Nico Gonzalez Considers Exit from Manchester City After Frustrating Season

Nico Gonzalez arrived at Manchester City as a solution. Sixteen months on, he is turning into a problem the club may choose to cash in on.

The 24-year-old Spaniard, signed from Porto in January 2025 as an emergency midfield option, is now seriously considering a summer move away from the Etihad after a season that began with promise and ended on the fringes, according to a report from Times Sport’s Paul Hirst.

From trusted stand-in to overlooked option

For a time, Gonzalez looked like one of City’s shrewdest mid-season pick-ups. With Rodri battling recurring fitness issues, the Barcelona academy graduate stepped in and impressed, giving Pep Guardiola a reliable deputy in the most demanding role on the pitch.

He helped steady a side that laboured through a difficult 2024-25 Premier League campaign, ultimately dragging themselves to a third-place finish and a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League. In the first half of the season, his performances drew strong praise, both inside the club and beyond it.

Then the minutes dried up.

As the campaign wore on, Guardiola increasingly turned away from Gonzalez in the biggest games. When he wanted control from deep, he often preferred to repurpose departing captain Bernardo Silva as a number six rather than lean on the specialist signed to back up Rodri.

The shift was brutal. Gonzalez went from valued stand-in to spectator. In the final weeks of the season, he was frequently left out of City’s matchday squads altogether.

World Cup blow deepens uncertainty

The lack of game time carried a cost beyond club football. Gonzalez failed to make Spain’s FIFA World Cup squad, a significant personal setback at a stage of his career when he expected to be pushing into the national team picture.

That omission has sharpened his focus on what comes next. At 24, with his best years ahead of him, the midfielder is understood to be targeting regular first-team football this summer, even if that means walking away from Manchester.

A formative year-and-a-half at the Etihad has given him a crash course under Guardiola and alongside players such as Rodri and Silva. The education has value. But it has not brought the platform he needs.

New era, same bottleneck

Change is coming at City. Guardiola is leaving, with talks progressing for Enzo Maresa to take over. A new manager often means a clean slate, a fresh assessment, a chance to reset careers that have stalled.

For Gonzalez, the reality looks harsher.

City are pushing ahead with plans to reinforce the very position he occupies. Sporting director Hugo Viana is leading the pursuit of Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, viewed as a long-term project who would learn from Rodri and grow into the club’s future number six.

That looming competition, coupled with ongoing contract discussions with Rodri, points in one direction. If the Spain lynchpin commits his future and Anderson arrives, Gonzalez’s path to meaningful minutes narrows even further.

City ready to cash in

Inside the Etihad, there is a growing acceptance that this summer may be the right time to part ways. With Gonzalez keen to advance his career and unwilling to settle for a bit-part role, City are expected to listen to offers.

The club can sell a player who retains strong market value after positive early displays in England and Portugal. The player can chase the one thing Manchester has not consistently given him: a guaranteed place at the heart of a midfield, week after week.

For a footballer raised at La Masia, schooled by Guardiola and moulded in the shadow of Rodri, the next move will define his trajectory.

Stay and gamble on a new manager rewriting the script? Or leave now, while the promise still outweighs the frustration?