrigo certainly takes its toll on him, but also on his teammates. City could do with reinforcements in the middle of the park, and they have been linked with someone who is a similar player to the German.

Man City midfield target

The player in question is a Juventus and Brazil national team midfielder Douglas Luiz. The former Aston Villa player struggled for regular minutes at his current club Juventus, and the Mirror reported on New Year’s Day that the midfielder’s move was ‘discussed as a loan option’.

Indeed, he did not have as many engagements in Turin as he might have thought following a £42m move. Luiz has played 12 times in all competitions, with nine of those games coming in Serie A. Perhaps surprisingly, he has played just 343 minutes in all competitions for the Old Lady.

That said, there is no doubting the Brazilian’s talent in the middle of the park. His record for Villa is impressive given that he sometimes played as a deeper midfielder. IN 204 games for the clubhe scored 22 goals and recorded 24 assists.

His performances were so good that described by football statistician Statman Dave as “the best box-to-box CM in the Premier League” back in February 2024. Indeed, his final season in Claret and Blue, 2023/24he definitely caught the eye as Luiz scored nine goals and registered five assists in 35 top-flight games.

Similarities can certainly be drawn between Luiz and Gundogan. Firstly, if he were to sign for City, it would also be a return to the club like the German. The Juve man joined the Mancunian side in 2017even though he never actually played the game.

You can also draw statistical comparisons between pairs also via FBref. Although the sample size is small, the numbers they add up to in 90 minutes are similar. For example, Luiz played 6.06 progressive passes and made 4.24 ball recoveries in this period.

In comparison, Gundogan averages 5.65 progressive passes and completes 5.08 ball recoveries in 2024/25. They are similar in many areas of their play styles.

This could be a fantastic job for Citizens. Not only would they add quality depth to their squad in the short term, but they would also bring in a Gundogan-like player. This would reduce the load and perhaps bring out the best version of him.

Considering it’s only a loan deal, this seems like a smart move for City, and could certainly help them get back to winning ways on a regular basis.