Manchester City transfer news: Nolito isn't the answer, but he's an important piece in Pep Guardiola's jigsaw

City struggled last season with below-par strike options to Sergio Aguero, but in Nolito they have gained a direct runner who will provide power and goals

Spain striker Nolito has joined Manchester City from Celta Vigo in a £13m deal (Getty)

With just six games left of Euro 2016, this is the point of the summer when the club game starts to reassert itself, demanding back the attention it has given up in June. Manchester City enjoyed a relaunch of sorts on Friday, with a new badge, a new Twitter handle and a new signing.

Nolito is a 29-year-old wide forward who only cost £14m from Celta Vigo. He is not exactly box office and had he not started for Spain in their ultimately disappointing Euro campaign he would barely be known by English fans. And yet he arrives at City with the promise of being an important piece in Pep Guardiola’s new plans, a man who should bring them some qualities which they have sorely lacked in the last few years.

One of the stories of Manchester City’s gradual decline over the last few seasons has been the deterioration of their striking options. Four strikers, or at least three good ones plus a wildcard, has been the traditional requirement for successful sides. In 2011-12 City won the league with Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and the occasional contributions of Mario Balotelli. Two years later they won the league again, with Aguero, Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo as their main arsenal, with Stefan Jovetic in reserve.

Last season, though, as City limped to their worst league finish since 2010, they were far weaker up front. Aguero was as good as ever, when he was fit, but all he had to support him was Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfried Bony. Iheanacho is a gifted youngster, but Bony was a spectacularly bad use of £29million, a mistake that has cost City badly. No wonder they drew five games 0-0 and finished fourth.

Aguero is the best striker in the country when he is fit but the evidence of his five years at City is that he needs top-quality support. Nolito is a winger rather than a number nine but he will provide power, direct running and goals, all of which City have lacked recently. If Guardiola plays a 4-3-3 he can be expected to fit in quite naturally on the left of that front-line, the role he played this season for Celta Vigo, helping to take the pressure away from an overexposed Raheem Sterling. While some City players will have to get up to speed with Guardiola’s concepts, with Nolito the direct running, tactical discipline and high pressing that Guardiola demands are a given.

The two have worked together before, five years ago, but only briefly. When Guardiola took over as Barcelona manager in 2008 the club signed a 21-year-old Nolito, but while he excelled for Luis Enrique’s Barcelona B side, Guardiola struggled to find a role for him in the first team. He made a few appearances but realised he had to make his career elsewhere so left in 2011 for Benfica.

Enrique always liked and trusted Nolito and two years later he signed him for Celta Vigo. That was where the talented Nolito turned into a consistently dangerous forward, with an explosive burst of pace and a powerful right foot. During the first half of last season Nolito was arguably the best player in La Liga outside the big three clubs, so much so that Enrique tried to sign him for a third time in January, thinking that his selfless power would complement Barcelona’s superstar front line.


 Few will have known of Nolito until he started for Spain at Euro 2016 (Getty)

The deal never happened and so this summer Nolito was back on the market. Barcelona were interested but did not move quickly enough and Guardiola saw the opportunity to find a striker who he knows and can do what he demands. He is not the answer to all of City’s problems, no-one could be at just £14m, but he is a start.