Portuguese Ruben Dias soon became Manchester City's defense minister and stabilized her • Although he is only 23 and for the first time playing abroad everyone is delighted with the youngster who "makes others better" • About the bingo Pep Guardiola dreamed of for a year
Dias.
Justifies the price
Photography:
Gettyimages
Considering it cost 68 million euros, Ruben Diaz made very little noise when he arrived at Manchester City at the end of September as the most expensive acquisition in its history.
With respect to the signings of Virgil Van Dyke at Liverpool and Harry Maguire at Manchester United, which cost a little more, screen time and the amount of paper he received in the media were minor.
The reasons for this can range from the fact that he came from the Portuguese runner-up in Nafica, and without getting a single minute in the World Cup in 2018, through the fact that Manchester City acquired Nathan Aka for the same position for 45 million euros, to the timing of the deal.
Diaz Hari was signed on September 29, two days after City snatched a quintet from Leicester City in one of their worst defensive displays in the Pep Guardiola era.
The home side of the Blues looked broken and burdocked at the start of the season - City conceded 7 goals in their first three games - and it was hard to believe that one man, 23, who had never left Portugal, would be able to change the situation.
But Ruben Diaz slept.
From end to end.
Since making its 1-1 draw with Leeds United, City have lost just once (2-0 to Tottenham in the only game they have conceded more than once) and conceded seven goals in 13 league games.
With the Portuguese in the squad, the runner-up has kept a clean sheet in 12 games in all competitions, and has managed to convert a stuttering season opener into one that is currently on the ticket to the League Cup final, fourth round of the Cup, Champions League quarterfinals and is close enough to the top with two missing games And a convenient schedule, starting tonight with a home game against Brighton.
Justified credit
"He's at the center of every attack," former Liverpool stopper Jamie Krager analyzed. "There's a sense he's been on this team for five years."
For Belem, probably one who arrived in England less than four months ago, there is no greater compliment than this.
The Portuguese really seemed to have naturally skipped the acclimatization phase, and immediately moved on to the work phase.
Enough to see the videos that have already gone viral, in which the Portuguese is seen aiming his teammates at attack, to understand that Diaz's qualities do not stop quickly, play height and tackling abilities.
The 23-year-old brakeman is gifted with game vision, situation reading, aggression, assertiveness, and quite a bit of that spice that turns players into leaders.
When City climbed to a 0-1 lead over Chelsea, while everyone was celebrating, the Portuguese handed out instructions to Alexander Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling.
During the 0-2 win over United in the League Cup, he caught John Stones for a long hug that the English stopper deserved.
Stones is one of the big beneficiaries of Dias' arrival.
An extraordinary connection is formed between the two, and the data alone tells the story.
City have won seven games in which Dias and Stones have opened in central defense and conceded one goal.
"I just really like playing alongside him," admitted the 26-year-old Englishman who has been delivering incredible abilities in recent weeks.
"A lot of credit to the Stones," Krager added;
"But a lot of credit to Dias as well. That's the point of leaders - to make others better."
Pep and City have been looking for such a character since Vincent Kompany left in 2019, it is doubtful if the Spanish coach imagined that this man would be Diaz, and that it would happen so quickly, but sometimes surprises also come in packages of 68 million euros.
"When you acquire a player, you never know how much he will contribute to the squad," Pep said this week, "but his abilities and understanding of his game are amazing, and he always wants to learn and get better."
According to Guardiola, Diaz lives football and devotes himself entirely to the profession.
"I can guarantee we have signed a player for the next 7-6 years," Pep concluded.
Meanwhile, Diaz seems like an instant match.
City is not the attacking machine that has characterized it in recent years, and today it is more crowded at the back and faster at the front.
With Dias, and Stones by his side, there is an impression that Pep has found the new formula for the old success.