Manchester City have long been in search of a Vincent Kompany replacement, even during the Belgian defender’s last few seasons at City they were on the lookout for someone who could consistently fill the void he’d leave behind.

Quite a few central defensive names have arrived at The Etihad and most have them have been found wanting.

A soft centre in the central defensive department has been Pep Guardiola’s only real failing since his own arrival at City in 2016.

There’s no doubting that centre-backs John Stones and Aymeric Laporte possess talent, the issue those two have is consistency. They have dips in form and they also seem to attract too many injuries.

Summer signing Nathan Ake is another talented defender, he’s proven that with AFC Bournemouth for a number of seasons in the Premier League but he too has suffered from knocks and ailments this term.

Yet fellow new boy Ruben Dias has managed to stay clear of the treatment table and offered fine consistent performances in City’s backline.

In fact the Portuguese international has been the only centre-half to have played in more than fifteen league games thus far this season. Stones has managed twelve, Laporte has seven appearances and Ake has made just six!

Dias has managed to keep up his strong performances no matter who he has partnered, a trait he shares with former City captain Kompany.

Dias certainly fits the bill of a Pep defender in that he’s very talented and efficient with the ball. The twenty-three year old boasts a 93.2% passing success rate, on average making more than 85 passes per game too (Stats Via Whoscored).

He isn’t a defender that rushes into tackles or one that gives away silly fouls. Ruben is a player that likes an interception (making more than one per game) and who isn’t shabby when it’s in the air (he’s winning around 2.2 aerial battles per game and making 2.8 clearances).

Another huge bonus is that Dias is an excellent communicator. That is another telling trait he shares with Vincent Kompany. It should make him a valuable leader in the City defence for years to come!

His manager Pep Guardiola has been extremely pleased with his new recruit:

“So far, how he’s settled immediately, in terms of mentality and he’s a guy who lives 24 hours for his profession.”

Via Manchester Evening News

When current Premier League champions Liverpool signed Virgil van Dijk on the first of January in 2017 you could immediately sense a change in the Merseyside club. He brought with him an assurance, competitiveness and consistency that The Reds desperately needed and that would send them on their way back to glory.

I get that same sense when I see Ruben Dias in a Manchester City jersey. He has come in and made an immediate impact and made the team a lot stronger with him in their backline.

If City maintain their current run of form then you’ve got to imagine that they will regain that league crown and Dias will have played a huge part in that!

Posted on February 5th, 2021 by scott
Filed under: Article