That's not the checkmate you think it is. He plays in the most dominant possession side in Europe, as long as he's decent enough on the ball and stays fit he's going to get a lot of minutes, especially when his only rival for the position is a 36 year old in the twilight of his career.
And, in a side that steam rolls so many teams, he's not going to get tested much defensively. But when he has, he's often like a traffic cone in a blue shirt.
He's poor in the challenge, his balance is poor, he has little to no athleticism or pace. Positionally he's poor and often doesn't recognise danger until it's too late. He's often out of his feet after an hour and can be seen plodding about while opposition players stride past him with the ball after a little one-two.
So yeah, he's good at shielding the ball and he's reliable enough in possession, unless he's rushed into a decision and pressured on the ball, in which case he'll make the occasional howler. But a Fernandinho replacement he is not.
And I appreciate you didn't mention Fernandinho, but I did. Those are the big boots he needs to fill, and he's clearly not up to it. He's a different player granted, but he's a flawed one and IMO that holding role has to be a key area of reinforcement for us.
You can't rely on him in big games when the margins are tight. And that's not to scapegoat him, it's just blatantly evident on the basis of what we've seen over the course of his time at City.
Decent enough squad option but not a long term answer as far as I'm concerned.