Nico Gonzales' Bitter Debut At Manchester City

JAKARTA - Manchester City's new player Nico Gonzalez was withdrawn due to injury after making his 22-minute debut on Saturday, February 8, 2025.

The midfielder, who joined Porto with a 60 million euro deal on the last day of the winter transfer market, appears to have suffered a rib injury after falling accidentally when it collided with Leyton Orient's Sonny totaled.

After receiving treatment, Gonzalez held on to his side when he left the field early in the FA Cup Fourth Round match at Brisbane Road.

"I think Nico immediately understood what the Premier League (and English football) was. I don't know how severe (the collision) was, but he couldn't continue the match," said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

His injury will come to Guardiola's attention ahead of the Champions League playoffs against Real Madrid on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.

Gonzalez's recruitment is meant to help fill the void left by Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who has been sidelined since September 2024 due to an ACL injury.

During Rodri's absence, the Manchester City defense began to waver and needed to beat defending champions Real Madrid in a two-legged playoffs to advance to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Gonzalez was one of five players recruited in the January 2025 transfer window as Guardiola tried to save the season.

Manchester City spent more than 200 million US dollars in massive winter spending.

They signed Egyptian striker Omar Marmoush for 73 million US dollars as well as defender Abdokodir Khusanov from Lens and Vitor Reis for a total of 77 million US dollars.

Christian McFarlane, 18-year-old left-back, joined New York City FC's club while captain Kyle Walker moved to AC Milan.

Meanwhile, in the match against Leyton Orient, Manchester City came from one goal behind in the first half to win 2-1 and advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup.