Many Manchester City fans are still seething over the club failing to sign a new right-back during the summer transfer window.
Indeed, the squad is so short at right-back that Man City fans have speculated that Kalvin Phillips could be drafted in as cover.
However, it’s not as easy as just snapping up whichever target takes your fancy in the transfer window, and panic buying rarely works out.
And in some cases, players who have slipped through the net may not necessarily impress elsewhere.
Indeed, a right-back who was in Manchester City’s sights over the summer has endured a “brutal” debut for a Premier League rival.
READ MORE: Erling Haaland has just done something which shows he’s ready to become Manchester City captain
Arsenal v Nottingham Forest - Premier League
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
More Man City News
Nicolo Savona makes crucial error in Nottingham Forest loss at Arsenal
The player in question is Nicolo Savona, who was on City’s radar but ended up moving to Nottingham Forest instead.
Michele Puglisi, Savona’s agent, recently revealed that City had asked about the 22-year-old right-back.
In the end, Forest signed him from Juventus in a deal worth up to £13.5million.
Savona was thrown in at the deep end in Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Arsenal, coming on for the injured Murillo.
And early on in the second half, Savona failed to deal with a routine long ball over the top, which allowed Eberechi Eze to square for Viktor Gyokeres to slam home.
The Nottingham Post gave Savona a 4.5 out of 10 and admitted he had a ‘difficult’ debut and a ‘brutal’ introduction to the Premier League.
In addition, the Italian was dispossessed nine times during the game, though he did win four ground duels and completed 18 of 21 passes.
Admittedly, Savona didn’t have a pre-season as he was recovering from an ankle injury, and mistakes can happen when thrown in at the deep end.
At the same time, the ball Arsenal delivered was not exactly a challenging one, and Savona really should have dealt with it rather than letting it bounce.
A new right-back at City would have needed to hit the ground running, while Savona looks like he will need some time to get up to speed in the league.
READ MORE: Manchester City have a ‘special’ 18-year-old deemed better than Tyler Dibling
Who Manchester City are expected to play at right-back
With Kyle Walker leaving City this year, Guardiola has been rotating between several auxiliary right-backs.
Matheus Nunes is one such player, even though he is a midfielder by trade and does not seem to like being considered a right-back.
Rico Lewis, who has just signed a new contract at Man City, has also been covering in the position, along with Abdukodir Khusanov.
It remains to be seen whether Phillips or Luke Mbete – both of whom are in the 25-man Premier League squad – could also be utilised as cover.
Admittedly, it’s not a great state of affairs for City, a team that has dominated English football over the past 10 or so years.
City will hopefully sign a new right-back in the January window, otherwise it’ll be another really long season.