Sergio Gomez wasn’t called up for the Spanish national team ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, so he’ll have time to develop at Manchester City without games getting in the way.
The 22-year-old hasn’t enjoyed the best start to life at the Etihad and hasn’t been given a lot of opportunities in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola has preferred a right-back in a makeshift role over the natural left-sided player and his Champions League statistics may explain why.
Gomez has made 10 appearances in all competitions this season, grabbing one assist. He’s amassed just 106 minutes of football in the Premier League but has featured more heavily in Europe (280 mins), though the former Anderlecht defender still hasn’t set the place alight.
Despite starting four of City’s six Champions League group games, Gomez is 8th in the squad for tackles per game on average (1), 11th for interceptions (0.5), 12th for chances created (0.8), 12th for successful dribbles (0.5), 6th for accurate crosses (0.5) and 9th for passes (57.3), so he’s being outperformed by his teammates.
It’s still early days for Gomez at City, but Guardiola needs him to become a more reliable option in case of injury to his regulars. If Joao Cancelo is unavailable, Guardiola would likely pick a left-footed centre-back in Nathan Ake or Aymeric Laporte over Gomez.
He now has a few weeks to work on his game before the domestic season resumes.
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