Milan Skriniar vs Nicolas Otamendi – Should Manchester Make A Last-Ditch Attempt To Sign The Inter Milan Sensation?
Manchester City are reportedly interested in bringing Inter Milan’s young centre-back Milan Skriniar to the Etihad Stadium this January. With deadline day fast approaching, most clubs are scrambling about to make last-minute purchases and Pep Guardiola is no different. The ongoing window has been a rather forgettable one for the cash-rich club since they’ve missed out on signing two of their priority targets – Virgil Van Dijk and Alexis Sanchez.
Losing out on Sanchez may not hurt them as much as missing out on signing Van Dijk. To be fair, the club needs a new centre-back to boost squad depth at the back. At present, they have Nicolas Otamendi, who has been in splendid form for the club. Besides him, City have the likes of Vincent Kompany, Eliaquim Mangala and John Stones, who have all been in and out of the squad this season.
Kompany and Stones have been quite solid but in the event of unforeseen injuries, Guardiola will be stretched thin for options at the back. Hence, Skriniar seems like a good option to address that. But is he good enough to join City? Let’s compare his stats with Otamendi’s.
Milan Skriniar vs Nicolas Otamendi
In 28 appearances across competitions for Manchester City this season, Otamendi has chipped in with 5 goals while picking up a whopping 8 yellow cards in the process. His pass success-rate stands at a solid 92.2% and he averages 0.9 shots per game. Aerially, Otamendi is quite strong and he wins about 2.7 duels per game. So far, he has won the Man of The Match award 5 times. As far as his defensive prowess is concerned, the 29-year-old averages 1.6 tackles, 1.9 interceptions and 3.6 clearances per game.
Skriniar, on the other hand, has played 24 times for Inter this season. Having scored 3 goals so far, the 22-year-old has picked up 2 yellow cards while averaging 0.6 shots per game. His pass success-rate stands at 91.4% and he wins a decent 1.7 aerial duels in every match. The young star has won a solitary Man of The Match award and when it comes to his defensive skills, Skriniar averages 2.3 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and 4.9 clearances a game.
Verdict
As one can see, Skriniar’s skills are more or less similar to those of Otamendi’s. In fact, when it comes to defending, the Slovakia international has better numbers than those of the Manchester City star. He can contribute to the attack as well, as illustrated by the 3 goals he has scored thus far.
The Sky Blues may have missed out on Van Dijk but given how strong Skriniar is at just 22 years of age, they must do all they can to acquire his signature. Despite the impending arrival of Aymeric Laporte, signing Skriniar would still be necessary as Vincent Kompany is highly injury-prone these days. The Belgian is not getting any younger either and City would do well to have a youngster ready to make the step up when the Belgian decides it’s time.
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