Jeremy Doku says he’s learning when to slow the game down as part of his development under Pep Guardiola.
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The lightning quick Belgian winger has enjoyed a sparkling start to his third season at City, contributing to our positive start in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Still just 23, Doku is approaching 100 games in a City shirt and has played more than 250 times in his professional career.
Aston Villa v City | Match preview
However, he says there’s still plenty he is learning from Guardiola every single day.
While his natural pace and acceleration is one of his key assets, Doku says the boss has made him aware of the importance of picking the right moment to use it.
He said: “There are a lot of things I learn daily but the biggest thing is, when I arrived I was younger and had a lot of energy and always wanted to go forward but what I’ve learned is that sometimes you need to know the moments in the game to be more mature and calm down.
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“It’s something I’ve improved on. We keep improving because we know everyone has the quality to play - if you want to play you need to be on point every time.
“We push each other in a healthy way and that makes us improve every day.”
Since joining in 2023, Doku has won four major honours at the Etihad including the 2023/24 Premier League title.
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After a disappointing 2024/25, City have started the new season well as we seek a return to aiming for the biggest honours in the game.
Doku says that demand is something the squad relish.
“It’s challenging - there’s a lot of pressure but when you look around you - you are surrounded by a top team and good stuff as well. That’s all you want,” he stated.
“Every player wants to win the biggest trophies and wants to be up there - we all strive to win trophies and to compete.
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“I enjoy the game when most of the time we have the ball - we are a team that dominate and for us as wingers it’s fun when we have the ball and we can attack a lot.
“Everyone in this team has a goal and an ambition - everyone is motivated to be the best version of themselves.”
While Doku has been one of our key players this season, there’s been one man that has grabbed the majority of the headlines.
Erling Haaland has netted an incredible 24 goals in 14 appearances for club and country, including at least one in each of his last 12 appearances.
Doku says it’s exciting for every member of the squad to play alongside the Norwegian.
“He’s a machine. He likes to score goals and he always scores goals - he’s always hungry,” he said.
“It’s his quality too - he’s always had that. I’m not surprised by how he’s been doing.”
ASTON VILLA V City app coverage
Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from our Premier League showdown with Aston Villa from one place.
Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at 12:00 (UK).
Natalie Pike will be joined in the studio by Chris Samba and Joleon Lescott.
During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Kit Symons while our text commentary continues.
Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.
We’ll have a quick-hit 2-minute highlights package available at 17:45 (UK), while you can sign-in to watch a free 8-minute edit at midnight.
On CITY+ meanwhile, there’ll be our popular full-match replay as well as our new extended highlights offering which features the best 20 minutes of action from the game. Both are also available at midnight.
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