Manchester City signed a £65m deal for six-year with Portuguese defender Ruben Dias. After Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres Dias has been the third significant signatory to be a part of Pep Guardiola’s squad.
Since Kompany’s departure, a potential right-sided central defender has been in the priority for Guardiola for more than a year. Failure to find an immediate replacement of Kompany had been considered as the major cause of City’s failure against Liverpool in the last season.
This is Ruben Dias, the defender Man City are spending £65mil on to sort out their defence… pic.twitter.com/sQiCepEx6Q
— Football Mumble (@football_mumble) September 27, 2020
Ruben Dias is being touted as Vincent Kompany’s replacement, the weakness wich Guardiola tried to overcome by utilising Fernandinho as a central defender last season following the influential Belgian’s departure.
Ruben Dias is predicted as the City’s long-term investment. If he keeps his legacy at Benfica continue in Manchester city, it is hoped that he will emulate Kompany’s well-decorated stay.
“To have the opportunity to join a club like Manchester City is a fantastic opportunity for me and one I couldn’t turn down,” said Dias.
“It is really exciting to be part of such a talented squad and to play for a world-class manager like Pep Guardiola, who has a proven track record of developing young players like myself.”
Achievements of Ruben Dias
Portugal international Ruben Dias soon after his graduation from the Benfica academy made 113 senior appearances and displayed splendid performance by winning the Portuguese title in 2018-19.
He has also won 19 caps for Portugal and he will strengthen the City defence, which conceded five goals in their recent defeat to Leicester City.
“Ruben is a player we have admired for some time and we have been impressed with how he has progressed at Benfica,” said City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain.
“He has developed into a real leader and as a defender, he has all the attributes we are looking for. He is strong in the air, good in one-v-one situations and technically, he is very good, so we are confident he can thrive in our system.”