These days, if Man City want a player they normally get him, so it’s quite the surprise to find that an 18-year-old wonder kid won’t be making the move to the Emirates Stadium anytime soon.
Pep Guardiola’s side have slipped off the Premier League pace a little of late, however, they’re still the reigning champions as well as being champions of Europe and, if the result goes in their favour, world champions after Friday’s Club World Cup final against Fluminense.
To that end, particularly when you consider that as a player you’ll get the opportunity to work with the best coach of your generation, seeing that Ajax’s Gabriel Misehouy would rather stay with the Eredivisie side is a brave decision indeed.
Though, given the choice between regular football and having to fight to get a foothold in the first-team, it could be suggested that Misehouy has made a sensible decision for himself.
A target for the English top-flight side he may have been but the teenager hasn’t actually been close to signing for them at this point.
“I’ve never spoken to City, and never with another foreign club. My only goal with Gabriel is to reach Ajax 1 (Ajax’s first-team),” his agent, Guido Albers, was quoted as saying on the Pantellic Podcast (h/t Voetbalzone).
The Guardian (subscription required) described Misehouy as a wonder kid back in 2022, so it stands to reason why City would be interested.
To be told no is likely to put a few noses out of joint at the Etihad Stadium, but that may not stop them from pursuing the youngster further down the line.