Jeremy Doku Signs Long-Term Deal with Manchester City

Jeremy Doku has become the latest pillar of Manchester City’s next era, committing his future to the club with a new deal running to 2031 and underlining the champions’ faith in a young, aggressively assembled core.

The Belgium winger, signed from Rennes for £55.4m in 2023, is expected to be officially unveiled on the long-term contract next week, but the decision is made: at 24, Doku is in for the long haul at the Etihad.

He earned it. Last season he played 48 times, scored eight goals and brought chaos and acceleration to Pep Guardiola’s final campaign, helping City lift both the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. In a side packed with technicians, Doku gave them something else: raw, direct menace.

He is not alone in tying himself to City’s future. Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov have already signed fresh terms this summer, a clear statement that the club want to lock in their core before Enzo Maresca truly reshapes the squad in his own image.

Gonzalez fights for his place

Not everyone’s position has felt quite as secure.

Nico Gonzalez, a £50m arrival from Porto in January last year, has spent much of his City career looking over his shoulder. The 24-year-old midfielder featured 41 times in all competitions last season and produced one of the standout moments of the campaign with a stunning winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton. Yet he drifted in and out of the starting XI, never fully nailing down a role.

That uncertainty fuelled talk that City might cash in after just 19 months. Gonzalez has heard the noise. He is not buying it.

"I'm happy here," he said when asked about his future. "I don't want to leave and I think the club wants me to stay. I haven't seen anything but I'm happy here.

"When I play I think I do a really good job. A good example was the semi-final of the FA Cup when I did a good match. Every chance I got, I tried my best.

"The final of the FA Cup I was out but we won so it was an amazing day for me. If we win, I'm happy. My dream is to win trophies.

"If I don't play any matches and we win the Champions League next year, I will be so happy."

So far this pre-season, Gonzalez has featured in both friendlies, against Inter Milan and a K-League XI, a small but telling hint that Maresca wants a closer look before any big decisions are made.

A quiet window, an expensive statement

For all the contract renewals, the transfer window itself has been unusually subdued by City’s recent standards. Approaching the second week of August, only one signing looks ready to walk straight into Maresca’s first XI: Elliot Anderson.

The England international has arrived from Nottingham Forest for a club-record £116m, a fee that underlines both City’s financial power and the scale of the hole left by Bernardo Silva, who departed at the end of his contract and joined Real Madrid. Anderson is not a like-for-like replacement, but the timing and the price tell their own story.

Around him, the recruitment has been more about the long game. Teenage winger Jeremy Monga has come in from Leicester and is expected to start in the academy. Goalkeeper Pierce Charles and winger Mathys Detourbet have already gone straight out on loan, classic City moves: buy early, develop elsewhere, reassess later.

Maresca, speaking in South Korea where City are based for pre-season, did not hide the fact that more work is needed. He confirmed director of football Hugo Viana and chief executive Ferran Soriano had flown out to join the tour and admitted, bluntly, "we need to something" in the market.

The hierarchy do not sound panicked. Inside the club, the message is that they are “relaxed” and have full “trust” in the strategy. Part of that calm comes from business already done: Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, both long-term targets, were signed in January rather than this summer and have already made a positive impact. Deals brought forward, not missed.

Young, restless, and wanted

This is a City squad that has been deliberately tilted towards youth. Internally it is described as “young” and “exciting”, a group that already proved its mettle by sweeping both domestic cups last season. The next wave is already arriving: 20-year-old Brazilian Vitor Reis returns from a season-long loan at Girona and is expected to be part of the first-team picture.

Yet youth and success bring their own problems. Other clubs are circling.

Rodri, still without a new contract, is now drawing serious attention from both Real Madrid and Barcelona. Losing the midfield anchor who has underpinned City’s dominance would be a seismic moment and, as it stands, remains one of the biggest unresolved issues of the summer.

Tijjani Reijnders is more likely to go. The midfielder has interest from Nottingham Forest and, unlike Rodri, does not sit at the very heart of Maresca’s plans.

On the flanks, uncertainty lingers. BBC Sport reported last month that winger Savinho is open to leaving, with Tottenham exploring a move. So far, nothing concrete has landed, but the possibility of another attacking departure hangs over the final weeks of the window.

The stance from City is clear: if someone goes, someone comes in. No thinning of the squad without a response.

Targets in sight, nerves in check

Names are already on the table.

There is firm interest in Chelsea’s Pedro Neto, a wide player whose direct running and Premier League experience would fit the profile City have leaned towards in recent years. Talks continue for Lille’s Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, while Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli is also in discussions as the club weigh up their options behind the current No 1.

It all adds up to a curious summer at the Etihad. A record signing through the door. A clutch of key players signing on long-term. A manager openly calling for more additions. A superstar holding midfielder yet to commit. And still, from the boardroom, the same message: no rush, no panic.

Jeremy Doku’s new deal is another brick in a structure City believe will carry them into the post-Guardiola years without losing their edge. The question now is whether that calm assurance holds if the interest in their biggest names turns into bids and the market finally tests just how relaxed they really are.