Manchester City have the world’s best defensive midfielder in Rodri, who is one of the top Ballon d’Or candidates for 2024 after a sensational 2023/24 campaign at the base of the Citizens’ midifeld.
Alongside him, Man City have three great players capable of manning the second spot in a double-pivot – John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, and Mateo Kovacic. However, Man City have been left thin at the position due to injuries to these players, with Rodri’s looming largest.
Furthermore, Man City don’t have a young player in the center midfield positions. With Kovacic linked to Saudi Arabia and Gundogan likely on his last legs at the elite level, the 2025 transfer windows could be the right time for Man City to strike with a move for an elite 6.
Here are five options for Manchester City to consider pursuing in 2025.
Martin Zubimendi, Real Sociedad
Every top club wants to get their hands on Spanish international Martin Zubimendi, who is off to another strong start in LaLiga this season even without the benefit of Mikel Merino, who joined ex-La Real midfielder Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal this summer.
Zubimendi is being courted heavily by Arsenal, Liverpool, and Barcelona this season, but Manchester City should also be in the mix for a player who would suit Pep Guardiola’s system perfectly.
In the prime of his career at age 25, Zubimendi rarely makes mistakes in midfield and is honestly only overshadowed by the fact that the literal best 6 in the world, Rodri, is also Spanish.
Having Zubimendi and Rodri next to each other would be a damn cheat code for Manchester City and a massive move for Guardiola in further asserting possessional and off-ball defensive dominance over his Premier League foes.
Joshua Kimmich, Bayern Munich
If Manchester City want a bigger name with more attacking upside, they could take a flier on Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich. The German international’s future in Bavaria seems more optimistic after the ousting of Thomas Tuchel, as the majority of Bayern players are having a much better time with ex-Manchester City star center back Vincent Kompany as their coach.
But the Kimmich transfer rumors started at the beginning of the 2023/24 season and still have steam. Guardiola tries not to sign players directly from his former clubs, and while he doesn’t have the same relationship to Bayern as he does Barcelona, Die Roten still hold a soft spot in Pep’s heart.
Still, if Kimmich is adamant on going, why wouldn’t Man City want one of the scrappiest and most technical center midfielders in the world? Kimmich isn’t a true lone anchoring 6, but he is great in a double pivot and actually figures to play the best ball of his life if he gets to work alongside a player like Rodri.
Best of all, Kimmich’s contract expires at the end of the 2024/25 season, so Guardiola doesn’t have to feel guilty about taking talent from Bayern – and Kimmich can secure all of Man City’s money for himself in bonuses.
Joao Neves, PSG
Joao Neves just moved from Benfica to PSG to clear the way for Manuel Ugarte to join Manchester United, and while Ugarte is a talented player, it looks like Neves is actually the bigger prize.
Just 20 years old, Neves has been an immediate success in Paris with five assists through seven appearances in Ligue 1, which is an outrageous total for a defensive midfielder. Most 6’s don’t reach that number in a full eason.
Neves has legitimately been one of the best players in Europe at any position so far this season, as the Portuguese international is also averaging 2.6 tackles and 1.7 key passes per game with a pass completion percentage of just over 92 on nearly 70 attempts per match.
Basically, Neves might be the best defensive midfielder money can buy, but the tough thing here is that he just joined PSG, who hate selling to anyone, especially another club owned by a country in the Middle East. But Neves is worth dreaming about.
Carlos Baleba, Brighton
Within the Premier League itself, I don’t think there’s a better option in the defensive midfield than Carlos Baleba, who is an even more impressive player than Moises Caicedo, who left Brighton for Chelsea for over 100 million euros a couple of years ago.
Baleba had a strong 2023/24 season, and now he’s been downright outrageous to start the 2024/25 campaign for a Brighton side that is, in many ways, stronger than the outfit that qualified for the Europa League two seasons ago under Roberto De Zerbi.
The 20-year-old has been a monster defensively and with the ball at his feet in transition. He is averaging a whopping 2.5 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game with 2.8 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per match.
Baleba is less of a playmaker than Neves, Zubimendi, or Kimmich, but he is a much stronger box-to-box presence than this trio and would thus fill a very specific need for Manchester City, especially if Kovacic ends up being the odd-man out with Al-Nassr circling him closely.
Dario Essugo, Las Palmas
As best as I can, I always try to sneak in a wild card transfer target in these sorts of lists, especially if I am covering a lot of well-known targets that I am linking to an elite European club.
Las Palmas defensive midfielder Dario Essugo is even younger than Joao Neves and Carlos Baleba at 19, and he looks like this year’s new breakout star in the defensive midfield in LaLiga, which is always good for mining young talent from out of nowhere.
Essugo is a Portuguese international who played for Sporting CP before moving to Las Palmas in LaLiga, going from one of Portugal’s proudest clubs to one of Spain’s most underrated; Las Palmas have been producing some seriously intriguing talents since moving back to the top flight last season.
So far in 2024/25, Essugo is averaging 3.3 combined tackles and interceptions per game with 2.8 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per match. If, for whatever reason, Manchester City want to take a flier on someone young and cheap they can develop behind their veteran stars, Essugo could be an interesting alternative to Brighton’s Baleba.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.