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In a transfer window which was all botched up, Matija Nastasić was a shining ray of hope. Cool & composed, neither fazed by occasion nor the opposition, Matija went on to become one of the best City players of 2012-13 season. His stature as one of best defending talent was well & truly established. With a rise & promise so spectacular, why is there even a talk of selling such a gifted player?
Playing style & system
Nastasić doesn’t suit Pellegrini’s playing style & system. He is suited more to the compact defensive line & short passing style while, Pellegrini’s high line & expansive style of play leaves Nastasić exposed. Nastasić is good on the ball, but Pellegrini needs a defender who is better going forward & can start quick attacks.
There’s an argument that with Nastasić being so young, he has sufficient time & talent to be groomed into a type of player City wants. Its logical but possible only when player has the "basic attributes" to build into himself a different style of player and Pellegrini seems to think Nastasić doesn’t have those. And what about the risk associated with such a change, is City & more importantly Nastasić ready to take that risk?
It’s not a question on Nastasić’s talent but a question on his suitability to City’s present & future.
"Matija needs to play. We already have important players here with four full backs....so we will see in the next few days what happens with Nastasic. He is an important player, but he has offers and I think the best thing for him is to play"
It’s all about money, honey
If he remains at club, Nastasić will get only a handful of games as 4th choice CB, severely dampening his value & reducing City’s bargaining power in negotiations with buying club.
City hierarchy has a new found importance to financial success & they would want to maximize each of its assets – depreciating value of a player, while not having guarantees on plus side, will not bode well on that vision.
Expected price: £14-16 Mn (Watch Txiki breaking this fee expectation though)
It’s not a question on Matija’s talent, neither on Pellegrini’s faith in him. Almost all clubs will get better by his addition & will get a top player for next decade. But it’s not end of road for City. Txiki & Pellegrini are far from making rash decisions & have shown that their judgment can be trusted, at-least till they make a few wrong ones.