Manchester City confirmed on Monday that central midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is set to depart the club on a free transfer at the end of the month to join Barcelona.
The 32-year-old dynamo is poised to end his seven-year spell at The Etihad after 304 competitive appearances and 14 trophies won, with three of those coming in the season just gone.
Who could replace Ilkay Gundogan at Man City?
TEAMtalk revealed earlier this month that the Citizens are one of three Premier League teams to have shown an interest in signing Real Madrid central midfielder Federico Valverde.
Liverpool and Chelsea are also said to be in the mix for his signature. However, it is claimed that the player, who is valued at €65.9m (£57m) by Football Transfers, is not currently keen on a move and the Spanish giants are in no rush to cash in on him.
Pep Guardiola must now attempt to convince the Uruguay international to ditch Los Blancos as the Spanish head coach could forget about Gundogan by securing the Real ace's services this summer.
Valverde, who was once hailed as "untouchable" by boss Carlo Ancelotti, averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.25 across 34 LaLiga outings, which would place him seventh in the City squad – ahead of the likes of Gundogan, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, and John Stones.
He also contributed with seven goals and four assists from the middle of the park, whilst he also created eight 'big chances' for his teammates.
Gundogan, meanwhile, averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.08 across 31 Premier League matches and chipped in with eight goals and four assists to go along with six 'big chances' created.
As you can see in the graphic above, as provided by Opta, the pair have a similarity score of 80.7%. Indeed, they are both excellent contributors in possession but are not particularly active in the defensive side of the game.
Both players rank in the top 8% of midfielders in the Men's Big Five Leagues and European competitions for non-penalty expected goals and expected assiststed goals combined per 90 over the last 365 days, which essentially means they are adept at getting into excellent scoring positions and are capable of providing their fellow attackers with high-quality chances to score from.
This is backed up by their aforementioned statistics in their respective leagues as they are both capable of being difference-makers in the final third by bursting from midfield to win games with goals and assists.
Valverde, whose number one player comparison on FBref is Gundogan, would be an exceptional replacement for the Barcelona-bound general as the £135k-per-week ace is a midfielder who has proven himself to be capable of making a huge impact at the top end of the pitch.
At the age of 24, the Real Madrid star would also arrive at Manchester City with plenty of time to improve and develop and would, therefore, be a long-term signing to take Gundogan's place. That would no doubt be perfect for Guardiola as it would give him time to work with the midfielder in order to implement his ideas.
