Nico O’Reilly was one of the few success stories from Man City’s underwhelming 24/25 campaign.
Pep Guardiola’s men underperformed throughout last season as the Manchester club went from winning four Premier League titles in a row to needing to secure Champions League football on the final day.
City improved in the second half of the season as Guardiola began to find solutions, and one of them was bringing in O’Reilly to play at left-back, while moving Josko Gvardiol into the middle to partner Ruben Dias.
Man City fans were impressed by some of O’Reilly’s displays in the role, and that also seems to have attracted other clubs to the 20-year-old, and the Manchester outfit have now made their stance on the youngster’s future very clear.
Nico O'Reilly in action for Manchester City v Aston Villa.
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
Manchester City want to keep Nico O’Reilly
On Tuesday, Fabrizio Romano reported that Premier League and Bundesliga clubs are interested in O’Reilly, with talks having taken place to try and get a deal done.
Man City fans were not happy with this news, as the Etihad faithful have high hopes for the 20-year-old, and they will be pleased to know that the Manchester club have no intentions of parting ways with the midfielder this summer.
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According to The Times’ Paul Hirst, Man City want to keep O’Reilly for the 25/26 season and that there are “no plans for him to leave” this summer either on loan or permanently.
Guardiola is also believed to be very happy with the English talent, and next season could be the start of his plans to convert O’Reilly into a number six.
The 20-year-old will find it hard to hold down a starting spot in the Spaniard’s team; however, the midfielder will be given a rotation role and having had a breakthrough last term, the upcoming campaign will be used to help the player learn for his future development.
Manchester City duo could now leave this summer
It was reported on Tuesday that the Man City futures of John Stones, O’Reilly, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Claudio Echeverri and Oscar Bobb are all up in the air, as the Manchester club look to trim down Guardiola’s squad.
With O’Reilly now set to stay at the Etihad Stadium, this could result in another midfielder leaving, and the two main options would be Kovacic and Gundogan.
Both had their moments last season, but it was the Croatian star who stepped up the most, and being younger than the German, this could work in the former Chelsea player’s favour.
It remains to be seen who departs Manchester over the coming weeks from the list above, but one thing is for sure: it won’t be Nico O’Reilly.