Hugo Viana receives Pep Guardiola verdict on Manchester City full-backs ahead of January window | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has piled on the praise for full-back duo Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly ahead of the 2026 January transfer window.

Though neither is a primary defender, Nunes and O’Reilly have been in excellent form on the right and left sides of City’s backline since their purple patch began in September – a run of form that has propelled the Blues to second place in the Premier League table despite a rocky start to the 2025-26 season.

City were tasked with a dilemma in the summer transfer window when Kyle Walker was sold to Burnley upon his return to the Etihad Stadium from an indifferent loan spell at AC Milan, whom the 35-year-old joined in January after losing his starting spot under Guardiola.

Hugo Viana was appointed as Manchester City’s director of football in the summer and in his first summer at the Etihad Stadium, the Portuguese executive conducted a thorough audit of Guardiola’s first-team squad in the backdrop of a dismal 2024-25 season by all accounts for the Blues.

Viana signed on a series of high-profile exits in the summer, with all of Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Scott Carson, James McAtee, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson leaving Manchester City and the likes of Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji opting for season-long loans away from the Etihad Stadium to bolster their 2026 FIFA World Cup chances.

City added seven new faces to their first-team squad in the recent window and Viana received huge plaudits for his shrewd recruitment of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Gianluigi Donnarumma in particular, with the Blues conducting a major rejig of their ranks to challenge for major trophies in the seasons to come.

Despite strong interest in Newcastle’s Valentino Livramento and AS Roma’s Wesley Franca, Manchester City decided against adding a new right-back to their squad as the club did not find a suitable like-for-like replacement in the market.

City are not expected to be nearly as active in the January 2026 transfer window as they were in the summer but Viana and co are expected to closely monitor the market in the event of any openings that the club could look to capitalise on to bolster Guardiola’s options for the second half of the campaign.

Heaping praise on the pair of Nunes and O’Reilly for their stellar, out-of-position displays at full-back ahead of Saturday’s visit to Newcastle, Guardiola said: “The system needed it. In training, we realise they have special attributes to play that position and convince them but mainly they have to convince themselves they can do it.

“Some players are not open-minded, they say they don’t want to play different roles. When you play regularly, people get confidence and can do it. For example, Nico Gonzalez is playing much better game by game by game because he’s playing a lot.

“Matheus (Nunes) and Nico O’Reilly are good examples. Sometimes they prove it. (Oleksandr) Zinchenko or (Fabian) Delph playing left-back. When I see them, I know midfield players can go in small spaces. Matheus may struggle a little but his physicality is much higher than Aleks (Zinchenko) or Fabian (Delph).

“We don’t have many full backs, Rico (Lewis) is exceptional in the middle. It’s mainly the players about being open, if they start to say they can’t do it it’s not good.”

Nunes and O’Reilly are expected to start against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Saturday and should the duo continue their fine run(s) of form into 2026, Viana and Guardiola may look to delay their pursuit of out-and-out full-backs till next summer.