When recently asked if Jeremy Doku could reach the levels of Vinicius Jr and Lamine Yamal, Pep Guardiola was in no doubt.
“Yeah, for sure,” said the Manchester City boss. “And always accept being pushed. Always accept that. And that is so nice. We are really pleased. Now he is winning games. But he has always been really, really good.”
Doku has evolved as a player and is beginning to realise his immense promise at City after nearly three years with the club.
Still just 23, the Belgium winger was signed from Rennes for £55.4m in August 2023, with City aware of his high potential.
His pace and dribbling quality have always been best in class – underpinning a unique profile in the modern game.
Speaking to The Athletic, Shaun Maloney, one of Doku’s former coaches with Belgium, said the winger’s quality immediately stood out at youth level.
“What you see now in terms of one-v-one dribbling was exactly him then. He was taking it in his own half and dribbling 70 and 80 yards,” Maloney said.
A few years later, during Doku’s first year playing for Rennes, Kylian Mbappe and his father sat in the stands watching on in awe.
“I was speaking with my father about a player I had noticed from the stands because of his pace,” said Mbappe.
“The player was Doku at Rennes. In my five years as a pro, I had never seen someone with so much explosivity in his first steps.”
With specific standout qualities, players can forge strong careers, but becoming the star of an elite side comes from pulling together those qualities in a complete manner – something Doku has now started to do.
Saturday will see him hoping to help secure Man City a second trophy of the campaign, when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
