COMMENT: Problem? Solution. This is how the great clubs act. Precision. Focus. It's all on display at Manchester City as they deal in Jeremy Doku this week...
The claim has been made he arrives as cover for his Belgium teammate Kevin de Bruyne. The four month lay-off after hamstring surgery kicking City into action. But Doku arrives more as a replacement for Riyad Mahrez, than De Bruyne. Indeed, you can argue he's a virtual like-for-like successor for the now Al-Ahli signing - though with greater pace and power.
And that's typical City. Yes, De Bruyne's absence does increase the need for an attacking midfield addition. But the Treble winners - quietly, discreetly - long had Doku in their sights. And when the time came, they acted swiftly. Without fuss. No great pursuit through the press. No long drawn out haggling with clubs and agents. It was €60m down for Rennes. A decent contract tabled for Doku. And it was all wrapped up without any leaks or social media rumours. As we say, it was a precise, focused operation. A typical Man City transfer.
So why Doku? Again, he's a Mahrez-type. Clever. Tricky. And with a humble character eager to learn. A typical City player. A typical Pep Guardiola player. One to bring into a system. A culture. Ready and willing to adapt. A player known to fans, but not one to make headlines around the world. But he doesn't have to, Doku has the respect of the great and the good inside the game. He's a real players' player.
"When I watch football on TV, I look out for him," said his former Belgium captain Eden Hazard last year. "I really like watching him and it'll be special to now train together."
Former City star Samir Nasri has gone further, declaring: "I think he's a future crack, he has crazy qualities in one against one, great qualities of explosiveness and dribbling too.
"He can claim the top 20 in the world."
And Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who gave Doku his debut as Belgium manager, has also stated: "He is an exceptional talent. He is a young player who is very strong in 1v1s.
"And now we see him growing wiser in his game."
Even City's great nemesis, Jurgen Klopp, has had his say. The Liverpool manager famously likening a teenage Doku to Sadio Mane when trying to convince the then Anderlecht prospect about a move to Anfield. Only the intervention of a certain Romelu Lukaku saw Doku resist the Reds and continue his education in Belgium. People inside the game are well aware of the 'Belgian flash'.
So the machine barrels on. A faulty part is fixed. And with a minimum of fuss. Of course, football is unpredictable. There's sure to be a settling in period. But given this management team's track record, Doku is as sure a thing as you'll get. Particularly when walking into the settled, stable environment that City offers. An environment setup for players to reach their best - some instantly, just consider Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland.
"In Anderlecht, we have trained a lot of good players but he is the best dribbler we have seen," says Stephane Sassin, the former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder, who worked with Doku inside Anderlecht's much-vaunted academy. "Sometimes, he even showed arrogance in the youth categories. He eliminated one or two players, then instead of going for the goal, he put his foot on the ball to wait for his opponents and do the same thing again.
"It was his cute indulgence, but he was so hard to coach! But this characteristic, he chose to drop it when he reached the pros."
We could be hearing from one of Mahrez's old coaches at Le Havre. As we say like-for-like. A piece to make the jigsaw whole again. To keep the machine well-oiled.
Last week, Guardiola took a shot at the media, stating (quite rightly) that "you'd kill me" if City were spending like Todd Boehly's Chelsea have over this past year. But the difference is, there's no need for City to go crazy in the transfer market. The work of Guardiola, along with Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain above him, over recent years has this trophy-winning machine so finely-tuned that precision strikes are all that's needed.
Indeed, Guardiola in the same soundbite, would say as much: "The strategy is to win but we will not be desperate to do something if we don't believe in it just to have one more player.
"There are a lot of clubs that have to get rid of a lot of players or they have lots of players coming back from loans - we don't have that problem which is nice.
"That's why the strategy we have done the last few years means the club is working really well with many things."
Doku is part of that strategy. A problem emerged. It needed addressing. And with calm and precision, City have found their solution. This is how the great clubs - boasting the planet's best team - act.
