Nico Gonzalez: Why Man City have spent £50m on Barcelona's former Sergio Busquets-regen to fill Rodri's shoes

Nico is the son of legendary Deportivo La Coruna midfielder Fran, who spent 17 years at the club and was part of the much-loved side known as 'SuperDepor' which conquered La Liga in 1999-2000 and pulled off some memorable Champions League results in the early 21st century. Fran most notably played a pivotal role in Depor's epic quarter-final comeback against AC Milan in 2004, scoring the decisive goal as the Spanish side came from 4-1 down to knock out the defending European champions 5-4 on aggregate.

Despite being born into such a prestigious football family, Nico initially showed little enthusiasm for the sport. "Nico didn't want to play football at first," Fran recalled. "When he was six years old, he had no interest. I was still playing and maybe he was tired of going from place to place. But then one day arrived and, I don't know why, but he just started to play."

Nico was blessed to have a small football pitch at his home to hone his skills and a former Spain international to show him the ropes. By the age of 10, he was playing for the Under-13s at his local club, Montaneros, in Galacia, and turned on the style for a tournament that also featured Barcelona and Real Madrid, scoring a brace against the Catalans.

Both Spanish giants showed a major interest in signing him, and despite Madrid offering more money, Nico and his mother preferred the idea of moving to Barcelona. He joined the Catalan club's famed La Masia academy in 2013 and made steady progress, becoming a regular in the reserve side by the 2020-21 season.

The summer of 2021 was a painful one for Barcelona as they had to part ways with Lionel Messi due to their crippling financial crisis. But their inability to make major signings presented a huge opportunity for their talented youngsters, such as Nico, Abde Ezzalzouli, Alejandro Balde, Ferran Jutgla and Gavi.

Nico made his debut off the bench in the opening game of the 2021-22 season against Real Sociedad and soon became a regular starter. He really made his mark on the team during a dream week in December when he scored for the first time in a 2-2 draw at Osasuna, controlling a pass from Gavi to fire in the opening goal. Seven days later, he rescued Barca from embarrassment in front of their own fans, as the Catalans had surrendered a 2-0 lead against struggling Elche, only for Nico to pop up late in the game to again meet a pass from Gavi, bring it under control and smash in the winner.

Gonzalez's huge 6'2" (188cm) frame drew comparisons with Sergio Busquets in his early days, and then-Barca youth coach Francisco Xavier Garcia Pimienta told GOAL in 2021: "If we seek excellence at Barcelona, Nico will be the replacement for Busquets for many years."

Nico's fine start at Barca began to slow down, however, as Gavi and Pedri locked down their places under Xavi Hernandez, and he was therefore limited to substitute appearances. He went on loan to Valencia for the 2022-23 season, but did not have the best time at Mestalla, as he struggled for regular football under Gennaro Gattuso and then broke his foot in December, knocking him out of action for three months. He came back stronger, though, and his solid finish to the season was enough for Porto to sign him for €8.5m (£7m/$9m).

He was not an instant hit in Portugal, however, and coach Sergio Conceicao admitted Nico had made "a difficult transition". Yet slowly but surely he got to grips with the coach's demands and became a regular starter from January 2024 onwards.

"Sergio Conceicao demands a lot from all of us and this is very important for me. I'm very young, at 20 and 21 years old I already had a lot of experience in the first division, but his demands made me progress. I've grown a lot, today I'm a better player than a year ago", he said at the end of the season.

Conceicao's departure from Porto over the summer brought instability and they have had a torrid season thus far, sacking manager Vitor Bruno in January. Nico, though, has been the one positives of the wretched campaign, as he started 17 of Porto's 19 league games before joining City, scoring five goals and two assists. He has also made the difference in the Europa League, providing assists against Anderlecht and Hoffenheim while playing a through ball which led to Samu Omorodion scoring against Manchester United. He then scored the only goal in their decisive final League Phase game against Maccabi Tel Aviv which sent Porto into the play-offs.

Nico's latest displays convinced City to make a last-ditch move to sign a midfielder before the January transfer window shut, and he described the move as "the perfect opportunity for me at this stage of my career", while City's sporting director Txiki Begiristain called him "a very talented young midfielder" and "an ideal acquisition for Manchester City".

Having grown up at La Masia, Gonzalez naturally has outstanding ball control and short-passing ability, which make him a natural fit into Guardiola's midfield. He explained: "The Barca school teaches you from a young age that the most effective way is the simple way, playing one or two touches and quickly."

Former Porto coach Vitor Bruno, meanwhile, said Gonzalez has "an unparalleled ability to break lines with the ball and read the game from the front". He can operate as a No.6, anchoring the midfield, or as a probing, attacking No.8. He has excelled in the latter role this season, scoring seven goals in all competitions.

Despite his reputation and his top-level experience at a young age, there is a general consensus that Gonzalez is yet to reach the top of his game and there are doubts over whether or not he will be able to handle the step up to City.

ESPN pundit Julien Laurens believes as much, saying: "They probably overpaid for him, but the defeat against Arsenal showed the emergency of a No.6. He was not good enough for Barcelona or for Valencia either. He scored against Maccabi, he had a good game but he did nothing outstanding. Playing in a better team will make him better. Nico is a good player he has a lot of qualities to do well at City, the thing is he will need to step up in his own ability because this is a different level to Porto, Valencia or a Barca team that was not very good anyway. It will be interesting to see what he does there but they paid a lot of money, €60m is a lot of money for a player really who so far hasn't played at that level of investment."

Upon signing for City, Gonzalez said: "I want to test myself in England", and that's just as well because he is going to be thrown right in at the deep end. He has five days to acclimatise to his new club before potentially making his debut in the FA Cup on Saturday at Leyton Orient. The League One side seem like kind opponents for his first experience of English football, but things will then get a whole lot harder as City face a daunting two-legged Champions League play-off with Real Madrid, sandwiched in between gruelling Premier League matches at home to Newcastle and leaders Liverpool, and followed by a trip to Tottenham.

"Look at the squad they have here... It’s unbelievable, full of world-class players," he said. "There isn’t a footballer in the world who would not want to be part of this setup. I know the reputation Pep has and I cannot wait to work with him. In fact, I am honoured he wants me to play in his team. I am truly excited."