Manchester City opinion: Guardiola must sign Marcel Halstenberg
Marcel Halstenberg is a German international left-back who currently plays in the Bundesliga for 3rd-placed Red Bull Leipzig. He is 27 years old and is considered to be one of the best left-backs in the entire division in terms of defensive prowess.
He began his youth career at German minnows Grasdorf before he was eventually scouted as a bright talent and signed up to the academy at Hannover 96. He made his way up the Hannover ranks with ease and his career eventually led him to multiple clubs.
In 2011, he was signed by Borussia Dortmund but things didn’t work out for him and he moved on to FC St.Pauli after just a couple of years at Signal Iduna Park.
After that move, his rise to supremacy in the Bundesliga was rapid and this triggered RB Leipzig to go for the St.Pauli left-back in the summer of 2015. Since then, Halstenberg has transformed into a key player for this Leipzig side.
This season, he has played 21 games for the German side and has looked assured on the ball whenever his footwork has been called into question. Also, his expertise lies in identifying the danger early and dealing with it.
He has the uncanny ability to have a feel for exactly what path the ball is going to take and he positions himself accordingly, often resulting in amazing blocks, goal-line clearances and sometimes even match-winning interceptions.
Having scored a goal and assisted 6 from his 21 games this Bundesliga season, the German international has been in top form and has looked like the kind of player who should be playing in one of Europe’s elite clubs.
Manchester City must look to make a move for this talented 27-year-old. In the absence of first-choice left-back Benjamin Mandy, they have really struggled in terms of squad selection.
Pep Guardiola has often opted to use midfielders in that position by deploying Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabian Delph. While this has worked out for them in the short term, for clubs with the ambitions as City, this could be a bad idea.
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Conclusion
A move for this quality left-back will be a shrewd piece of business by Pep Guardiola, who can bring the German in to challenge Mendy for the starting role. With depth being one of City’s biggest strengths, there’s no reason why this deal mustn’t take shape in the coming months.