Manchester City Fan View: Nicolas Otamendi deserves his new deal

Of Manchester City’s four regular centre backs last season – Vincent Kompany, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Aleksandar Kolarov – the latter pair were the ones who were most likely to be shown the exit door last summer.

In fact, Kolarov did leave, joining Serie A outfit Roma to rejoin former City teammate Edin Dzeko. Otamendi, on the other hand, was reportedly on the brink of a move to La Liga giants and Champions League winners Real Madrid.

But that was not necessarily because the Argentine centre back had had a terrific season.

READ MORE: You can learn from Pep at home – Otamendi

In reality, it was more or less the exact opposite, with Pep Guardiola seemingly ready to toss the former Valencia star on top of the deadwood pile, which saw many players depart the Etihad after the Spanish coach’s first campaign in England.

Now, just a few months later, Otamendi has signed a new contract, committing to the Blues until 2022. El General, as he has been dubbed throughout his career, has undergone a revitalisation this term in a similar fashion to teammates like Fabian Delph and Raheem Sterling.

The 29 year old defender has now seemingly overtaken Vincent Kompany in the pecking order, with the club’s captain continuing to be susceptible to long term injuries. A new contract is the perfect way to demonstrate the club’s gratefulness to his service over the past few months – and it is has definitely been earnt.

In previous years under former managers at City, Otamendi was often ill disciplined and deemed to be incapable of playing without being alongside the experienced and level headed Kompany.

He would often dive into challenges, meaning that when opposition attackers manager to get the ball past him, Otamendi was rendered unable to recover and City effectively had one less defender to prevent goal scoring opportunities and goals being conceded.

This season, Guardiola seems to have eradicated that troublesome habit and City supporters are now beginning to see the player that they thought they had signed a few years ago – the £32 million, La Liga team of the season, commanding and combative defender.

He is also adding goals to his game as well – with five goals to his name in 2017/18.

Whilst one Argentine in the form of Sergio Aguero is linked with a City exit at the end of the current campaign, his compatriot Otamendi is surely set to earn a place in the Premier League team of the season and stick around for a few more years yet.