City’s second game of pre-season, the Manchester Derby, takes place in Beijing tomorrow afternoon and the Pep vs Jose rivalry is rekindled. After that, City face Borussia Dortmund to finish off the Chinese tour.
The squad of 26 City stars that travelled to Germany in their 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich has been further expanded for this week’s games in the Asian International Champions Cup. A bunch of Copa America and Euro 2016 participants have joined the squad, including the likes of Nolito, Silva, Aguero and others.
Looking into the camp of the enemy though, we asked City fans which United player they wished had put on the blue jersey instead of the red, and the results are in.
These results are announced on the following slideshow.
P.S. Percentages are calculated on the percentage of duels each player has won, so do not expect the number to add up to 100.
5th - Marcus Rashford (44%)
At 5th place is the youngster Marcus Rashford. The teenage wonderkid is one the rawest talents England have made in the past couple of years, his pace and keen eye for goal could couple him up with Kelechi in a formidable and youthful strike force.
4th - Henrikh Mkhitaryan (52%)
United’s new Armenian maestro gained 52% win-rate in the duel. City have already had their Bundesliga import join earlier this window, when Gundogan arrived to the Etihad, and his former partner would have been an excellent signing had City gone for him.
3rd - Luke Shaw (56%)
Winning the bronze medal is the recently recovered Luke Shaw. Sorely missed for club and country this year, Shaw will return as a new signing almost and with vulnerabilities at left-back for City, Shaw would be a smart choice.
2nd - Anthony Martial (67%)
Second place on the podium is the impressive Anthony Martial. Despite the massive fee United paid for the ex-Monaco winger, Martial was able to immediately brush off the pressure from the English media with his immensely quick dribbling and directness. At any place in a front three, Martial would offer City a constant out-ball and the Frenchman isn’t afraid to run at a player, and that’s the kind of attacker City have been crying out for.
1st - David De Gea (71%)
And the winner is David De Gea. A world-class goalkeeping talent has improved enormously over the past couple of years in Manchester and with the pressure on Joe Hart after his dismal Euros, it seems some City fans have jumped ship to the United shot-stopper.