'Not clever enough' - Pep Guardiola aims brutal dig at his own Man City player as he discusses possible positional change

Nunes joined Manchester City in a £47 million ($60m) transfer from Wolves in the summer of 2023, following the departure of Ilkay Gundogan. The Portugal international was expected to be the direct replacement for the German, however, he has struggled for form under Guardiola in the middle of the field.

This season, Nunes started off as a natural midfielder whenever he played, however, he was then shifted over to the left wing, where he struggled as well. As such, the Portugal international was moved to right-back following the lack of form shown by Kyle Walker, prior to his departure to AC Milan. Nunes started in that role yet again against Manchester United on Sunday, and Guardiola has now claimed that he could be a better right-back than a midfielder.

Speaking to the media, Guardiola said: "He can become a good right-back for the physicality. I think he's not a player to play in the middle because he's not clever enough, in composure. He has incredible skills and he's learning a lot; full-backs always have a big mistake when a cross to the far-post where you are, always they're sleeping.

"He defended really well two or three crosses from Bruno Fernandes, [Patrick] Dorgu. He has physicality to do it, he can play that position and he's helped a lot. When we started the season and I tell we're going to play Matheus at right-back, Nico [O'Reilly] left-back, you'd tell me, 'What are you talking about?' But the season is what it is."

Nunes will likely remain as City's main right-back for the rest of the season, with the number of injuries they have to contend with. However, it remains to be seen if Guardiola would prefer to sign a natural right-sided full-back in the summer.