RSC Anderlecht are close to sealing an inexpensive loan deal for Manchester City prospect Lukas Nmecha, according to Het Belang van Limburg via Sport Witness.
Anderlecht are lining up a move for Nmecha following his failed loan spells with VfL Wolfsburg and Middlesbrough this season, having seen enough potential in the Germany U21 international to feel he can make a success of himself in the Jupiler Pro League.
Nmecha joined Wolfsburg at the start of the 2019/20 season on a one-year deal but saw his time with the Bundesliga outfit cut short in the winter having started only one of his 12 appearances, and swiftly joined Boro only to similarly struggle at the Riverside Stadium.
Game time was barely any more forthcoming with the Championship side despite starting five of his 13 outings across all competitions, as Hamburg-born Nmecha was awarded just 559 minutes on the field before the season’s end.
The former England youth international is now expected to complete a temporary move to join Manchester City icon Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht for the upcoming campaign after the two sides agreed to a low fee.
Nmecha had offers to join clubs in Spain and Germany but chose Anderlecht so that he could become a part of Kompany’s project, although his importance at Lotto Park is only expected to last one season as the loan deal will not feature an option to buy.
Kompany announced on Monday that he is hanging up his boots to become the full-time head coach at Anderlecht, having taken charge as a player-coach in 2019 following his release from the Citizens.
Will Nmecha ever cut it as a first-team player with City?
Yes
No
City not including an option for Anderlecht to purchase Nmecha at the end of the loan deal will come as a sign of comfort for the centre-forward of his long-term future with Manchester City, having displayed little in 2019/20 to suggest goals will be easy pickings in the future.
Nmecha failed to score a single goal in any competition for Wolfsburg and was omitted from the matchday squad four times in six Bundesliga games before having his temporary spell cut short.
He then failed to find the back of the net in any competition for Middlesbrough and the £3.24million-rated attacker found himself left as an unused substitute in nine of their last 13 Championship fixtures before returning to Manchester.
It was not as if Nmecha found his shooting boots at the Riverside Stadium, either, as he averaged just 0.5 shots per second-tier fixture and played 5.3 accurate passes, 0.5 key balls, took 17.5 touches, made 0.8 successful dribbles, won 3.0 duels, lost possession 6.3 times and was caught offside on 0.4 occasions, per Sofa Score.
Nmecha’s status as a rising star of the Citizens academy is fading fast and as comforting as it will be to know he will return to the Etihad Stadium in 2021, there are no guarantees he will be there long without a vast improvement next season.