Manchester City had the unenviable task this summer of replacing Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian left as a legend of the club and of the Premier League, having won the top flight six times, as well as the Champions League in City’s famous treble win of 2022/23.
Of course, when the Belgian was at the peak of his powers, he had the baton passed to him from David Silva. Another legend at the Etihad Stadium, Silva played 144 times with De Bruyne, before departing the club for his native Spain to return to La Liga.
David Silva De Bruyne
Well, now City could be back in the market for a playmaking genius, who could certainly be seen as their new Silva.
The state of play at Manchester City
With days left of the summer transfer window, City could still plot a late move following their humbling 2-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Real Madrid star Rodrygo is one name constantly linked with a move to East Manchester.
However, he is not the only Los Blancos star who could move to City.
Remarkably, according to Caught Offside, Pep Guardiola’s side are said to be ‘keeping a close eye’ on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s situation at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The former Liverpool star only moved to the Spanish capital this summer, but after being dropped in favour of Dani Carvajal, questions about his future have already been raised.
Trent-Alexander-Arnold-Real-Madrid
That has led reports to suggest that the Citizens could launch a ‘sensational bid’ as early as January for a player valued at £65m, via Transfermarkt.
Why Alexnader-Arnold would be a good signing
It is fair to say that Alexander-Arnold would return to the Premier League with an incredible reputation. Manchester United legend Gary Neville once said he has the potential to become “the best right-back the world has ever produced”, and he certainly shone for Liverpool.
Trent-Alexander-Arnold
In 354 appearances for his boyhood club, the England international scored 23 goals and amassed an incredible tally of 92 assists, with passes such as this one back in 2023, a regular occurrence. He helped the Reds to two Premier League titles and the Champions League.
For a right-back to so regularly create chances to the level Alexander-Arnold did, you have to be a “maestro”, as Statman Dave once described him.
There were seven Premier League seasons where he played more than 20 games, and in four of them, he hit double figures for assists.
Trent assists per season
Season
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Stats from Transfermarkt
City’s creative genius before De Bruyne was, of course, Silva. The Spaniard is City’s “greatest ever player” according to Jamie Carragher, and even has a statue outside of the Etihad Stadium paying homage to his genius.
The former Valencia midfielder pulled on that famous Blue shirt 436 times, scoring 77 goals and assisting 136 times on top of that. He was capable of operating all over the pitch in attacking areas, but did his best work as a number 10.
It is easy to see how Alexander-Arnold, who earned £180k per week at Anfield, could become City’s new Silva.
Firstly, this would be a signing from La Liga, and whilst he is more of a known quantity to Citizens fans than Silva may have been, creative signings from the Spanish top flight have tended to work well for them.
Trent
Both players have excellent creative numbers behind them, too. Alexander-Arnold’s record at Liverpool was sensational, and he already has two assists for Madrid. As for Silva, he had 39 assists to his name for Valencia before moving to City in 2010.
Of course, the key difference is the position, with the Los Blancos man playing at right-back rather than in midfield. Yet, there has been talk that he should move centrally, and he even began to invert into midfield under Jurgen Klopp, a role Carragher said was “almost perfect for him” back in 2023.
Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold
Whatever plans Guardiola hatches for Alexander-Arnold if he moves to City, he will look to get the best out of him creatively.
With the sort of influence he can have in the final third, his potential role in midfield and the fact he’d be moving from Spain, this really could be the second coming of Silva.