Andrea Cambiaso
Andrea Cambiaso in action for Juventus against Wydad AC in the Club World Cup
Had things worked out a little differently, Andrea Cambiaso could have been lining up against Juventus in Orlando on Thursday night, instead of facing Manchester City in the Club World Cup.
Cambiaso held , and although a move didn't materialise, the 25-year-old was a player of interest to the Blues as Pep Guardiola sought full-back reinforcements.
Talk of a move from Juventus to the Etihad has now gone cold, and have spent £31million to sign from Wolves to play left-back. Cambiaso has mostly filled that role for the Old Lady this season.
But he is versatile. Ten of his 44 Juventus games in 2024-25 have been at right back or right wing back, and 80 of his 257 senior appearances have come on the right. He is left-footed, but playing full-backs on their opposite side doesn't always have to be an issue.
Cambiaso was certainly flattered to hold talks with City earlier this year, although he insists his future remains in Turin.
“Let’s say they (Manchester City) have almost unlimited financial resources – their ownership is incredibly wealthy – so I’m not surprised they’ve already spent so much on the transfer market,” Cambiaso told La Gazetta dello Sport last week.
“In January, it was nice just to talk, but I’m happy to be here (at Juventus) and to wear this shirt. I was never really close anyway — it was nice and flattering to be linked with clubs like that, but I’ll say it again: I’m truly happy to be playing here.”
If City have moved on from Cambiaso, it suggests they saw him as a left-sided player, rather than someone who could play on the right. Ait-Nouri will now hold down that role, and Josko Gvardiol and Nico O'Reilly can play there if required.
A right-back is really needed now. Kyle Walker will leave the club this summer, Matheus Nunes hasn't convinced since being converted from midfield, and Rico Lewis had a difficult 2024/25.
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City have shown an interest in England Under-21 international Tino Livramento, but it will be difficult to sign him from Newcastle, and they have also been linked with Flamengo right-back Wesley.
After an excellent beginning to the summer transfer window, signing Marcus Bettinelli, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, as well as Ait-Nouri, a right-back is probably the one area that City could really like to strengthen now.
They do have central defenders who can fill the role, in Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, and Manuel Akanji. Lewis and Nunes would probably rather play in midfield, although they might find minutes there hard to come by.
For now, the battle to be the first-choice right-back is likely to be between the 20-year-old academy graduate and the former Wolves midfielder, but the transfer market could yet provide a solution.
That is now unlikely to be Cambiaso. Thursday's Group G showdown between Juventus and City might offer him one final chance to show Guardiola just what he can do, even if he has to do it from the left rather than the right.
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