Manchester City suffered another disappointing result on Saturday afternoon, drawing 2-2 with fellow European football hopefuls Brighton despite receiving goals form both star forwards Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush.
But even though the former Bundesliga superstar found the back of the net, neither were the best players on the pitch – not even for Man City alone. No, that distinction belongs to a former Ligue 1 star, winger Jeremy Doku.
For the second time in his last four Premier League games, the Belgian international completed a jaw-dropping 15 completed dribbles, reminding fans around the world that it isn’t just Lamine Yamal who has a compelling case for being the best dribbler in the world.
Jeremy Doku is the Premier League’s best dribbler
Doku was irresistible on the ball and deserved to be on the winning side. Now, Doku has completed 42 dribbles in his last four Premier League starts for an average of more than 10 successful dribbles per game. He is making the Premier League look like Ligue 1 and putting up even stronger numbers, at least lately, than he did at Rennes in France.
On the season, the 22-year-old is averaging 6.8 dribbles completed and 1.8 fouls drawn per 90, making him, by far, the most devastating dribbler in the entire English top flight.
Doku has contributed directly to seven Manchester City goals this season and is putting up 1.7 key passes per 90 minutes, too. His latest display against Brighton is a reminder that Doku is one of the most valuable players on the Citizens and has game-breaking ability that Pep Guardiola must continue to take advantage of.
In total, Doku has started a relatively modest 13 of his 20 total Premier League appearances. Versatile enough to play on the left or right, Doku is even more electrifying on the ball than Savinho and is a totally unique player to the league.
Manchester City need to keep taking advantage of his unique skill-set, especially on a team that is largely aging and lacks much punch outside of the new trio of Marmoush, Savinho, and Doku.
It’s time for Man City to keep letting the Belgian winger cook, utilizing Doku’s speed and tricky dribbling to take pressure off Marmoush and Haaland up top. Speed kills, and it opens up so much space for everyone else, especially free-scoring forwards who crave those openings to shoot.
Joe Soriano covers West Ham for Green Street Hammers and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.