Doku reveals Guardiola's personal pitch was key to his £55m Manchester City move

Jeremy Doku has revealed that a personal conversation with Pep Guardiola was the decisive factor behind his £55 million move from Rennes to Manchester City in August 2023, with the Belgian winger admitting the manager’s direct show of interest removed any lingering doubts about the transfer.

“I spoke with Pep and obviously you don’t need a lot of convincing to go to City,” Doku told FourFourTwo. “He showed his interest in me, which made me comfortable signing.”

Doku arrived at the Etihad at 21, having spent two years at Rennes following an earlier move from Anderlecht. His path to City had not been straightforward — injury disruption during the 2022 World Cup cycle had stalled his momentum at the French club, and Rennes were reluctant to sell. It took City’s financial commitment, and Guardiola’s personal involvement, to get the deal done, with West Ham also in the running for his signature.

The winger was candid about the questions he asked before committing. “I wanted to play, and I wanted to be sure that if I joined City, would I just be there to be there, or do they really count on me?” he said. Guardiola’s assurances on that front proved enough.

Doku also reflected on the broader arc of a career plan he had mapped out from his Anderlecht days. “I had a trajectory in my mind: go from there to a team in the middle who would bring me to the top — then City had just won the Treble, so there was no team more at the top than that,” he said. “That was my goal and it worked out, but I’m not the one directing my plan. It’s directed from above — I’m just living it.”

His debut season at City justified the move emphatically. Within just eight appearances, Doku equalled a Premier League record by registering four assists in a single match — a 6-1 victory over Bournemouth in which he also scored — underlining why Guardiola had been so determined to bring him to Manchester.