Pep Guardiola reneges on Matheus Nunes midfield stance amid Rodri fitness concerns | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola make an interesting U-turn on Matheus Nunes after the Portuguese’s eye-catching display against Burnley on Saturday.

Nunes notched a crucial goal in the second half to give Manchester City the lead against Burnley after Jaidon Anthony’s leveller just before half-time as the 27-year-old volleyed the ball into the top corner after being teed up by Erling Haaland.

The former Wolves man, who joined Manchester City two years ago, has drawn criticism from some quarters of the club’s fanbase in his first two seasons at the Etihad Stadium, having played out of position for a significant portion of his time in the north-west.

Having deemed Nunes as the best midfielder in the world when the Portugal international was still at Sporting Lisbon, Guardiola has converted his £53 signing into a make-shift right back in the last 12 months by cashing in on Nunes’ versatility and willingness to operate elsewhere to make his way into the lineup one way or the other.

Rodri is virtually impossible to displace from the Manchester City starting XI when fit but Nunes was not auditioned in the number six position during the Ballon d’Or winner’s lengthy lay-off on the sidelines last season – as Guardiola turned to the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Nico Gonzalez to fill in.

Guardiola has admitted previously that Nunes lacks the discipline and intelligence to operate in Manchester City’s defensive midfield slot – a position that demands the highest standards of excellence and has been the bedrock of the club’s success since 2017.

Nunes has carried the right-back workload with Abdukodir Khusanov and Rico Lewis in the last 12 months, with the Portuguese often drawing fair criticism for lacklustre displays when defending and understandably so, given he is not a defender and is trying to get accustomed to Guardiola’s demands of a full-back.

The 27-year-old was one of Manchester City’s best players in the closing months of the 2024-25 campaign as the Blues sought a top-four finish to ensure qualification to the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League group-phase, notably scoring an injury-time winner against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium in April.

Nunes made his first start of the 2025-26 season in a 2-1 defeat to Brighton before the international break, with Guardiola selecting Khusanov over the former Wolves in the games that followed. After impressing in midweek against Huddersfield Town upon his return to the lineup, Nunes was entrusted at right-back against Burnley and he did not disappoint.

“He’s a midfield player and in the final third he has the vision to do good passes, good assists, and I encourage him to try to do it again and again,” Guardiola said on Nunes after Manchester City’s 5-1 battering of Burnley on Saturday.

It remains to be seen whether Guardiola is gradually witnessing promise of Nunes making the cut in midfield as Rodri grapples with recurrences of the knee injury setback he suffered at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in the summer.

Manchester City need as many reliable players as they can get to keep a steady shift as they navigate a period of transition following a wholesale remake of the first-team squad in the summer and Nunes seems to be doing everything he can to force his way into Guardiola’s thinking for the starting XI.